We will require official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions you have attended, whether or not you completed the program or degree.

If you participated in a university exchange program, you must provide an official transcript from the exchange institution, even if the exchange study is confirmed on the transcript of your home institution.

When applying to the PhD program, the Department of English Language and Literatures expects you to hold a first-class MA degree in English language or literature. If you hold an advanced degree in a closely related discipline (for example, other literatures), it may, when combined with an undergraduate English degree, constitute sufficient preparation for the PhD.

We urge all applicants to seek advising on the suitability of their backgrounds and project for the PhD in English.

In exceptional cases, if you are an MA program student with a first-class honours BA, you may apply to transfer into the PhD program at the end of your first year. You must have completed at least 18 credits of the MA program with a first-class average, and you must be able to supply two letters of support giving evidence of research ability. The Graduate Committee will determine the additional number of credits you must complete.

UBC welcomes applications for admission from outstanding students from all countries. Students from most English-language universities may apply directly to the PhD program after completing an MA in their own country. However, because of differences in language and university instruction, it is UBC's policy that students from some universities will be considered only for MA studies at UBC after completing an honours BA and MA in their own country, both with first-class standing.

Applicants to either the MA or the PhD programs from a university outside Canada in which English is not the primary language of instruction must provide English language proficiency examination results as part of the application. This requirement is in place to provide evidence of English abilities to the admission committee and be competitive in our program. You require near-native fluency for admittance to our program.

TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) The graduate program in English requires a minimum test score of 104 (web-based).
IELTS (International English Language Testing Service) The graduate program in English requires applicants to achieve a minimum, overall score of 7.5 with no component less than 7.0 (academic test only).