Application | School of International Relations

Postgraduate application procedure

Application deadline for ALL Post Graduate Applications is January 15th 2012 .
To be considered all applications MUST be complete, including two references, by January 27th.

If you have already applied and would like to check if your application is complete please email irpg@st-andrews.ac.uk

Please make sure you supply your name and ID number in your email. Please note that the School does not accept deferred entry applications. Applicants who do not take up the offer of a place for the intake to which they were admitted, will have to reapply for entry the following year.

Admission Requirements

Applicants should normally have at least a strong 2.1 or equivalent (GPA 3.6 or better) in their first degree. A taught masters degree of similar standard is normally required for direct entry to the PhD.

Students whose first language is not English must submit evidence of their language competency (see below).

How to apply: Taught (MLitt) Students

Formal application is made through the University’s Postgraduate Admissions office and not through the School itself. For information about applying for Postgraduate taught programmes in International Relations please go to the Postgraduate Applications page in the University’s Admissions office.

The School admits taught MLitt students for one intake each year, commencing in September. The School has one deadline for taught MLitt applications:

15 January 2012

Applicants will be notified of a decision by the Postgraduate Admissions office shortly after the relevant application deadline. Unfortunately, due to the large number of applications to our programme, the School cannot provide individual feedback on unsuccessful applications.

Please state clearly which degree you are applying for.

Evidence of academic qualifications:
- Detailed academic transcripts showing grades
Two academic references (download)
A sample of academic writing
- This can be up to 2,000 words in length, and gives you the opportunity to show the selection committee that you can produce well structured written work with analytical reasoning and clear logical conclusions. It may be something which you have written as part of your academic studies, work or be specially written for the application, but should have an academic basis and be written in the English Language.
Evidence of English Language proficiency test (TOEFL or IELTS) for applicants whose first language is not English (We require a IELTS of 7, or a TOEFL score of 100 or better.)

There is no application fee, and we do not require a GRE score. You may submit a personal statement and/or CV if you wish, but it is not a formal requirement.

How to apply: Research (MPhil and PhD) Students

Formal application is made through the University’s Postgraduate Admissions office and not through the School itself. For information about applying for Postgraduate research degrees in International Relations please go to the Postgraduate Applications page in the University’s Admissions office.

The School admits research students for one intake each year, commencing in September. The School has one deadline for research applications:

15 January 2012: For all applicants, including those wishing to be considered for funding they might be eligible to compete for (e.g. ESRC studentships), the deadline is 15 January. Please note that this is the final deadline for receipt of complete applications; incomplete applications or applications received after this date will not be assessed

Applicants for a research degree should submit the following:

Evidence of academic qualifications:
- Detailed academic transcripts showing grades
Two academic references (download)
A sample of academic writing

This can be up to 2,000 words in length, and gives you the opportunity to show the selection committee that you can produce well structured written work with analytical reasoning and clear logical conclusions. It may be something which you have written as part of your academic studies, work or be specially written for the application, but should have an academic basis and be written in the English Language

Evidence of English Language proficiency test (TOEFL or IELTS) for applicants whose first language is not English. We require an IELTS of 7, or a TOEFL score of 100 or better
A research proposal of no more than 1,000 words outlining the aims and objectives of the research, with a working title, and including an indication of the methodology to be adopted and sources to be used. Applications without a research proposal cannot be considered. Please note that the School's requested proposal length is longer than that posted on the University web site.

There is no application fee, and we do not require a GRE score. You may submit a personal statement and/or CV if you wish, but it is not a formal requirement.

Your application will not be considered to be complete until all the necessary supporting materials, including references, have been received. It is your responsibility to make sure that any required supporting material not uploaded with your online application or included with your paper application is clearly identified with your full name and intended programme of study, and is supplied at the earliest opportunity and at the latest by the application deadline.

All applications are academically assessed in the first instance against the School’s admissions requirements, and then relatively in terms of the relevance of your proposed research topic to the research interests of members of the School, and future potential in comparison with the applications also received from other candidates. The School seeks to admit the very best candidates who apply for our programme of study, hence meeting the admissions criteria alone is not sufficient to guarantee a place.

Before applying, you should ensure that there are academic members of staff in our School who have research interests similar to your own. You may wish to contact a member of staff by email prior to your application to discuss your research proposal and its relevance to their research interests, although the School cannot guarantee that all members of staff will be able to respond. If you have discussed your proposed research with a member of the School’s academic staff, you should indicate his or her name in your proposal. However, final decisions on supervisors are not taken until formal applications have been received by the School from the Postgraduate Admissions office. Individual academic members of staff are not able to make guarantees to supervise prospective students outside of the formal application process. Please note that late applicants may find that prospective supervisors have reached their quota of research supervisees.

Fees and Funding

Please note that the offer of a University place to undertake study or research does not carry with it the guarantee of financial support. You will be required to support yourself or to apply to a grant-awarding body.

More details on fees can be found on the University’s main website, including details about the classification of Home and Overseas fee status and information about postgraduate funding and awards.

Further information

For further information on postgraduate study in International Relations, please contact:

The Postgraduate Secretary

School of International Relations

University of St Andrews

St Andrews Fife

KY16 9AL

Telephone: +44 (0)1334 462 945

Fax: +44 (0) 1334 462 937

Email: irpg@st-andrews.ac.uk