MPhil & PhD in Drama

You should normally have (or expect to be awarded) an undergraduate degree of at least upper second class standard in a related area. 

You might also be considered for some programmes if you aren’t a graduate or your degree is in an unrelated field, but have relevant experience and can show that you have the ability to work at postgraduate level.

International qualifications

We accept a wide range of international qualifications. Find out more about the qualifications we accept from around the world.

If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score of 7.0 with a 7.0 in writing to study this programme. If you need assistance with your English language, we offer a range of courses that can help prepare you for postgraduate-level study.

Find out more about tuition fees.

Find out more about funding opportunities for home/EU applicants, or funding for international applicants. If you're applying for funding, you may be subject to an application deadline.

AHRC studentships.

You apply directly to Goldsmiths using our online application system. 

Before submitting your application you'll need to have: 

• Details of your education history, including the dates of all exams/assessments
• The email address of your referee who we can request a reference from, or alternatively an electronic copy of your academic reference
• Contact details of a second referee
• A personal statement – this can either be uploaded as a Word Document or PDF, or completed online

          Please see our guidance on writing a postgraduate statement

• If available, an electronic copy of your educational transcript (this is particularly important if you have studied outside of the UK, but isn’t mandatory)
• Details of your research proposal

You'll be able to save your progress at any point and return to your application by logging in using your username/email and password.

Before you apply for a research programme, we advise you to get in touch with the programme contact, listed above. It may also be possible to arrange an advisory meeting.

Before you start at Goldsmiths, the actual topic of your research has to be agreed with your proposed supervisor, who will be a member of staff active in your general field of research. The choice of topic may be influenced by the current research in the department or the requirements of an external funding body. 

If you wish to study on a part-time basis, you should also indicate how many hours a week you intend to devote to research, whether this will be at evenings or weekends, and for how many hours each day.

Research proposals

Along with your application and academic reference, you should also upload a research proposal at the point of application. 

This should be in the form of a statement of the proposed area of research and should include: 

• delineation of the research topic
• why it has been chosen
• an initial hypothesis (if applicable)
• a brief list of major secondary sources

When to apply 

We accept applications from 1 October to 30 June for students wanting to start the following September. 

We encourage you to complete your application as early as possible, even if you haven't finished your current programme of study. It's very common to be offered a place conditional on you achieving a particular qualification. 

If you're applying for external funding from one of the Research Councils, make sure you submit your application by the deadline they've specified. 

Selection process 

Admission to many programmes is by interview, unless you live outside the UK. Occasionally we'll make candidates an offer of a place on the basis of their application and qualifications alone.

Find out more about applying.

Staff research interests (Theatre and Performance)

The Department of Theatre and Performance at Goldsmiths is distinguished by a strong emphasis – across its diverse range of practical and scholarly work – on the social roles, impact and influence of theatre/performance.

Building on its well established reputation in the key areas of practice-as-research, the cultural and creative industries and the sociocultural study of the theatre, the Department has since 2001 appointed outstanding new staff to develop distinctive groupings of individual and collaborative research as well as the cross-fertilisation between them. It has consolidated its practice-as-research portfolio and promoted African, Black British and diasporic theatres as well as European theatres, adding Irish and Romanian, Spanish, Catalan and German to our existing expertise in British , Russian, French and Italian.

There are four main research clusters:

Practice-as-research

Theoretically-informed practice as research is a key feature of the Department, moving beyond established theatre practice to embrace performance in medicine, dance and schools; the public services sector; and the cultural industries more generally.

Cross Disciplinary Performance and Interdisciplinary Writing

The Department’s commitment to cross-generic and cross-disciplinary synergies across the breadth of its activities generates a distinctive research cluster that includes history, translation studies , African studies , English studies  and sociology.

History and theory of the theatre

History, sociology and theory of the theatre/performance, playwriting and dramaturgy constitutes the Department’s third main research group. This incorporates drama, productions and performance in national/regional focus; sociology of theatre/performance including cultural theory and ethnography; national and international playwriting and dramaturgy; the study of acting, directors and companies.

Cross-culturalism, multiculturalism and hybrids

The potential of cross-cultural, multicultural and hybriddrama/performance and their exploration as social processes forms the fourth cluster. Our strategy has involved enhancing and interweaving the theoretical underpinnings and empirical investigation of cross-cultural performance, exploring issues specific to multicultural Britain in the contexts of immigration and globalisation and the hybrid practices characteristic of our practice-as-research which merge live performance with video, interactive technology and the web.

Find out more about research in the Department of Theatre and Performance.

Vanio Papadelli

"Goldsmiths offers an exciting research community, suitable for interdisciplinary projects, both of a practice-based and purely theoretical nature."

"Goldsmiths offers an exciting research community, suitable for interdisciplinary projects, both of a practice-based and purely theoretical nature. It holds and promotes strong links with the outside research and performance world, a rich and updated library, inspiring studios for practice and, most importantly, very supportive guidance and supervision."

Jorge Cresis

"As a professional dance-maker, undertaking my PhD studies at Goldsmiths has informed my work as a choreographer to a level I was not expecting."

Jorge worked with several contemporary dance companies in Spain and Belgium before moving to the UK, where he joined Candoco. He has collaborated with many artists and was a founder member of the collective somoSQien. He has worked as a lecturer at London School of Contemporary Dance while completing his doctorate at Goldsmiths.

"As a professional dance-maker, undertaking my PhD studies at Goldsmiths has informed my work as a choreographer to a level I was not expecting. My practice-based research focuses on training and replicating higher states of consciousness for dancers in performance. Goldsmiths’ open perspective encourages cutting-edge research methodologies, positioning my work at the forefront of the current dance scene."