Prospective Students

Application Deadline (For MA and PhD)

Period of Candidature

Students may choose to pursue the MA or PhD degree either on a full-time or part-time basis.

From AY2020, the candidature period will be revised as follows:

You can check the period of candidature here​.

Tuition Fees

You can check the MA and PhD tuition fees here.

Admissions Requirement

• Masters’ programmes: an Honours degree or equivalent is required.
  
• PhD programmes: a Master's degree or good Honours degree is required.  
  
• GRE is not required for MA or PhD programmes.

Language Proficiency Requirements

For applicants whose mother tongue is not English a good TOEFL or IELTS is necessary. TOEFL/IELTS scores must be attained within 2 years prior to date of application. 

We do not need any TOEFL or IELTS results from applicants who have their Bachelor's degrees from universities (must be at least 3 years of study) or Master's degree where English is the medium of instruction. Documentary evidence must be provided for such cases. 

Candidates will be interviewed by the subject area postgraduate coordinator(s) to assess the applicant’s suitability for postgraduate studies and for a holistic assessment of his/her academic capacity.

In addition, different subject areas may have specific requirements. Details are available at the subject areas websites.

TOEFL/IELTS

The following are the minimum score requirements for the above tests:

• TOEFL: 105 (Internet-Based Test - IBT) 
• IELTS (IELTS is preferred over TOEFL): 7 overall and 7 in writing
• For Chinese Programme, the minimum IELTS score is 6.5 overall and 6.5 in writing or TOEFL score is 100 (Internet-Based Test – IBT).​
  

The above scores are a guide only and may vary slightly according to the number and quality of applicants in each admission exercise. Meeting the above scores does not guarantee admission to our programme. Admission to the Graduate Programme also depends on the quality of the research proposal and of the application as a whole.

Each subject area has their own requirements, please click on the subject areas below to find out more:

• Art History
• Chinese
• English
• Creative Writing (English)
• History
• Linguistics and Multilingual Studies
• Philosophy

Stage 1: Preparation

1. Be in line with the application deadlines. (i.e. 31st July for January Intake and 15th December for August Intake)
2. Make sure you’ve read through our “ Programme Details” and “ Scholarship​” pages.
3. Fully research which  discipline/research area​​ you are interested in.
4. Decide if you’re doing this  Full Time or Part Time​​
5. If you are pursuing your post-graduate studies on a self-fund/self-paying basis, check the latest tuition fee amounts  here.
6. International applicants are advised to look up important information such as student's pass, cost of living, etc at the International Student Centre's website. They are also advised to have sufficient funds (whether from scholarships or personal funds or both) to cover the expenses of their entire period of study.
7. All disciplines in SoH require you to submit a research proposal. A research proposal is generally between 1,000 - 2,000 words: it addresses the focus of your chosen research project, its scope and significance, relevant research questions and/or methodologies, and briefly indicates your knowledge of relevant scholarship. Where applicable, you may also wish to include a separate writing sample (no more than 3,000 words). 

Stage 2: Complete and submit online application form (GRAS)

1. Access the online application form through the online portal here.
   * READ THE REST OF THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE YOU CLICK ON THE LINK TO THE ONLINE PORTAL!
2. Have your complete set of  supporting documents​ ready. These documents must be legible.
3. The application portal is fully online. All documents should be scanned and uploaded; no hardcopies should be sent to NTU.
4. You can check the status of your application here.

Important Notes on Academic Referees

While filling up the online form, you will be asked for your referee’s name, designation, postal address, email address (must be an official institutional email address) and other contact information. Email addresses given by free email providers such as hotmail, gmail, yahoo mail, etc. will not be accepted.

Before you provide the name and email address of your referee, please ensure that they had already agreed to fill out the online referee report form for your NTU application.

Upon submission of the online application, it will auto-activate an email to the respective Referee to notify them to complete an online Referee Report. Do ask your referee to keep a look out for the email alert and to complete the report within 7 working days upon receiving the email. They should check their junk or spam folder in case the alert email was erroneously forwarded to that folder.

The email alert will contain a login ID and password for your referee to access the online referee report form.

It is important to key in the correct email address for your Referee, as changes cannot be made to the online application after its submission.

After your referee/(s) has submitted their online recommendation/(s), the system will match them to your application and send the e-package to the School as well as email an acknowledgement of receipt to you.

After you receive the acknowledgement, you can then  check the status of your application.

In the event that online referee report is not completed within the given deadline, an auto-email will be activated to notify applicant to re-nominate the same/other referee via the application link.

Application Status

Generally, the application process may take up to 4 months or more, depending on the completeness of the application, consideration, evaluation and approval by the respective Schools/Board of Graduate Education.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome as follows:

• August intake - notification by May/June

• January intake - notification by Nov/Dec

There are several offices involved in processing and managing your application to study at SoH, here is a snapshot of their roles and responsibilities:

Our Decision

Decisions on admission to the University are made on academic merit, the availability of scholarship, and/or the availability of an appropriate supervisor.

The school or subject area where you wish to study will consider your application. They will wish to interview you or might request additional test scores such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) (Economics and Psychology in particular).

Every recommendation for admission is scrutinised by the central Graduate Education Office, and this office makes the official offer of admission on behalf of the University.