School of Law research degrees

There is no deadline for the receipt of research degree applications; you may apply at any time of year. You should be aware however that the enrolment dates are January and September (start of Semesters 1 and 2). Please allow at least 3 to 4 months between submitting your application and your expected start date, to allow enough time to process your application, especially if you are an international student arranging a visa.

Entry requirements can be found under Section 2 of the Research Degree Regulations. To summarise:

• To register for an MA/MSc/LLM by Research, MPhil or MPhil transferring to PhD, applicants should normally hold a first or upper second class honours degree or equivalent.
• For registration to a PhD direct, applicants should normally hold a recent Research-based Master’s degree in a relevant subject or equivalent.
• Before being accepted, self-funded students should provide evidence that they are able to fund adequately the whole of their research degree programme.
• Applicants whose main language is not English must meet the University's English language requirements The minimum IELTS score required for entry to the research degree programme is 6.5–7 overall. The UKBA requirements are 6.0 in each element. We require a minimum of 6.5 in each element minimum. It is very important that you are able to understand and use English well, so that you can benefit fully from your time at Oxford Brookes University. If you have any queries regarding acceptable English language qualifications, please contact Oxford Brookes International
  Tel: +44 (0) 1865 483874
  Fax: +44 (0) 1865 484377
  pathways@brookes.ac.uk

In exceptional cases, you may register as a part-time research degree student at Oxford Brookes University and conduct part of your work somewhere other than Oxford. If you choose to register on this non-resident basis for a period of time:

• You must be able to visit Oxford Brookes University for at least six weeks per year. This must be agreed by both the School Postgraduate Research Tutor and your appointed Director of Studies at Oxford Brookes University
• An external supervisor or advisor of appropriate academic standing and with the necessary experience must be appointed in your local area
• The appropriate University Research Degrees Committee must be satisfied that there are adequate research facilities available overseas before it can approve both these arrangements and the appointment of the external supervisor
• As you would be registered at Oxford Brookes University, you would be awarded one research degree from Oxford Brookes

The minimum length is listed by programme in the table below:

All students must be able to meet the University’s requirements for a research degree, which is to be able to devote a minimum of 35 hours per week (full-time) or 15 hours per week (part-time) to the programme of research. For details of time allowed for paid work and holidays please see Section 7.6 of the Research Degree Regulations document.