Prospective Students

Admissions Requirement

• MA 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. 

TOEFL or IELTS is not required from applicants with a Bachelor's degree (at least 3 years of study) or Master's degree, where English is the medium of instruction. Documentary evidence must be provided. 

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 the applicant's academic capacity.

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

Minimum score requirements for the following 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. 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). 
   
   
2. Be in line with the application deadlines (i.e., 31st July for January intake and 15th November for August intake).
   
   
3. Make sure you’ve read through our “Programme Details” and “Scholarship​” pages.
   
   
4. Fully research which  discipline/research area​​ you are interested in.
   
   
5. Decide if you’re doing this  Full Time or Part Time​​.
   
   
6. If you are self-financing your post-graduate studies, check the latest tuition fee amounts here.
   
   
7. 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. Ensure you have sufficient funds (whether from scholarships or personal funds, or both) to cover expenses for the entire period of study.
   

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 carefully before you click on the link to the online portal *
   
   
2. Have your complete set of  supporting documents​ ready. These documents must be legible. To facilitate processing, please label document file names in English, as the application portal is unable to recognize document file names with special characters/letters.
   
   
3. Please prepare and submit your supporting documents in advance and complete the application fee payment as early as possible—ideally at least 2 weeks before the deadline. This will allow referees to submit their reference letters on time. All required documents must be received by the deadline. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
   
   
4. The application portal is fully online. All documents should be scanned and uploaded; no hardcopies should be sent to NTU.
   
   
5. You can check the status of your application here.

Important Notes on Academic Referees

When completing 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 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 referees, please ensure that they have already agreed to fill out the online referee report form for your NTU application.

Upon submission of the online application and application fee payment, referees will receive an automated notification to complete an online Referee Report. Do ask your referees to keep a look out for the email alert and to complete the report within 7 working days upon receiving the email. They may wish to 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 submit the correct email address for your referees, as changes cannot be made to the online application after submission.

After referees have submitted their online recommendations, the system will match them to your application and send the e-package to the School. You will then receive an email acknowledgement of receipt.

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

In the event that the online referee report is not completed within the given deadline, an auto-email will be activated to notify the applicant to re-nominate the same/another referee via the application link. All application materials, including referee reports, must be received by the deadline.

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.

The timeline for applicants to be notified of the outcome is 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 may 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.