Doctoral Degree Admission Requirements

Requirements

Admission to the doctoral program is highly competitive and we have the capacity to admit only a few outstanding applicants each year. We do not typically consider PhD applicants who already hold a doctoral degree.

Admission to the PhD Program in Language & Literacy Education requires:

1. Master’s degree with high standing in a relevant educational discipline
2. English Proficiency Tests (if required): Applicants from a university outside Canada in which English is not the primary language of instruction must provide results of an English language proficiency examination as part of their application

Your application will be adjudicated with the following considerations:

1. Your academic excellence, including awards; fellowships; scholarships; and distinctions
2. Your relevant professional and academic experience, including conference presentations, professional workshops, publications, and relevant teaching experiences
3. The availability of a faculty member with similar research interests and appropriate background to supervise the proposed research

If you are interested in working with particular faculty members, you can indicate this in your statement of interest or on the application form. However, admissions decisions are made by an admissions committee and individual professors are unable tomake commitments to you before the committee’s adjudication. Thus, there is no need for you to contact a potential supervisor prior to your application.

When indicating potential supervisor(s), please note that assistant professors of teaching, associate professors of teaching, and professors of teaching will need the university’s approval to supervise PhD or MA students.

Online Application and Fees

All applications are done through the Faculty of Graduate Studies Online Application. Please note that your online application will not be processed until you have completed payment online and electronic reference notification will not be sent to your referees unless you have completed the application.

For details about the online application system and fees, please visit the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies page.

Required documents

Transcripts and Academic Documents

• Applicants must upload a copy of the official transcript for every post-secondary institution they have attended, including original transcripts for the transfer credit and exchange courses.
• The uploaded documents must be copies of the official transcripts and diplomas (no grade sheets or unofficial transcript from the portal acceptable): order official transcripts from your institution(s), and then scan and upload copies to the application system.
• Applicants need to provide a key or a legend to transcript grades and symbols (usually the back of the transcript). The key explains the grading, course numbering system, etc.
• All pages of one transcript must be uploaded as a single file (rather than a separate file for each page).
• If the transcript is issued in a language other than English: upload a copy of the transcript in the original language and the certified English translation of the transcripts from the home university’s translation service or a certified English translator.
• No UBC transcripts are required- we have access to those documents.
• WES report is not required. It can be handy as supplemental data but cannot substitute the official transcript.
• We don’t require the GRE for admission to our programs.

Reference Letters

• Three references are required for application to graduate programs. Those references should be confidential, and not seen by the applicant.
• Applicants may choose to use academic and/or professional references. We require three references including at least one university instructor.
• In the online application system, applicants provide an institutional/ email address for each referee – a unique link is emailed to the referee, allowing them to submit an online reference or upload a free-form letter as an attachment.
• The uploaded free-form document must be on the institutional letterhead and have the referee’s signature.
• If a referee has a non-institutional email account (gmail, hotmail, etc.), they have to send the reference by post in a sealed envelope and sign across the flap of it. Our mailing address is:
  • Department of Language & Literacy Education
    Graduate Program Assistant
    Ponderosa Commons Oak House
    Room 2013, 6445 University Boulevard
    Vancouver, BC
    Canada V6T 1Z2
• Photocopies of reference letters, faxes, emails, or documents received without the sealed envelope and the signature of the referee are not acceptable.
• If the reference is issued in a language other than English: referee has to send by post the original reference and certified English translation.

Statement of Interest

• The statement must be written in the form of a short essay (maximum of 500 words).
• It should explain in what way your academic or research interest matches what our department offers and how much you are prepared to embark on your graduate study in language and literacy education and/or to conduct your research on a particular topic. 
• It is also the opportunity to tell us about your past education and other experiences; specific skills/expertise; publications; presentations; and what you hope to achieve in our program.

CV/Resumé

Resumé/Curriculum Vitae, a short summary of relevant professional and academic background. Please outline your work experience and academic history. See the following suggested items with a CV Sample

Writing Sample

An example of scholarly writing, such as a portion of a master’s thesis or a short scholarly paper (maximum 30 pages; please do not send books or hardbound copies). Please upload your writing sample as an electronic file (doc or pdf) in the online application.

Offers of admission

Once a student is deemed admissible an appropriate pro tem (temporary) advisor for the student is identified. “Qualifying” status calls for the completion of specified prerequisites before being fully admitted to the program.

Any offer for admission is valid only for the academic year it is made. Candidates who do not accept an offer must reapply if they wish to be considered for admission in a subsequent year. It is not necessary to submit new documents unless the student has completed further academic work.

Conditional admission

Condition(s) that must be met before offer can be considered final. Such conditions may include final documentation showing degree conferred, or submission of academic records from previous institutions. Letter of admission stipulates deadline dates as to when the conditions must be met. Failure to comply with a condition will normally result in the student having to withdraw from the program.

Important notice regarding multiple applications

The Department of Language and Literacy Education welcomes interest across our diverse range of graduate offerings; however, applicants should be aware that submitting separate applications to multiple graduate programs within this department does not increase the probability of admission.

To ensure the most effective review of your materials, we ask that you adhere to the following procedure:

1. Primary Application: Submit a single, complete application to the program that most closely aligns with your primary academic and professional goals.
2. Secondary Consideration: If you wish to be considered for alternative graduate programs within Language and Literacy Education should your primary application be unsuccessful, please indicate this by listing those programs in the “Areas of Interest” section of the online application. (For example, in applying for the MA in TESL, you may indicate a willingness to be considered for the MEd in TESL as a second choice.)

By following this process, you allow our admissions committees to better understand your specific research interests while ensuring you remain eligible for all relevant opportunities within the department.

Also note that it is possible to transfer between closely related LLED programs once admitted (e.g., MEd to MA), provided you notify your academic supervisor of your wish to transfer in the first term of study and provided your academic progress is strong.