MSt in Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics (Research Preparation)
About the course
The MSt in Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics (Research Preparation) is a nine-month taught course offering a range of options for those seeking a graduate qualification in language studies and wishing to specialise in general linguistics (including phonetics but not applied linguistics), in historical and comparative linguistics, or in the linguistics of a specific language.
This course is designed for applicants who have studied linguistics as undergraduates to a more advanced level and who thus already have a solid background in all core areas of general linguistics; they will typically have a degree in which linguistics forms at least 50% of the teaching and assessment, or who can otherwise demonstrate that they have studied linguistics to an equivalent level.
If you have previously studied linguistics at an introductory level and are keen to familiarise yourself further with the discipline, you may wish to consider the MSt in Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics (Advanced Study) instead.
In order to be admitted on this course, applicants will have already identified, by means of a detailed research proposal, a topic in which they have received relevant prior training and on which they will want to write a master’s thesis.
Course Structure
Students will be working on their master’s thesis from their first term. They will attend the Faculty’s training in research methods and in addition, they may attend some more advanced classes that are of relevance to their thesis work.
Students will study for two option papers that are of particular interest to them. Options are chosen from those listed in Option B, Option C, or in Option D below. Those intending to study options chosen from C or D below should normally have, and may be required to demonstrate, some knowledge of the chosen (group of) language(s), and those intending to offer options chosen from C will normally be expected to be able to read secondary literature in French and German.
If students would like to specialise fully in Indo-European comparative philology via Option C, they are strongly encouraged to apply for the MPhil in Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics instead. There is also scope for some work in historical and comparative linguistics in the MSt via the module in Historical and Comparative Linguistics under Option B, and via options in the history and structure of specific languages.
Please note that not all options may be offered every year, depending on the availability of teaching.
Option B
You will select two options from the following range:
- Phonetics and Phonology
- Syntax
- Semantics and Pragmatics
- Historical and Comparative Linguistics
- Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics
- History and Structure of a Language.
You may also ask for one option in another subject in general linguistics; approval will be subject to the availability of proper instruction and provision for examination. There are two other Option B papers, which are not normally available to MSt students unless they have substantial training in that subject sufficient to begin work on these options from their first term on the course:
- Experimental Phonetics
- Computational Linguistics.
Option C
You will select two options from the following three subjects:
- The comparative grammar of two Indo-European languages or language groups
- The historical grammar of the two languages or language groups selected
- Translation from, and linguistic comment upon, texts in the languages selected.
Option D
You may select either ancient (eg Latin, Sanskrit) or modern languages (eg French, Italian, German, Slavic languages), for two of the following:
- The history of one language, or of two or more historically related languages
- The structure of the language or languages selected
- One of the following:
- translation from, and/or linguistic comment upon, texts in the language or languages selected
- any paper from B (above) except History and Structure of a Language
- a project on an aspect of the structure or history of the language, or family of related languages, studied.
Attendance
The course is full-time and requires attendance in Oxford. Full-time students are subject to the University's Residence requirements.
Resources to support your study
The Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics will be based in the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, a brand-new building at the University of Oxford, which will accommodate seven faculties, two institutes, a new library, a large number of well-equipped teaching and seminar rooms, and performance and arts venues. Each faculty will have its own centre and social hub within a building which will also facilitate interdisciplinary and collaborative work. At the heart of the building is a large atrium – called the Great Hall – which will be a beautiful space, bringing light into the building, and serving as a space for informal work, relaxation, meeting with friends, taking breaks, having refreshments – and much more.
The building will enable the recently-established Cultural Programme to flourish, with a 500-seat world class concert hall, a theatre, experimental performance venue, 100-seat cinema, and exhibition hall. Many of these venues will support academic and student-led activities, as well as performances and creative works by professional artists. The cultural programme will enrich the lives of students, and will also provide opportunities to get involved.
Phonetics Laboratory
The experimental area consists of a recording studio, an acoustics and speech processing laboratory, a physiological laboratory and a speech perception laboratory. Hardware for physiological study, available to students and staff, includes labial electromyography, oral/nasal aerometry (measurement of air pressures and flow) and ultrasound tongue imaging.
The studios, for recording and for running experiments, are equipped with high-quality microphones and digital recording equipment, and computer systems for the presentation of visual and/or auditory stimuli.
Language and Brain Laboratory
The language and Brain Laboratory offers research staff and students bespoke facilities and specialist equipment to conduct a wide variety of behavioural, eye-tracking and neurolinguistics experiments. There is a common room for tutorials and meetings.
The laboratory has separate spaces for Neurolinguistics, Eye-Tracking, Production, and Behavioural studies. We have two electronically shielded sound-proofed climate-controlled EEG booths for recording brain waves. EEG recordings are made using high-impedance (300 Mohms) active electrode systems: we are currently conducting experiments on two systems: BioSemi and Brain Vision. An additional soundproof room is used for high quality audio recordings and eye-tracking studies. Our state-of-the-art SR Research Eyelink1000 eye tracker can be used on its own, or in combination with our EEG equipment.
One of the largest spaces is the Behavioural Lab, where there is bespoke equipment and software to run experiments such as lexical decision tasks or timed forced choice experiments. Eight participants can currently run simultaneously at individually screened desks, or up to 16 participants with a projector setup. All of the testing rooms have an associated control room to monitor the experiments and analyse the results.
Library provision
Oxford's library provision in linguistics is one of the largest in the country. Oxford's libraries are superbly provided with material on theoretical linguistics, the structure and history of European languages, ancient Indo-European languages, and non-Indo-European as well as Indo-European languages of Asia.
There will be 340 general reader seats, and around 80 graduate study seats – with a further 320 formal and informal study seats throughout the building outside the library.
Open-shelf lending collections will be complemented by access to electronic resources, scan on demand, and material requested from the Bodleian’s Collections Storage Facility. As well as the Library’s extensive staffed hours, there will be a 24/7 study space, including smart lockers for self-collect of borrowable items out of hours. Subject support is provided by a team of subject librarians.
Supervision
The allocation of graduate supervision for this course is the responsibility of the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology & Phonetics and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff. Under exceptional circumstances a supervisor may be found outside the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics.
Most students have the opportunity to meet with their course supervisor at the beginning and end of each term to receive advice about useful lectures and seminars and to review the progress made.
Assessment
You will produce a thesis which needs to be submitted in the final term of your course. In addition, assessment of your two option papers, involving exams and/or submissions depending on which options you chose, will take place in the final term of your course.
Graduate destinations
It is anticipated that some MSt students who complete this course will proceed to doctoral work at Oxford, while others will continue academic study at other institutions. Alternative career destinations may include publishing, secondary and further education, finance, and IT.
Changes to this course and your supervision
The University will seek to deliver this course in accordance with the description set out in this course page. However, there may be situations in which it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in course provision, either before or after registration. The safety of students, staff and visitors is paramount and major changes to delivery or services may have to be made if a pandemic, epidemic or local health emergency occurs. In addition, in certain circumstances, for example due to visa difficulties or because the health needs of students cannot be met, it may be necessary to make adjustments to course requirements for international study.
Where possible your academic supervisor will not change for the duration of your course. However, it may be necessary to assign a new academic supervisor during the course of study or before registration for reasons which might include illness, sabbatical leave, parental leave or change in employment.
For further information please see our page on changes to courses and the provisions of the student contract regarding changes to courses.
Entry requirements for entry in 2025-26
Proven and potential academic excellence
The requirements described below are specific to this course and apply only in the year of entry that is shown. You can use our interactive tool to help you evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive.
We know that factors such as socio-economic circumstances and school performance can make it difficult for students to demonstrate their full potential. This course is taking part in an initiative to use contextual data to help us to better understand your achievements in the context of your individual background. For further details, please refer to the information about improving access to graduate study in the How to apply section of this page.
Please be aware that any studentships that are linked to this course may have different or additional requirements and you should read any studentship information carefully before applying. Contextual data may also be used in the assessment of studentships.
Degree-level qualifications
As a minimum, applicants should hold or be predicted to achieve the following UK qualifications or their equivalent:
- a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in a relevant subject, for example in modern languages, classics, computer science, philosophy or mathematics.
However, entrance is very competitive and most successful applicants have a first-class degree or the equivalent.
For applicants with a bachelor's degree from the USA, the minimum overall GPA that is normally required to meet the undergraduate-level requirement is 3.5 out of 4.0. However, most successful applicants have a GPA of 3.7.
If your degree is not from the UK or another country specified above, visit our International Qualifications page for guidance on the qualifications and grades that would usually be considered to meet the University’s minimum entry requirements.
GRE General Test scores
No Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or GMAT scores are sought.
Other qualifications, evidence of excellence and relevant experience
- Applicants are not expected to have publications already, but if they happen to have publications in a relevant area they are encouraged to submit them as their written work.
- In the case of mature students/intended career changes, professional experience in cognate areas may compensate for shortcomings in the formal academic record.
Further guidance
For the MSt in Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics (Research Preparation), applicants will have studied linguistics as undergraduates to a more advanced level and will already have a solid background in all core areas of general linguistics, phonetics, phonology, syntax, and semantics. In order to be admitted to this course, applicants will already have to have identified, by means of a detailed research proposal submitted as part of their application, a topic in an area in which they have received relevant prior training and on which they will want to write a master’s thesis.
Some modules require background knowledge that is difficult to acquire in 9 months, and MSt students are advised to choose these modules only if they already have substantial previous training in relevant background subjects, such as experimental phonetics and computational linguistics.
In order to take options in the history and structure of a particular language, students will need to have a good grasp of the relevant language itself, even if they are new to linguistic study of the language. Option C is normally not feasible in the MSt.
English language proficiency
This course requires proficiency in English at the University's higher level. If your first language is not English, you may need to provide evidence that you meet this requirement. The minimum scores required to meet the University's higher level are detailed in the table below.
| Test | Minimum overall score | Minimum score per component |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS Academic (Institution code: 0713) | 7.5 | 7.0 |
TOEFL iBT, including the 'Home Edition' (Institution code: 0490) | 110 | Listening: 22 Reading: 24 Speaking: 25 Writing: 24 |
| C1 Advanced* | 191 | 185 |
| C2 Proficiency† | 191 | 185 |
*Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English or Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE)
†Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English or Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE)
Your test must have been taken no more than two years before the start date of your course. Our Application Guide provides further information about the English language test requirement.
Declaring extenuating circumstances
If your ability to meet the entry requirements has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic (eg you were awarded an unclassified/ungraded degree) or any other exceptional personal circumstance (eg other illness or bereavement), please refer to the guidance on extenuating circumstances in the Application Guide for information about how to declare this so that your application can be considered appropriately.
References
You will need to register three referees who can give an informed view of your academic ability and suitability for the course. The How to apply section of this page provides details of the types of reference that are required in support of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.
Supporting documents
You will be required to supply supporting documents with your application. The How to apply section of this page provides details of the supporting documents that are required as part of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.
Performance at interview
Interviews are not normally held as part of the admissions process.
Offer conditions for successful applications
If you receive an offer of a place at Oxford, your offer will outline any conditions that you need to satisfy and any actions you need to take, together with any associated deadlines. These may include academic conditions, such as achieving a specific final grade in your current degree course. These conditions will usually depend on your individual academic circumstances and may vary between applicants. Our 'After you apply' pages provide more information about offers and conditions.
In addition to any academic conditions which are set, you will also be required to meet the following requirements:
Financial Declaration
If you are offered a place, you will be required to complete a Financial Declaration in order to meet your financial condition of admission.
Disclosure of criminal convictions
In accordance with the University’s obligations towards students and staff, we will ask you to declare any relevant, unspent criminal convictions before you can take up a place at Oxford.
Other factors governing whether places can be offered
The following factors will also govern whether candidates can be offered places:
- the ability of the University to provide the appropriate supervision for your studies, as outlined under the 'Supervision' heading in the About section of this page;
- the ability of the University to provide appropriate support for your studies (eg through the provision of facilities, resources, teaching and/or research opportunities); and
- minimum and maximum limits to the numbers of students who may be admitted to the University's taught and research programmes.
Linguistics, Philology & Phonetics
Linguistics is the study of language in all its aspects. In British English, the word ‘philology’ denotes the historical study of language. Phonetics is the study of speech.
A hallmark of the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics at Oxford is the marriage of theory with data, drawing on historical, philological and comparative linguistic data from ancient and modern languages, and on psycholinguistic and phonetic experimental data.
The faculty will provide you with an environment where a strong philological tradition is sustained while all core areas of linguistic theory are supported (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics), from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives. The faculty also has a strong profile in teaching and research on psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics.
Teaching and research in linguistic subjects is centred around the Centre for Linguistics and Philology, which occupies part of the former Clarendon Press Institute on Walton Street. Most graduate courses in linguistics and philology are held in the building.
The Phonetics Laboratory has excellent provision for research in speech physiology and acoustics, and outstanding computing facilities. Currently, the Phonetics Laboratory's main areas of research are:
- prosody and speech timing, especially;
- contact phonetics and prosody;
- geolinguistic variation;
- multimodal analysis of gesture and prosody; and
- functional phylogenetic and other statistical- computational methods of reconstructing speech from the past.
Languages of particular interest in the faculty's research projects are: Indian English and other languages in India and the diaspora; Italo Romance (especially Venetian); languages of the Eastern Mediterranean.
Research in the Language and Brain Laboratory covers all aspects of linguistics, including phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. The laboratory contains offices for postdoctoral researchers, research assistants and DPhil students working in Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics.
Funding
For entry in the 2025-26 academic year, the collegiate University expects to offer over 1,000 full or partial graduate scholarships across a wide range of graduate courses.
If you apply by the January deadline shown on this page and receive a course offer, your application will then be considered for Oxford scholarships. For the majority of Oxford scholarships, your application will automatically be assessed against the eligibility criteria, without needing to make a separate application. There are further Oxford scholarships available which have additional eligibility criteria and where you are required to submit a separate application. Most scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic merit and/or potential.
To ensure that you are considered for Oxford scholarships that require a separate application, for which you may be eligible, use our fees, funding and scholarship search tool to identify these opportunities and find out how to apply. Alongside Oxford scholarships, you should also consider other opportunities for which you may be eligible including a range of external funding, loan schemes for postgraduate study and any other scholarships which may also still be available after the January deadline as listed on our fees, funding and scholarship search tool.
Details of college-specific funding opportunities can also be found on individual college websites:
Please refer to the College preference section of this page to identify which of the colleges listed above accept students for this course.
For the majority of college scholarships, it doesn’t matter which college, if any, you state a preference for in your application. If another college is able to offer you a scholarship, your application can be moved to that college if you accept the scholarship. Some college scholarships may require you to state a preference for that college when you apply, so check the eligibility requirements carefully.
Further information about funding opportunities for this course can be found on the faculty's website.
Costs
Annual fees for entry in 2025-26
Fee status | Annual Course fees |
| Home | £16,900 |
| Overseas | £41,250 |
Information about course fees
Course fees are payable each year, for the duration of your fee liability (your fee liability is the length of time for which you are required to pay course fees). For courses lasting longer than one year, please be aware that fees will usually increase annually. For details, please see our guidance on changes to fees and charges.
Course fees cover your teaching as well as other academic services and facilities provided to support your studies. Unless specified in the additional information section below, course fees do not cover your accommodation, residential costs or other living costs. They also don’t cover any additional costs and charges that are outlined in the additional information below.
Where can I find further information about fees?
The Fees and Funding section of this website provides further information about course fees, including information about fee status and eligibility and your length of fee liability.
Additional information
Depending on the student’s choice of options, and especially the choice of thesis project, some fieldwork or experimental work may be required. Some thesis options will require laboratory experiments, for which a budget of £75 is available to pay participants. Some may require overseas fieldwork, for which the Faculty has a budget of £500 towards travel and subsistence costs. The Faculty makes available some funding for language training, where relevant.
Living costs
In addition to your course fees and any additional course-specific costs, you will need to ensure that you have adequate funds to support your living costs for the duration of your course.
Living costs for full-time study
For the 2025-26 academic year, the range of likely living costs for a single, full-time student is between £1,425 and £2,035 for each month spent in Oxford. We provide the cost per month so you can multiply up by the number of months you expect to live in Oxford. Depending on your circumstances, you may also need to budget for the costs of a student visa and immigration health surcharge and/or living costs for family members or other dependants that you plan to bring with you to Oxford (assuming that dependant visa eligibility criteria are met).
Further information about living costs
The current economic climate and high national rate of inflation make it very hard to estimate potential changes to the cost of living over the next few years. For study in Oxford beyond the 2025-26 academic year, it is suggested that you budget for potential increases in living expenses of around 4% each year – although this rate may vary depending on the national economic situation. For further information, please consult our more detailed information about living costs, which includes a breakdown of likely living costs in Oxford for items such as food, accommodation and study costs.
College preference
Students enrolled on this course will belong to both a department/faculty and a college. Please note that ‘college’ and ‘colleges’ refers to all 43 of the University’s colleges, including those designated as societies and permanent private halls (PPHs).
If you apply for a place on this course you will have the option to express a preference for one of the colleges listed below, or you can ask us to find a college for you. Before deciding, we suggest that you read our brief introduction to the college system at Oxford and our advice about expressing a college preference.
If you are a current Oxford student and you would like to remain at your current Oxford college, you should check whether it is listed below. If it is, you should indicate this preference when you apply. If not, you should contact your college office to ask whether they would be willing to make an exception. Further information about staying at your current college can be found in our Application Guide.
The following colleges accept students for the MSt in Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics (Research Preparation):
- Balliol College
- Blackfriars
- Campion Hall
- Christ Church
- Jesus College
- Kellogg College
- Lady Margaret Hall
- Linacre College
- Magdalen College
- New College
- Oriel College
- Regent's Park College
- Somerville College
- St Catherine's College
- St Cross College
- St Edmund Hall
- St Hilda's College
- St Hugh's College
- Trinity College
- Wolfson College
- Worcester College
- Wycliffe Hall
Before you apply
Our guide to getting started provides general advice on how to prepare for and start your application. You can use our interactive tool to help you evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive.
If it is important for you to have your application considered under a particular deadline – eg under the January deadline in order to be considered for Oxford scholarships – we recommend that you aim to complete and submit your application at least two weeks in advance. Check the deadlines on this page and the information about deadlines and when to apply in our Application Guide.
Application fee waivers
An application fee of £75 is payable for each application to this course. Application fee waivers are available for the following applicants who meet the eligibility criteria:
- applicants from low-income countries;
- refugees and displaced persons;
- UK applicants from low-income backgrounds; and
- applicants who applied for our Graduate Access Programmes in the past two years and met the eligibility criteria.
You are encouraged to check whether you're eligible for an application fee waiver before you apply.
Do I need to contact anyone before I apply?
You do not need to make contact with the department before you apply but you are encouraged to visit the relevant departmental webpages to read any further information about your chosen course.
Improving access to graduate study
This course is taking part in initiatives to improve the selection procedure for graduate applications, to ensure that all candidates are evaluated fairly.
Socio-economic data (where it has been provided in the application form) will be used as part of an initiative to contextualise applications at the different stages of the selection process.
Completing your application
You should refer to the information below when completing the application form, paying attention to the specific requirements for the supporting documents.
For this course, the application form will include questions that collect information that would usually be included in a CV/résumé. You should not upload a separate document. If a separate CV/résumé is uploaded, it will be removed from your application.
If any document does not meet the specification, including the stipulated word count, your application may be considered incomplete and not assessed by the academic department. Expand each section to show further details.
Referees:
Three overall, academic preferred
Whilst you must register three referees, the department may start the assessment of your application if two of the three references are submitted by the course deadline and your application is otherwise complete. Please note that you may still be required to ensure your third referee supplies a reference for consideration.
All references should generally be academic. However, in the case of mature students or intended career changes, a professional reference may be submitted instead of one of the academic references.
If you are a current master’s student or have completed a master’s degree, one of your referees should be your supervisor or course director on the master’s programme. If you do not provide a reference from your master’s supervisor or course director, the faculty will usually ask you to do so before completing the assessment of your application.
Your references will support intellectual ability, academic achievement, motivation, and ability to work in a group.
Official transcript(s)
Your transcripts should give detailed information of the individual grades received in your university-level qualifications to date. You should only upload official documents issued by your institution and any transcript not in English should be accompanied by a certified translation.
More information about the transcript requirement is available in the Application Guide.
Statement of purpose/personal statement:
A maximum of 500 words
The statement should be written in English and be as specific as possible about your background in linguistics and study aims.
If possible, please ensure that the word count is clearly displayed on the document.
Your statement should focus on your background in linguistics (where relevant) and study aims rather than personal achievements, interests, and aspirations.
This will be assessed for:
- your reasons for applying
- evidence of motivation for and understanding of the proposed area of study
- the ability to present a reasoned case in English
- commitment to the subject, beyond the requirements of the degree course
- capacity for sustained and intense work
- reasoning ability
- ability to absorb new ideas, often presented abstractly, at a rapid pace.
Research proposal:
A maximum of 1,000 words
Your research proposal should be appended to your personal statement and uploaded as one file during the application process.
The research proposal should be written in English. The overall word count does not need to include any bibliography or footnotes.
If possible, please ensure that the word count is clearly displayed on the document.
This will be assessed for:
- your reasons for applying
- the coherence of your proposal
- the fit of your research interests with those represented in the faculty
- evidence of motivation for and understanding of the proposed area of study
- your ability to present a reasoned case in proficient English
- the feasibility of successfully completing your project in the time available for the course
- your preliminary knowledge of research techniques
- your capacity for sustained independent work.
Written work:
Two essays, a maximum of 2,000 words each
Academic essays or other writing samples written in English are required. Extracts of the requisite length from longer work are also permissible. Applicants with prior experience of study in linguistics or related subjects are encouraged to submit work in those areas. If you do not have any existing material that fits this requirement, we suggest that you critique an article or write a book review based on the course subject. The written work should be related to the course, and should be on two separate topics.
If possible, please ensure that the word count is clearly displayed on the document.
The word count does not need to include any bibliography or brief footnotes.
Written work will be assessed for comprehensive understanding of the subject area of the essay, understanding of problems in the subject area of the essay, ability to construct and defend an argument, powers of analysis, and powers of effective expression in English.
Start or continue your application
You can start or return to an application using the relevant link below. As you complete the form, please refer to the requirements above and consult our Application Guide for advice.
After you've submitted your application
Your application (including the supporting documents outlined above) will be assessed against the entry requirements detailed on this course page. Whether or not you have secured funding will not be taken into consideration when your application is assessed. You can find out more about our shortlisting and selection process in our detailed guide to what happens next.
Find out how to manage your application after submission, using our Applicant Self-Service tool.