Eligibility

Academic qualifications

You'll need to show us you have not only the intellectual capabilities, but also the stamina, drive and commitment necessary to complete a ground-breaking piece of work. Competition is strong; only around ten percent make it through to join us.

You will need:

at least a 2.1 honours degree from a UK university, or an overseas equivalent, and
a relevant masters degree.

PhD in Finance

Admission to our PhD in Finance is extremely competitive, and attracts international applications of the highest calibre. Successful applicants are typically the top students in a finance-related MSc programme at an institution equivalent to Warwick. We would normally require a masters degree in Economics or Finance, but may consider a Masters in Accounting & Finance, or Financial Mathematics with a significant finance component.

We normally receive over 100 applications for fewer than 10 vacancies every year. As a result, even someone with a good first degree and good masters degree may not necessarily be accepted onto the Programme.

These are the minimum academic and English language requirements for the Doctoral Programme at WBS. We cannot review individual eligibility before you apply. Our course selectors only consider applications when submitted, complete with all supporting documents.

Academic qualifications

For the Doctoral Programme, we expect one of:

A first- or upper second-class honours bachelor's degree from a United Kingdom university
The equivalent from an overseas university.

You will be interviewed, either in person or by phone. If your spoken and/or written English is considered to be not quite good enough, you may be required to attend a pre-sessional English language course at the Centre for Applied Linguistics of the University of Warwick prior to entry, achieving a Warwick English Language Test (WELT) score of at least AAB.

GMAT & GRE

We do not require a GMAT or GRE score for this course. Neither will substitute for an academic qualification.

English

You must have excellent written and spoken English.

This is because, at WBS, working effectively with other students is an essential part of your learning. We want to make sure you can participate fully, gain the maximum understanding from our lecturers and tutors, and submit good coursework to your examiners.

If English is not your first language, we expect you to meet one of the following minimum overall standards:

Test	Minimum overall score
IELTS	7.0 with maximum of two components at 6.0+
TOEFL iBT	100 with minimum component scores of L21, R22, W21, S23
PTE Academic	70 with 51+ in every section
CPE	Grade C (CEFR level C2) or above
CAE	Grade C scoring 60+, no worse than 3 component results at borderline and 1 at weak

As well as an overall minimum score, we will also be looking for a good balance across all sections of the English language test. Those failing to achieve this may be asked to supply additional evidence of strength in these areas (for example, a telephone interview or a new test score).

We will require your language certificates as evidence. Your test should have been taken within two years of the start of the course.

We do not offer a pre-sessional English class as an alternative to achieving these scores. Any pre-sessional course should be viewed as a way of settling into living and studying in the UK and not as a way of boosting your IELTS or TOEFL score.

If you have been studying in the UK for two or more years, you are not formally required to do an English Language test. However the course selectors may review your application and decide that they need further evidence of your language abilities.