To be considered for admission to a MRes/PhD programme (upper second class equivalent), we'd normally require a Bachelor’s degree (honours) or a bachelor’s degree (from French-speaking institutions) or Doctor of Dental Medicine / Surgery, Doctor of Medicine with a minimum grade of 76 per cent or B+.

To be considered for admission to a MRes/PhD programme (first-class equivalent), we require 82 per cent or A-.

Research programmes (MPhil/PhD)

To be considered for admission to a MPhil/PhD programme, we'd normally require a master's or maitrise with average marks of 77 per cent or B+ overall.

• International English Language Testing System (academic or immigration) or Pearson Test of English (Academic) or Test of English as a Foreign Language (Internet Based)

• Letter(s) of Reference
• Resume/Curriculum Vitae
• Statement of Research Interests

We welcome applications for research programmes that complement the academic interests of our staff at LSE. For this reason, we recommend that you take a look at our staff research interests before applying.

We carefully consider each application and take into account all the information included on your form, such as your:

• academic achievement (including existing and pending qualifications)
• statement of academic purpose
• references
• CV
• outline research proposal (between 2,000 and 2,500 words; find more details below)
• sample of written work.

See further information on supporting documents.

Research proposal

Please follow this guide to address the question on the research proposal in the application.

The research proposal is meant to give the Selectors enough information to decide:

1. whether the department has enough expertise to provide you with adequate supervision
2. whether your project addresses an intellectually interesting question
3. whether your project is feasible.

In view of this, we recommend that you structure your statement in the following way:

• Research questions: state the specific research questions you wish to address in your PhD project, explaining (with reference to existing literatures) why you (and others) think these are interesting and important questions that deserve to be studied.
• Regional setting: describe the regional setting in which you propose to undertake your research, being as specific as you can; if you have yet to identify a specific area, explain the general characteristics of an ideal setting for your research.
• Research contexts and interlocutors: indicate the specific kinds of context in which you envisage to carry out your research (eg, a school, a factory, a village, a neighbourhood) and who you expect to be your main interlocutors.
• Evidence and methodological strategies: explain what evidence you’ll need to gather in order to address your research questions, and which methodologies you expect to adopt to gather such evidence.
• Relevant expertise: list any relevant expertise (eg, language proficiency, established local contacts, prior experience in the region).