PhD Economic History Admissions FAQs

For direct entry to the MPhil/PhD Economic History, the application deadline is 25 April 2025. However, to be considered for any LSE funding opportunity, you must have submitted your application and all supporting documents by 15 January 2025.

Only complete applications, supplied with all required supporting information, will be considered.

Applications must be submitted via LSE's Online Application and are processed through LSE's central . All applicants are advised to read the Department of Economic History 2025 prospectus page (for entry in 2025).

The deadline to submit an application is 23.59hrs (UK time) on 25 April 2025. Candidates are encouraged to apply early rather than wait until very close to the deadline to avoid unforeseen circumstances (eg. technical issues) preventing timely submission. Applicants wishing to be considered for funding should submit their applications by 23.59hrs (UK time) on 15 January 2025.

Entry requirements for the MPhil/PhD Economic History are stated on the Departmental Prospectus Page. See also the LSE including including .

For details about the programme itself, see the Department of Economic History Research Programme and the prospectus pages. Please also read the PhD Handbook.

Your application should include:

• An application form
• Application fee
• Statement of academic purpose
• CV
• Transcripts
• Two academic references
• Research Proposal (see guidance on the research proposal below)
• Sample of written work
• English language test scores (if applicable - see )

For a full explanation of what you need to supply, please see Graduate Admissions advice on How to Apply and guide to

Questions about the mechanics of the application process should be submitted to LSE's central . See how you can .

A full range of Graduate Admissions guidance and information is available via their Graduate Knowledge Basepage. If you do not find the answer to your question there, please follow the 'I need Help' link which allows you to contact the Graduate Admissions Office by email or Live Chat.

Yes, applicants to the MPhil/PhD Economic History are required to submit a sample of their written work in addition to a research proposal.

Yes, the statement of academic purpose is a school-wide requirement as it helps our academic selectors understand your personal motivation for undertaking the programme, and gives you the opportunity to explain your academic strengths, relevant interests and tell us what you can bring to the programme. This statement can be brief - ideally, not exceeding 1,000 words.

You should state your research topic as accurately as possible. Your research proposal should address the following questions:

• What is your general topic?
• What questions do you want to answer?
• What is the key literature and its limitations?
• What are the main hypotheses of the work?
• What methodology do you intend to use?
• What are your case studies, if any, and what are your case selection criteria?

MPhil/PhD applications that are received without a research proposal that addresses these questions will not be considered.

If you have worked as a research assistant for an academic, please ask that person to write a letter focusing on your research skills, and describe your experience.

If not, please list any evidence you think would be valuable. Examples include, but are not limited to: experience working autonomously under stress without guidance; demonstration of creativity in any form; or experience of writing original research.

It is often a good idea to approach faculty in advance of submitting your application, mainly for comments on your research but also to confirm that the person you wish to work with will be available - often staff go on academic leave, or they might already be at capacity in terms of how many students they can realistically supervise. Confirming this early will avoid disappointment.

You can find a full list of Economic History faculty here.

No. The Department of Economic History does not require the GRE or the GMAT.

No. The MPhil is the first stage of the PhD programme and the expectation is that successful applicants will complete the whole programme as outlined.

Applicants who commence/are already undertaking a PhD programme at another insitution will not normally be allowed to transfer directly into a later stage of our PhD Economic History. Such applicants would be expected to submit a full application to the programme like any other candidate and, if offered a place, would be required to take all parts of the course from the start of the programme.

However, we do welcome applications to the Visiting Research Student Scheme (VRS). Under this scheme, students from other institutions can apply to join the Department for from one term, to one academic year. Please see VRS in Economic Historyfor full details.

If you have a query that is not addressed here, or on our Department website, please contact Tracy Keefe, who will be happy to advise in the first instance.

Please note, we are not able to reply to questions that constitute a request for an informal assessment. Applicants who have questions about their eligibility should consult the Department of Economic Historyprospectus page.

All enquiries about the application process must be addressed to LSE's central Graduate Admissions Office.

The Department participates in the School's Virtual Open Day events for prospective applicants. For more information and to register your interest, please visit the .

In case you missed our Open Day presentation for students interested in 2025 entry, you can find our slides here, or you can watch the recording here.

Applicants are welcome to visit LSE on their own and attend a guided, or self-guided, tour. Please see for more details.

LSE also has many public eventswhich are open to all, although some do require a ticket.

1. Receipt of application by the School’s central Graduate Admissions Office
   During this phase, the Graduate Admissions team conducts checks to ensure you have included all of the required documents with your application. Please note, the Department will not receive your application until you have supplied all of the required documents, which must be submitted by the application deadline.
2. Receipt and consideration of documents by the Department
   Once the deadline passes and the Department receives all complete applications the Selection Committee begins its review of all applications, until they arrive at a final shortlist of candidates. This process usually takes around 4 weeks at the end of which the Committee holds its final meeting to decide on who to make an offer to.NB: The Department of Economic History may hold interviews as part of its selection process, shortlisted candidates will be contacted to arrange a convenient time.
3. Consideration for funding
   After the Selection Committee meeting, all applicants who are offered a place on the PhD Economic History programme are reviewed by the Funding committee for consideration of all funding at our disposal. The Department cannot guarantee that all of those offered places to study will also be offered funding.
4. Offer and post-offer
   From early March onward, formal offers will be sent out by the LSE Graduate Admissions Office after carrying out its standard checks. The Department will also contact candidates to whom we wish to offer a place on the PhD Economic History. At that stage, each candidate will be advised if they have been awarded funding, waitlisted for funding or have not been allocated funding at all.
5. Unsuccessful applications
   Candidates who are unsuccessful will be informed of the final decision by the Graduate Admissions Office. We typically expect this decision to be communicated to you around the beginning of March.

Admissions decisions will be made by a committee in the Department of Economic History. We aim to inform sucessful applicants by early May 2025. If your application is successful, we expect you to let us know as soon as possible if you plan to enrol.

The admission committee reviews all applications and offers a place to those candidates with sufficient research potential.

Applicants who have questions about their eligibility for applying to research programmes at LSE should consult the and the page for the programme to which they intend to apply. Also see . Meeting the minimum requirements is not a guarantee of admission. In fact, most successful candidates exceed one or more of the requirements.

We regret that we cannot provide any further information or comment on an individual's chances of admission prior to receiving a complete formal application. The committee will make their decision based on all the information submitted with the application, which should be submitted online to the central .

There is no separate process to apply for any funding which is administered and awarded by LSE - as a matter of normal procedure, all applicants who are offered a place on our PhD Economic History would be considered for all types of funding at our disposal and for which they are eligible, on the basis of the information submitted in their application - see costs and financial aid.

As competition for places is very high and competition for funding is even more intense, we are not able to offer funding to all PhD Economic History students, hence applicants are advised to actively explore all sources of potential funding – see information in the School's pages (please check regularly for 2025 information updates).

Offer holders are expected to only take up a place on the PhD Economic History if they have funds in place to finish their degree; please be aware that it's very unlikely there will be any funding available from the Department of Economic History to fund PhD Economic History students after they have started their degree. While there might be limited sources of funding at later stages of the PhD, e.g. from teaching or research assistant positions, these cannot be guaranteed nor can specific amounts (if any) be estimated at this stage.

Admissions decisions are made on the basis of academic merit alone, without any reference to an applicant’s financial situation. Applicants who are able to fund themselves or succeed in securing a scholarship or sponsorship from any source will be considered for entry to the programme in exactly the same way as applicants who have no funding in place. The same procedures and standards apply to all applicants competing for entry.

See the prospectus page for the PhD Economic History programme – section "Programme structure and courses". The PhD Economic History programme is grounded in coursework and the compulsory course EH520Approaches to Economic and Social History in the first year, and further training courses and participation in departmental workshops and other seminars in the later years.

Also see the LSE Academic Calendar for all Research Students at LSE, where clicking on "Programme Regulations" and "Research Course Guides" will give you detailed insight into the topics covered in each programme of study.

The PhD Economic History is only offered on a full-time basis.

We welcome applications from students on other LSE MSc programmes subject to successful completion of their programme with a high Merit overall (65%+) and at least 70% in the dissertation, and our ability to supervise their research proposal.