English Literature (PhD)

Start date

1 October 2025

12 January 2026

20 April 2026

Duration

The maximum duration for a PhD is 3 years (36 months) full-time or 6 years (72 months) part-time with an optional submission pending (writing-up) period of 12 months.

Sometimes it may be possible to mix periods of both full-time and part-time study.

If studying on a part-time basis, you must establish close links with the University and spend normally not less than an average of 10 working days per year in the university, excluding participation in activities associated with enrolment, re-registration and progression monitoring. You are also expected to dedicate 17.5 hours per week to the research.

Application deadlines

For September 2025

13 June 2025 for International and Scholarship Students

04 July 2025 for Home Students

For October 2025

13 June 2025 for International and Scholarship Students

04 July 2025 for Home Students

For January 2026

17 October 2025 for International and Scholarship Students

14 November 2025 for Home Students

For April 2026

23 January 2026 for International and Scholarship Students

20 February 2026 for Home Students

About the research degree

A PhD is the highest academic award for which a student can be registered. This programme allows you to explore and pursue a research project built around a substantial piece of work, which has to show evidence of original contribution to knowledge.

Completing a PhD can give you a great sense of personal achievement and help you develop a high level of transferable skills which will be useful in your subsequent career, as well as contributing to the development of knowledge in your chosen field.

Our research degrees are available as full-time, part-time and some are offered distance learning.

You are expected to work to an approved programme of work including appropriate programmes of postgraduate study (which may be drawn from parts of existing postgraduate courses, final year degree programmes, conferences, seminars, masterclasses, guided reading or a combination of study methods).

This programme of research culminates in the production of a large-scale piece of written work in the form of a research thesis that should not normally exceed 80,000 words.

You will be appointed a main supervisor who will normally be part of a supervisory team, comprising of up to three members to advise and support you on your project.

Entry requirements

The normal level of attainment required for entry is:

Master's degree from a UK University or equivalent, normally with a classification of merit or distinction, in a discipline appropriate to the proposed programme, or
a second honours degree (2:2 or above) from a UK university in a discipline appropriate to that of the proposed programme, or
appropriate research or professional experience at postgraduate level, which has resulted in published work, written reports or other appropriate evidence of accomplishment.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 7.0 overall with no element lower than 6.5, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our International Entry Requirements page.

Postgraduate Study

Allegra is studying for a PhD in English Literature. Watch her film to hear her talk about the research she's doing into the interwar novels of Charlotte Haldane, why she chose to study at Huddersfield, and how her supervisors have helped instil confidence in her as an academic.

Why choose Huddersfield?

There are many reasons to choose the University of Huddersfield and here are just three of them:

Our staff rank in the top three in England for the proportion who hold doctorates, who have higher degrees, and hold teaching qualifications*.
£36,101.44 is the average salary of our postgraduates fifteen months after graduating. (HESA Graduate Outcomes 2021/22, UK domiciled, full-time UK employment).
97% of our postgraduate students go on to work and/or further study within fifteen months of graduating.**

*HESA Graduate Outcomes 2021/22, UK domiciled, other activities excluded.

**HESA – January 2024. Excludes specialist universities and universities with less than 100 academic staff.

THE Impact Rankings

We currently hold the following THE Impact Rankings:

6th out of 796 global institutions for reduced inequalities in the THE Impact Rankings - recognising our research on social inequalities, policies on discrimination and commitment to recruitment staff and students from underrepresented groups*.
45th out of 850 global institutions for decent work and economic growth - which measures universities' economic research, their employment practices and our share of students taking work placements.*
50th out of 745 global institutions for peace, justice, and strong institutions - which measure universities' research on peace, justice and our participation as advisors for government policies and academic freedom*.

*THE Impact Rankings 2022

World leading

Our researchers carry out work that makes a real difference to people's lives:

We are in the top 50 UK universities for Research Power.*
Three quarters of all our research is world leading and internationally excellent.*
Over 60% of our research environment was classified as world leading and internationally excellent, especially in Music, Biological Sciences, Architecture and Built Environment, Social Work and Social Policy, History and Communication and Media Studies.*

*REF2021

What can I research?

We have expertise in literature and culture from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries. Our particular areas of expertise include:

Lifewriting and literary biography
Environmental literature: Shakespeare to the present.
Women’s writing and the Renaissance
The Victorian period and its afterlife
Representations of Romani history and experience
Literature of canals, waterways and rivers, the ‘Blue Humanities’
Literatures of ageing
Narrating illness
Contemporary women novelists
Modern and contemporary poetry, in particular Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, Philip Larkin, Seamus Heaney
Postmodernism and beyond

We also welcome proposals that fall in the general areas of: Contemporary and Modern Literature, the Victorian Period, the Long Eighteenth Century, the Renaissance, and the Medieval Period.

There are different ways to find the right research topic for you:

Find a supervisor and design your own research project – explore the Huddersfield Research Portal to find research and researcher expertise to find the area you’re interested in.
Browse our listed funded opportunities.
To find out more about the research we conduct, take a look at our Research, Innovation and Skills webpages, where you will find information on each research area. To find out about our staff visit ‘Our staff' which features profiles of all our academic staff.

You will need to complete a research proposal outlining your proposed project (to be submitted along with your research degree application form). We will then look for academics within the University who have the expertise and knowledge to supervise you and guide you through your research degree. You are encouraged to contact members of staff working in your area of interest prior to submitting an application.

Facilities

Our Campus

Oastler Research Study Area

Interior of the Oastler building

Students in the Library

Classroom

Oastler Breakout Space

Students socialising in a common space

Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you'll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you'll soon discover that you're never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.

Researcher Environment

Our postgraduate researchers contribute to our thriving research [culture] community at Huddersfield, in return, we provide an experience that enhances your potential and inspires you to think big and become a globally competitive researcher.

Join our community of like-minded people who are passionate about research and gain access to world-leading facilities, advanced research skills training, and expert career advice.

Reduced inequalities

We recently ranked 6 out of 796 global institutions for reduced inequalities in the Times Higher Impact ratings – this recognises our research on social inequalities, policies on discrimination and commitment to recruitment staff and students from underrepresented groups.**

World-leading

We are in the top 50 UK universities for research power, and nearly two-thirds of our research environment is classified as world-leading and internationally excellent.***

As a researcher, you’ll gain access to our Researcher Skills Development Programme through The Graduate School, to help broaden your knowledge and access tools and skills to improve your employability. The programme is mapped against Vitae’s Researcher Development Framework (RDF), you’ll benefit from Vitae’s career support as well as our own programme. We also have a team dedicated to improving the academic English needed for research by our international PGRs.

Our training is delivered in a variety of ways to take advantage of online platforms as well as face-to-face workshops and courses. You can access a range of bespoke training opportunities and in-person events that are tailored to each stage of your journey;

Sessions on PhD thesis writing, publications and journals, post-doctoral opportunities, poster and conference presentations, networking, and international travel opportunities
opportunity to work and study abroad via the Turing Scheme through The Graduate School
Externally accredited training programme with Advance HE (HEA) and CMI
Online research training support accessed through a dedicated researcher module in Brightspace, the University’s Virtual Learning Environment
We also hold a series of PGR focussed events such as 3 Minute Thesis PGR led research conference informal events throughout the year.

**THE Impact Rankings 2022

*** REF2021

In 2025/26 the full-time tuition fee for UK postgraduate researchers will be £5,050.

Tuition fees will cover the cost of your study at the University. Read more about what is and is not covered by Tuition Fees including compliance for Goods and Services Tax for International Students studying an online course.

Please note that tuition fees for subsequent years of study may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X).

If you are interested in studying with us on a part-time basis, please visit our Fees and Finance pages for part-time fee information.

If you are an EU or international student coming to study at the University of Huddersfield, please visit the International Fees and Finance pages for full details of tuition fees and support available.

Please email the Student Finance Office or call 01484 472210 for more information about fees and finance.

In 2025/26 the part-time tuition fee for UK postgraduate researchers will be £2,525.

Please note that tuition fees for subsequent years of study may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X).

Please email the Student Finance Office or call 01484 472210 for more information about fees and finance.

Fees and Finance

Tuition fees - full-time

In 2025/26 the full-time tuition fee for UK postgraduate researchers will be £5,050.

Please note that tuition fees for subsequent years of study may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X).

If you are interested in studying with us on a part-time basis, please visit our Fees and Finance pages for part-time fee information.

Please email the Student Finance Office or call 01484 472210 for more information about fees and finance.

Tuition fees - part-time

In 2025/26 the part-time tuition fee for UK postgraduate researchers will be £2,525.

Please note that tuition fees for subsequent years of study may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X).

Please email the Student Finance Office or call 01484 472210 for more information about fees and finance.

Important information

We will always try to deliver your course as described on this web page. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below.

When you are offered a place on a research degree, your offer will include confirmation of your supervisory team, and the topic you will be researching and will be governed by our terms & Conditions, student handbook and relevant policies. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan.

Whilst the University will use reasonable efforts to ensure your supervisory team remains the same, sometimes it may be necessary to make changes to your team for reasons outside the University’s control, for example if your supervisor leaves the University, or suffers from long term illness. Where this is the case, we will discuss these difficulties with you and seek to either put in place a new supervisory team, or help you to transfer to another research facility, in accordance with our Student Protection Plan.

Changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, for example the University being unable to access it’s buildings due to fire, flood or pandemic, or the University no longer being able to provide specialist equipment. Where this is the case, we will discuss these issues with you and agree any necessary changes.

Your research project is likely to evolve as you work on it and these minor changes are a natural and expected part of your study. However, we may need to make more significant changes to your topic of research during the course of your studies, either because your area of interest has changed, or because we can no longer support your research for reasons outside the University’s control. If this is the case, we will discuss any changes in topic with you and agree these in writing. If you are an international student, changing topics may affect your visa or ATAS clearance and if this is the case we will discuss this with you before any changes are made.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.