Language and Literacy Education: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) - UBCV is a doctorate in Education & Teaching programme taught at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. The programme is delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition for international students is CAD 10,082 per year (CAD 5,739 per year for local students).
At a glance
Degree:Doctorate
Field:Education & Teaching
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
Local tuition: CAD 5,739 / year
International tuition: CAD 10,082 / year
Information for the 2027/28 academic year · Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
This doctoral program places language and literacy learning at the intersection of cultural and societal transformation. Most students arrive as teachers or other professional educators, and the coursework, seminars and dissertation research range across schools and out-of-school settings, in Canada and internationally, and across the lifespan. Areas of study include identity and language or literacy, Indigenous languages and literacies, family and community literacy practices, literature and cultural texts for children and youth, digital cultures and new media, discourse and multimodal analysis, and English-as-an-additional-language literacy and assessment. Students focused on language education work in applied and critical applied linguistics, bi- and multilingual pedagogies, second language acquisition, language socialisation, and language policy and planning. The degree is delivered in person at UBC Vancouver and completed with a dissertation.
Requirements
Minimum GPA:76.00 / %
Admission Requirements: Admission requires a master's degree with high standing in a relevant education discipline, together with the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies' baseline minimum overall average in the B+ range (76% at UBC), and at least two years of successful teaching experience or its equivalent. Applicants from universities outside Canada where English was not the language of instruction must meet a program-specific standard higher than the Faculty default, within 24 months of applying: TOEFL iBT 5.0 overall on the current six-point scale, IELTS Academic 7.0 overall, or Duolingo English Test 130 overall. The application further requires the master's-degree transcript and certificates, official transcripts from every other post-secondary institution, a work sample demonstrating research ability of up to 30 pages, a CV or resume, a statement of intent of no more than 500 words describing the proposed doctoral research, and three letters of reference with at least two from university instructors; the GRE is not required and contacting a supervisor before applying is optional.
Application Details
Start Date:September
Application Deadline:Domestic and international undergraduate applicants both apply through EducationPlannerBC for Winter Session 2027/28 (September 2027 entry) and Summer 2027: applications open in early October 2026 and the equal-consideration deadline is 15 January 2027, 11:59 p.m. PST, the same date for both groups; a few programs keep reviewing late applications on a space-available basis afterwards. Earlier dates apply only to entrance-award consideration -- 15 November 2026 for the International Scholars Program and 1 December 2026 for Presidential/Centennial/Beyond Tomorrow scholars. Several limited-entry programmes -- Law, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Nursing (advanced entry), Occupational/Physical Therapy, Social Work and Teacher Education -- set their own earlier deadlines from October 2026 through February 2027. These are institution-wide dates; this programme publishes no deadline of its own.
