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Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies MPhil/PhD

London, Bloomsbury

This is the programme information for 2025 entry

If you require details of the previous year's programme, Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies MPhil/PhD (2024), click here

UK students International students

Study mode

UK tuition fees (2025/26)

£6,215

£3,105

Overseas tuition fees (2025/26)

£29,800

£14,900

Duration

3 calendar years

5 calendar years

Programme starts

October 2025

February 2026

May 2026

Applications accepted

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis but should be submitted at least three months prior to your preferred start date.

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

A minimum of an upper second-class UK Bachelor's degree in Spanish, Portuguese or Latin American Studies, or an alternative degree with demonstrable preparedness to undertake the proposed research and the required fluency in the chosen language. In the first instance, candidates should establish a dialogue with a potential supervisor before making a formal application. Admission is normally dependent on the submission of a detailed research project proposal.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 4

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

Academic research may be pursued in Golden Age literature and history, Anglo-Spanish political relations, the history of the Portuguese Empire, the novel of the restoration period in Spain, Brazilian literature, Peruvian poetry, Spanish film, Latin American film, travel writing, translation studies and Latino studies.

Who this course is for

This MPhil/PhD is for applicants with a strong interest in conducting multi-disciplinary research, who may have completed postgraduate training or study and want to develop an advanced critical analysis in a specific research area. The programme is for applicants with a background or strong interest in Hispanic and Lusophone literature, culture, politics, history or film. It is suitable for both recent Masters graduates as well as early or mid-career professionals.

Read about what it takes to become a UCL graduate research student

What this course will give you

Whilst on the Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies MPhil/PhD programme, you will enjoy unparalleled access to library resources (the UCL library, the Senate House Library and the British Library), a broad range of research skills courses offered by the Doctoral School, part of the doctoral programme, and a variety of cultural events offered by the Instituto Cervantes, Europa House, and the various embassies of Latin America.

All students have a primary and a subsidiary supervisor to guide them through their PhD studies and they can apply for funds to conduct research at specialist libraries in Spain, Portugal, the United States and Latin America. You can opt to take the text-only PhD or the documentary-track PhD in which students submit a thesis of 60,000-70,000 words along with a 30-minute documentary.

The wealth of departmental seminars, colloquiums, symposiums and student organised work in progress sessions give ample opportunities to present research, receive feedback and participate in discussion.

Find out how your research could have an impact

The foundation of your career

Students acquire a wide range of skills ranging from empirical research, advanced oral presentations and writing skills, data management, resource management and project management, advanced networking skills, intellectual independence and resourcefulness, all of which prepare our candidates effectively for their future careers.

Recent graduates have gone on to work in various fields such as academic research, teaching or lecturing, as well as gaining roles in health and social care, financial services translation, subtitling, curatorship, advertising, the film industry and other educational activities.*

Graduate Outcomes survey carried out by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), looking at the destinations of UK and EU graduates in the 2017-2022 cohorts.

Employability

Doctoral students develop a range of skills that are invaluable in academia and in numerous other fields where PhD holders are prized for their transferable skills in communication, critical analysis, management of projects and deadlines, and intercultural mediation. As well as unrivalled research skills, graduates of this programme will possess exceptional abilities in writing and communication, alongside critical and creative thinking.

Networking

With our cross-disciplinary approach, supervision and mentorship is available from world-leading researchers with international and national contacts and collaborations across policy, government, cultural institutions, academia and industry. This programme is housed within the UCL School of European Languages, Culture & Society (SELCS), with 83% of SELCS-CMII research activity being graded 4* ‘world leading’ and 3* ‘internationally excellent’ in the REF 2021.

Links to international and leading organisations provide opportunities to network and collaborate with a wide variety of external partners. We are also home to the Brazilian Translation Club and the Centre of César Vallejo Studies.

Our students gain access to a range of networking events, career workshops and exclusive seminars. Students are strongly encouraged to attend and give papers at conferences, establishing contacts with academics and also peers working in their field.

Teaching and learning

Research students undertake relevant induction sessions and can take advantage of the Doctoral Skills Development Programme. PhD students meet regularly in term time with their supervisors and may be offered opportunities to gain valuable teaching experience and participate in reading groups and conferences.

To successfully upgrade to a PhD, you are required to submit a piece of writing (this is usually based on one chapter from your thesis and a chapter plan for the remainder). You are also required to present and answer questions about this work to a panel consisting of your subsidiary supervisor and another faculty member who acts as an independent assessor.

Students can take the text-only PhD or the documentary-track PhD in which students submit a thesis of 60,000-70,000 words along with a 30-minute documentary.

PhD students should treat their research programme as a full-time job, which equates roughly to 35 hours per week, or 15 hours for Part-time students. Students agree to a timetable of regular meetings with the Principal Supervisor to effectively manage the progression of project aims. This is flexible; at some points, it may be necessary to meet more or less often.

Full-time students can expect to meet supervisors every two weeks during the academic year, and part-time students every four weeks. If a student has external funding, they should also ensure they meet the Terms & Conditions of their funder.

Research areas and structure

Early Modern Spanish and Latin American literature, history and culture, including the Golden Age comedia
Anglo-Spanish literary and political relations 1500–1640, especially translation
19th and 20th-century Spanish literature
The novel of the restoration period in Spain
Contemporary Spanish fiction/translation
Spanish film
19th- and 20th-century scientific and literary travel writing in Latin America
19th- and 20th-century Spanish-American literature
Spanish American essay writers
Latin American film and documentary
Latino studies
Migration, mobility and space
The history of the Portuguese Empire
Brazilian literature
Posthumanism in Latin American film, literature and art
Comparative American literature and culture

Research environment

The UCL Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies department engages in a variety of research areas ranging from literature, history, culture and film. Recent graduates from the programme have gone on to work in various fields such as education, research and the publishing industry. The department is home to the Centre of César Vallejo Studies and the Brazilian Translation Club, hosting a range of workshops and collaborative seminars.

In the first instance, candidates should establish a dialogue with a potential supervisor before making a formal application.

The length of research degree programmes is usually three years full-time and five years part-time. You are required to register initially for the MPhil degree with the expectation of transferring to PhD following successful completion of an upgrade viva after 9-18 months.

Upon successful completion of your approved period of registration, you may register as a completing research student (CRS) while you write up your thesis.

In the first year, you will be required to take part in a mandatory Skills Seminar Programme. You are expected to agree with your supervisor the basic structure of your research project, an appropriate research method and a realistic plan of work. You will produce and submit a detailed outline of your proposed research to your supervisor for their comments and feedback and be given the opportunity to present your research to UCL academic staff and fellow PhD students.

In the second year, you will be expected to upgrade from MPhil to a PhD. To successfully upgrade to a PhD, you are required to submit a piece of writing (this is usually based on one chapter from your thesis and a chapter plan for the remainder). You are also required to present and answer questions about this work to a panel consisting of your subsidiary supervisor and another faculty member who acts as an independent assessor.

The PhD programme is expected to be completed within three years for full-time students, and over five years for part-time students. If you are not ready to submit at the end of the third year, you may update your status to CRS which gives you an additional year's enrolment without the need to pay fees.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services team.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students

Fee description	Full-time	Part-time
Tuition fees (2025/26)	£6,215	£3,105
Tuition fees (2025/26)	£29,800	£14,900

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

The department strives to keep additional costs low. Books and journal articles are usually available via the UCL library (hard copies or via e-journal subscriptions). Students receive a free printing allowance each year and pay for any additional printing (see details).

You should expect to face additional expenses if you attend external conferences. The cost depends on the location, exchange rates, and the price of travel and accommodation, but this may be between £200 and £500 per event, based on typical events and destinations attended by recent students. Current research students are welcome to apply for SELCS-CMII funding for training workshops or international conferences in advance of the activity. This may be for part or all of the costs and is assessed on a case-by-case basis.

UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £114.50. This price was published by TfL in 2024. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

For more details about departmental funding available to postgraduate research students, please refer to our Funding, Scholarships and Prizes (Research) webpage.

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Next steps

All applicants must identify and contact potential supervisors before making their application. For more information see our 'Need to Know' page.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

This programme requires two references. Further information regarding references can be found on this Selecting your references page.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2025-2026

Research Degree: Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies, Full-time

Research Degree: Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies, Part-time

Year of entry: 2024-2025