Postgraduate research FAQs

The most up-to-date and detailed information on the courses we offer and related matters is available on our postgraduate research degree pages, but you can download a research brochure too.

Please see our tuition fees section for the latest information.

Intakes are normally available in October, January, April and July, depending on your chosen discipline.

Please see the course information page for the postgraduate research degree you are interested in, for details on the intakes available.

Many students take on their doctorate part-time.

Please see the course information page for the postgraduate research degree you are interested in, for details on the modes of study available.

The score or level of English language required varies between courses. Please visit the individual postgraduate research degree pages to see the requirements for each one.

The qualifications we can accept as evidence of English language ability are available on our English language requirements page.

If you are an international student planning to study on a degree course with us but don't meet our initial English language requirements, you may benefit from our pre-sessional English language courses. You can find further information about these courses on the Pre-sessional English language courses webpage

We will consider applications from students who narrowly miss out on achieving the required grades, on a case by case basis. We recommend that you contact a potential supervisor to discuss your research ideas prior to applying, to increase your chances of success.

Work experience within your chosen field may be taken into consideration as part of a full overall assessment of your application to establish your suitability for a place on your chosen course.

If you have taken or are taking non-UK based qualifications, please check our international students pages, for information on the entry requirements from your country.

If your country isn’t listed, you contact the Admissions team for more information.

Please read our application guidance to make sure you do all relevant steps of the application process.

We do not charge a fee for submitting an application to us.

Please read our application guidance to find all avenues for finding a supervisor.

We recommend that you find a potential supervisor before applying. If you are unable to you can still go ahead and make an application and it will be circulated to the academics once received and checked.

This may add a significant amount of processing time to your application, so it is often quicker and easier to have secured a supervisor prior to applying.

You are encouraged to discuss how your disability might affect your performance during the application process with one of our disability advisers. They will be able to advise if reasonable adjustments could be made so you have the same opportunity to demonstrate your academic ability as non-disabled candidates.

To discuss your requirements with a disability adviser please contact disability@surrey.ac.uk.

Take a look at our how to apply section for all the information you need to apply to Surrey.

Applications are open throughout the year and we advise that you apply as early as you are able to, and ideally no later than two months prior to your intended start date.

Start dates are in October, January, April or July, although not all courses offer all four entry points. Please check the postgraduate research degree course pages for details.

Please see our how to apply page for the latest information.

We recommend that you apply as early as possible to allow us sufficient time to process your application (and Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) if a visa is required).

Postgraduate research applications can take four to eight weeks to process so it is advisable to allow plenty of time.

Explore available studentships through our University, or other funding opportunities such as doctoral partnerships, loans and research council funding.

We offer studentships throughout the year.

Each advertised studentship will provide details on how to apply. This process varies depending on the research area and type of studentship, so please refer to the individual studentship for more information.

You can track the progress of your application via Surrey Self-Service. If a decision hasn’t been made on your application after eight weeks, you can contact the Admissions team to check the progress.

If you have not received an email from us with your University number 48 hours after submitting your application, please check your spam/junk folder, and if you don't see anything there, please contact the Admissions team.

If you haven’t yet received a decision you can withdraw your application by:

• Logging into Surrey Self-Service
• Selecting ‘withdraw application’ in the ‘available actions’ section.

If you have received an offer you can decline it by:

• Logging into Surrey Self-Service
• Selecting ‘respond to offer’ and then ‘decline offer’.

It is only possible to defer postgraduate research applications within the same academic cycle, e.g. from an October start to a January, April or July start (where available). Please send your request to the Admissions team.

We will confirm whether or not the deferral is possible, subject to approval from your supervisor.

If you wish to be considered for the following academic year, you will need to submit a new application when the next admissions cycle opens in October/November.

Most non-UK and non-EU applicants studying subjects in certain areas require an ATAS certificate, irrespective of country of residence at the point of application. However, if you have indefinite leave to remain, you will not require ATAS to study in the UK.

To check whether your chosen course requires ATAS, look at the CAH3 code shown on your offer letter and then visit the gov.uk website to see if this is on the list of subject areas concerned and whether your nationality requires an ATAS certificate. There you’ll find further details on how to apply.

We will also contact you if you require an ATAS certificate, with specific instructions when it is time for you to apply. When making your application, you must use the specific research summary that has been sent to you by the University of Surrey.

Please note that UK immigration law does not allow universities to register students for an ATAS applicable course (and ATAS applicable nationality) until the student has supplied the university with all the relevant ATAS certificate details for their application.

If you have questions about how and when to apply, please refer to the gov.uk website.

You will need to:

• Pay your deposit/provide evidence of sponsorship
• Apply for accommodation
• Apply for ATAS (if required and following specific instructions that we will send you)
• Upload evidence to meet the conditions of your offer via Surrey Self-Service.