Landscape Architecture PhD, MPhil

Our research profile includes the following areas which fall into two broad categories:

Inclusive access to outdoor environments led by the OPENspace research centre:

• Exploration of how public open space, urban parks and squares, forests, green and blue spaces and rural areas can contribute to quality of life. Our work includes a focus on the benefits to be gained from getting outdoors and the barriers currently experienced by different users, particularly those from disadvantaged groups.

• Landscape design and planning to support young children, teenagers, older people, and other age groups and sectors within the population.

• Research on salutogenic environments (the health-enhancing qualities of engagement with certain types of landscape) and on discerning the mechanisms behind any links between wellbeing and the natural environment.

• Environmental perception, including empirical research on the transactional nature of people’s engagement with place.

Landscape planning and design:

• Landscape architecture as a force in urban planning including the application of landscape character assessment, the dynamics of peri-urban areas and future landscape scenarios.

• Innovative, practice-led design research, especially involving collaborations with artists and designers from disciplines outside landscape architecture.

• Cultural landscapes and the understanding the relationship of people through their lives to specific landscapes, including the role of memories and associations with contested landscapes.

• The history and theory of landscape architecture, including development of the public role of the landscape architect in the 19th and 20th centuries.

These entry requirements are for the 2025/26 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2026/27 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2025.

Normally a UK Masters degree or its international equivalent. If you do not meet the academic entry requirements, we may still consider your application on the basis of relevant professional experience.

You must also submit a research proposal; see How to Apply section for guidance.

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country

English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency which will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 6.0 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 100 with at least 20 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
• C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 185 with at least 169 in each component.
• Trinity ISE: ISE III with passes in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 73 with at least 59 in each component. We do not accept PTE Academic Online.
• Oxford ELLT: 8 overall with at least 6 in each component.

Unless you are a national of a majority English speaking country, your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start of the month in which the programme you are applying to study begins. If you are using an IELTS, PTE Academic, TOEFL, Trinity ISE, or Oxford ELLT test, it must be no more than two years old on the first of the month in which the programme begins, regardless of your nationality. (Revised 14 January 2025 to include Oxford ELLT.)

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

• UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

• Approved universities in non-MESC

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

• English language requirements