If you wish to undertake a Masters or Doctoral study at the University, you have two points of enquiry:

  • contact the relevant Head of Department if you know your field of study, (list of contacts) or
  • contact the Research and Postgraduate Office (list of contacts) for guidance as to the relevant Head of Department, depending on your previous qualifications and interests.

You then complete and submit a PG1 form and supporting documentation to the HoD for consideration, and if the HoD is satisfied that the you are a suitable student for higher degree study in that programme, that the proposed research topic is viable, and that the Department can provide or facilitate adequate supervision and facilities, you complete registration through the relevant Faculty Office.

Once you have been registered you may commence your studies. New students may register at any time throughout the year, but registration after 31st March will mean that this year is not counted as part of the minimum duration of your degree, as stipulated in Rule G25(2)(a) (link to handbook).

Once registration has been completed the clock starts ticking – for a Masters degree the expected completion time is within two years, and for a Doctoral degree three years.

You must re-register each year until the completion of your degree. The closing date for re-registering Masters and Doctoral students is the last working day in March. Failure to re-register before the last working day in March might require you to re-apply for admission to the degree. Re-registration requires the submission of progress reports by both your supervisor and yourself (i.e. before the end of the previous year).

In terms of the University rules:

A student registering formally for the first time for a Masters degree must do so on or before the last working day in March, in order for the current academic year to count towards the minimum duration referred to in Rule G24(2)(a). Such a student may register at any stage after this date but will then also be required to re-register for the whole of the next academic year in order to comply with Rule G24(2)(a). The prescribed full fee is payable whenever a student first registers and the prescribed re-registration fee is payable for every subsequent year for which the student is permitted to continue with the requisite research. No late registration penalty fee is levied.

A student registering formally for the first time for a Doctoral Degree must do so on or before the last working day of the University in March, in order for the current academic year to count towards the minimum duration referred to in Rule G25(2)(a). Such a student may register at any stage after this date, but will then also be required to re-register for the whole of the next two consecutive years in order to comply with Rule G25(2)(a).