MPhil/PhD Political Science

UCL's PhD programme in political science is one of the most competitive in Europe. Small cohorts receive extensive training to prepare for senior positions in research, teaching, or applied for work in government, international organisations, private firms, and the third sector. The department welcomes research in all the major sub-fields of political science. This includes international relations, comparative politics, political economy, public policy and management, legal and political theory. Political science is a discipline with fast moving frontiers and a wide range of increasingly sophisticated theoretical and methodological approaches. To make our students competitive in the job market, our programme, therefore, offers one of the most comprehensive training sequences in the UK. PhD students are an integral part of the department's research community through participation in departmental research seminars, research clusters, joint teaching, and co-authoring. All students have a three-person supervisory team providing a breadth of inputs from different sub-disciplines and methodological approaches.

The minimum academic requirements are an upper second-class Honours degree (or equivalent) and merit (or equivalent) in a recognised Master's degree programme and a minimum 65% mark on the Master's degree dissertation. At least one of the three has to be a first class/distinction (or equivalent). Students applying for the 1+3 without a Master's degree will need to have a first-class Honours degree (or equivalent). The English language level for this programme is: Level 5

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level. International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic Version - Overall score of 8.0 and a minimum of 8.0 in each component. Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) - Overall score of 110 with 29/30 in reading and writing and 23/30 in speaking and listening.