Applying
We encourage you to contact the member of staff with whom you would hope to work, before you complete an application form.
Information about our staff and their research interests.
You can also contact the Director of Graduate Studies, Dr Clare Griffiths, for more general advice.
You should submit your application through the University’s website; this system allows you to edit your application before submission and to simultaneously upload supporting documents if you have these available.
Postgraduate online application form
Once you have submitted your application your referees will be emailed a reference link which allows them to confidentially submit their reference directly to your application. To allow your application to be completed as quickly as possible, we would recommend that your referees use this option.
Alternatively, references can be sent directly to the department either in hardcopy or as a pdf (contact details below). Any references provided to us via email should be sent directly from the referee using the email account listed on your application. Please note that as the Admissions Service is often very busy processing supporting documents for the full University this is the next quickest option.
Once your application is complete, you will usually hear from us with a decision within four weeks.
Application Deadline
The standard start date for research students is 1st October but you can choose to begin in any month providing that you are self-funded or have an external source of funding. You can apply at any point in the year but the beginning of September is usually the latest that we can receive an application and be able to process in time for the 1st October.
If you wish to apply for funding through the University then you will need to apply before the funding deadline and have a start date of 1st October. See our funding page for more information.
Entry Requirements
We normally encourage you to complete a suitable MA with a research-training element before joining our research programme. For information on our MA programmes see www.shef.ac.uk/history/ma. Candidates who have not taken an MA may be considered in special circumstances. All candidates are expected to have a good upper second class or equivalent in their first degree, which should be in History or a related discipline. Candidates without an MA will be expected to take modules in research methods from our MA programme in their first year of research.
International students must take a language test, e.g. IELTS 7.0 (with no less than 6.5 in each part), or TOEFL 600 with TWE 4.5 (paper based) or TOEFL 250 with TWE 4.5 (computer based), or TOEFL 100 (iBT), or equivalent. In PTE we'll require an overall score of 68 with no less than 61 in each component.
Beky Hasnip
The Department of History
Jessop West
1 Upper Hanover Street
Sheffield
S3 7RA
Tel: +44 (0) 114 222 2552 email: history@sheffield.ac.uk