GENERAL REGULATIONS FOR ADMISSION AS A GRADUATE STUDENT

1. Applications for admission as a Graduate Student shall be sent to the Secretary of the Board of Graduate Studies.

2. Each application shall include:

1. (a)a statement of the course of research or study which the applicant wishes to pursue, the date from which he or she wishes to begin the course, and the degree or other qualification, if any, for which he or she wishes to become a candidate;
2. (b)a completed graduate application form together with such other statements and evidence as the Board of Graduate Studies may require;
3. (c)such payment of a fee in respect of admission charges as the Council and the General Board, on the recommendation of the Board of Graduate Studies, may determine from time to time.

3. Exceptionally, a person who is not a graduate of a university or similar institution may be admitted as a Graduate Student if he or she submits evidence of general educational qualification satisfactory to the Board.

4. The Secretary of the Board shall communicate each application for admission as a Graduate Student to the Secretary of the Degree Committee for the Faculty or other approved institution with which the proposed course of research or study appears to be most nearly connected, subject to the approval of the Board in cases coming under Regulation 3 and to the Secretary's being satisfied that appropriate accommodation, if required, is available in a laboratory or elsewhere. The Degree Committee shall consider the application and shall communicate their opinion thereon to the Secretary of the Board. If the Degree Committee agree to decline the application it shall fail, and the Secretary shall so inform the applicant. If the Degree Committee agree to recommend approval of the application, their recommendation shall be considered by the Board, who shall decide upon the application. If the Board approve an applicant for admission as a Graduate Student the applicant's name shall be entered on the Register of Graduate Students.

The Board shall not approve an applicant for admission as a Graduate Student unless

1. (a)the Board are satisfied that the course of research or of study proposed by the applicant can conveniently be pursued within the University or such other place as the Board and the Degree Committee concerned shall determine; and
2. (b)the Board are satisfied that the applicant is well qualified and well equipped for the particular course of research or study proposed.

Before declining an application recommended by a Degree Committee for approval the Board shall give a representative appointed by the Degree Committee an opportunity of explaining the Committee's reasons for their recommendation.

5. The Board shall determine the conditions of each applicant's admission as a Graduate Student, the term from which he or she is admitted, and the conditions of his or her registration as a candidate for a degree or other qualification, if any, after considering recommendations by the Degree Committee. Before declining a recommendation that a student be registered as a candidate for a particular degree or other qualification the Board shall give a representative appointed by the Degree Committee an opportunity of explaining the Committee's reasons for their recommendation. The Board shall have power after considering a recommendation by the Degree Committee:

1. (a)to vary the conditions of a particular student's admission and of his or her registration as a candidate for a degree or other qualification;
2. (b)to register as a candidate for the M.Sc. or M.Litt. Degree a candidate previously registered for the Ph.D. Degree or Eng.D. Degree or Ed.D. Degree, or to register as a candidate for the Ph.D. Degree a candidate previously registered for the Eng.D. Degree or Ed.D. Degree;
3. (c)to register as a candidate for the M.Phil. Degree or M.Res. Degree a candidate previously registered for the Ph.D. Degree, or for the M.Sc. or M.Litt. Degree, who has not submitted a dissertation in candidature for one of those degrees, and to allow such a student to count towards his or her course of study for the M.Phil. Degree or M.Res. Degree not more than three terms during which he or she was a candidate for the Ph.D. Degree, or for the M.Sc. or M.Litt. Degree;
4. (d)to register as a candidate for the Ph.D. Degree, or for the M.Sc. or the M.Litt. Degree, a Graduate Student who has been approved for the M.Phil. Degree or M.Res. Degree and to allow such a student to count towards his or her course of research as a candidate for the Ph.D. Degree, or for the M.Sc. or M.Litt. Degree, such terms as the Board may determine in accordance with the regulations for the Ph.D., M.Sc., and M.Litt. Degrees;
5. (e)to register as a candidate for the Ph.D. Degree, or for the M.Sc. or M.Litt. Degree, a Graduate Student who has been approved for the M.St. Degree or M.Ed. Degree, and who may have proceeded to that degree, and to allow such a student to count towards his or her course of research as a candidate for the Ph.D. Degree, or for the M.Sc. or M.Litt. Degree, not more than three terms of the period during which he or she was a candidate for the M.St. Degree or M.Ed. Degree or up to five terms where the candidate registers for the part-time Ph.D., M.Sc., or M.Litt. Degree;
6. (f)to register a student for a course of research or of study as a candidate for a particular degree or other qualification from the term of his or her admission as a Graduate Student or from any subsequent term; and
7. (g)to determine that any particular term of a student's course of research or of study shall not count towards the requirements for the Ph.D. Degree, or Eng.D. Degree, or Ed.D. Degree, or M.Sc. Degree, or M.Litt. Degree, or M.Phil. Degree, or M.Res. Degree, or other qualification;

provided that, before exercising any of the powers conferred by clauses (a)–(g) above in a manner contrary to the Degree Committee's recommendation, the Board shall give a representative appointed by the Degree Committee an opportunity of explaining the Committee's reasons for their recommendation.

6. Admission as a Graduate Student shall not have effect in respect of any period before the term in which the student was admitted to a College and was matriculated, except as provided in Regulations 1(d) and 2 of the regulations for the Ph.D., Eng.D., Ed.D., M.Sc., and M.Litt. Degrees.

7. A Graduate Student shall not be admitted as a candidate for any University Studentship, Scholarship, Exhibition, Prize, Medal, or other such emolument, which is open only to undergraduates. For the purpose of any regulation respecting the standing of candidates for any other emolument, the term from which a student not a graduate of the University is admitted as a Graduate Student shall be counted as his or her tenth term, and an allowance of terms made by the Council under Regulation 2 of the regulations for the Ph.D., M.Sc., and M.Litt. Degrees, and Ed.D. Degree or under Regulation 3 of the regulations for the Eng.D. Degree, shall count in calculating such a student's standing for the purpose of this regulation. Any term during which a student had leave to intermit his or her course of research or study under Regulation 1(c) of the regulations for the Ph.D., M.Sc., and M.Litt. Degrees, or any period of intermission allowed under Regulation 5 of the regulations for the M.Phil. Degree or under Regulation 5 for the regulations for the M.Res. Degree, shall not count unless the Board shall have decided otherwise.

8. Each Graduate Student shall pursue either

1. (a)a course of research approved by the Board and by the Degree Committee who recommended his or her admission, or, with the consent of the Board and the Degree Committees concerned, by some other Degree Committee, under the direction of a Supervisor appointed by the Degree Committee concerned, and shall comply with any special conditions that the Degree Committee or the Board may lay down in his or her case, or
2. (b)a course of advanced study and research, as prescribed in the regulations for the Eng.D. Degree or Ed.D. Degree, or
3. (c)a course of advanced study, as prescribed in the appropriate special regulations for the M.Phil. Degree and approved by the Board and the Degree Committee concerned, under the direction of a Supervisor appointed by the Degree Committee concerned, and shall comply with any special conditions that the Degree Committee or the Board may lay down in his or her case, or
4. (d)a course of training in research, as prescribed in the appropriate special regulations for the M.Res. Degree and approved by the Board and the Degree Committee concerned, under the direction of a Supervisor appointed by the Degree Committee concerned, and shall comply with any special conditions that the Degree Committee or the Board may lay down in her or his case, or
5. (e)a course of study or of research as prescribed in the regulations for a University Diploma or Certificate, or in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a degree or other qualification of another university or similar institution.

A Degree Committee shall be responsible to the Board for the general supervision of the work of each Graduate Student under their care. All appointments of Supervisors shall be communicated by the Degree Committee to the Secretary of the Board and to the Supervisor, and the Board shall have power to make representations to the Degree Committee about any particular appointment.

Each Supervisor shall send to the Secretary of the Board, for communication to the Degree Committee concerned, a written report on the work of each Graduate Student under her or his charge. Such a report shall be sent

1. (i)once each term,
2. (ii)at any time when in the Supervisor’s opinion a Graduate Student is not making satisfactory progress in her or his work, is otherwise not fulfilling the conditions that have been laid down in her or his case, or appears unlikely to reach the standard of the degree or other qualification for which he or she is registered as a candidate.

9. The Degree Committee concerned shall have power to require a Graduate Student to take a progress examination approved by them. Any such examination shall be held not later than the end of the vacation following the second term after the term of the student's admission as a Graduate Student or at a time to be determined by the Board. For Graduate Students registered for the part-time Ph.D., Ed.D., M.Litt., or M.Sc. Degrees the progress examination shall be not later than the fourth term after the term of the student's admission. The Board, after considering a recommendation by the Degree Committee, shall determine how many, if any, of the terms previous to an examination under this regulation shall be counted for the purpose of Regulation 1 of the regulations for the Ph.D., M.Sc., and M.Litt. Degrees, and Regulation 4 of the regulations for the M.Phil. Degree, and Regulation 4 of the regulations for the M.Res. Degree.

It shall be the duty of the Examiners for the examination so approved to report in writing to the Degree Committee. The Degree Committee shall forward such reports to the Secretary of the Board.

The payment to any Examiner who is not a University officer (other than an Associate Lecturer who receives no stipend from the University) shall be fixed by the Board after considering a recommendation by the Degree Committee.

10. The Board shall have power to deprive any person of the status of Graduate Student:

1. (a)if he or she is no longer a member of a College;
2. (b)if he or she has failed to pay the fees due from a Graduate Student;
3. (c)if he or she has completed twelve terms of research as a full-time Graduate Student registered for the Ph.D., M.Sc., M.Litt. or Eng.D. Degree or a proportionately longer period if registered as a part-time Graduate Student. In such a case the Board shall consult the Degree Committee before depriving the person of the status of Graduate Student;
4. (d)if, in the opinion of the Degree Committee and the Board, the report on the examination prescribed under Regulation 9 is such as to show that the candidate is not qualified to continue in his or her course;
5. (e)if, after completing three terms (if registered for a full-time course) or five terms (if registered for a part-time course) he or she is not registered as a candidate for any degree, provided that in such a case the Board shall have obtained the concurrence of the Degree Committee in the deprivation;
6. (f)if the Degree Committee have satisfied the Board
7.  (i)that the student has not been working to their satisfaction; or
8.  (ii)that the student has not complied with the conditions laid down in his or her case; or
9.  (iii)that, in their opinion, the student is not likely to reach the standard of the M.Sc. or M.Litt. Degree, or M.Phil. or M.Res. Degree, or of any other qualification for which he or she might be registered as a candidate.

11. (a) A Graduate Student who is registered as a candidate for the Ph.D., M.Litt. or M.Sc. Degree shall pay the University Composition Fee as determined by Regulation 10 of the regulations for University Composition Fees for each term up to and including the term in which he or she submits a dissertation or a revised dissertation for the Ph.D., M.Litt. or M.Sc. Degree, up to a maximum of nine terms if a candidate for the Ph.D. Degree or six terms if a candidate for the M.Litt. or M.Sc. Degree. The maximum number of terms shall not include any term allowed to be counted under Regulation 5(d).

(b) A Graduate Student who is registered as a candidate for a qualification other than the Ph.D., M.Litt. or M.Sc. Degree shall pay the University Composition Fee as determined by Regulation 10 of the regulations for University Composition Fees for each term up to and including the term in which he or she completes the requirements for the qualification, up to the maximum specified in the regulations for the qualification.

(c) A Graduate Student shall pay the same total fee whether registered for a part-time course or for a full-time course leading to the same qualification, and the maximum number of terms specified in clause (a) shall be increased accordingly.1

(d) A person employed in a University institution2 at least 40% full-time who has been accepted for admission as a Graduate Student, and who is registered as a candidate for the Ph.D., M.Litt, or M.Sc. Degree, or for an M.Phil. Degree examined by thesis and oral only, or for a Certificate of Postgraduate Studies, shall pay a University Composition Fee of one-third the Home and EU postgraduate Fee for any term in which that person continues in employment by the University.

(e) The Board, in cases of hardship or for any other cause which they may deem sufficient and on the recommendation of the Degree Committee concerned, may remit or reduce the fee payable under clause (a) in respect of a particular Graduate Student.

(f) In the case of a Graduate Student following a course of study that requires a period of instruction in an approved institution, the Board may, on the recommendation of the Degree Committee concerned, remit or reduce payments under clause (a) of this regulation.

12. If the Tutor of a candidate for the M.Phil. or M.Res. Degree, or for any Diploma or Certificate for which candidates are required to be Graduate Students, supplies the Board of Graduate Studies with satisfactory evidence that the candidate has been hindered by illness or other grave cause in preparing for or taking the examination or any part of the examination for the degree or other qualification concerned, and such representations are received by the Secretary of the Board not later than three months after the date on which the result of the examination was communicated by the Secretary to the candidate, the Board shall have power, notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in the relevant regulations,

1. either(a)to approve the candidate for the degree or other qualification without further examination, provided that no candidate shall be so approved unless the Degree Committee concerned judge him or her to have performed with credit in a substantial part of the examination,
2. or(b)to allow the candidate to be examined or re-examined under such conditions and at such time as may be determined by the Board after consultation with the Degree Committee concerned;

provided that a candidate may reject the offer of an allowance by writing to the Secretary of the Board within one month of the date on which the allowance was offered. Representations received after the prescribed time limit shall not be considered.

13. A Graduate Student who wishes to be a candidate for a degree or other qualification at some other university or similar institution, shall receive, on application to the Secretary of the Board, for any period of study in the University of not less than two terms, a certificate that he or she has pursued his or her studies during that period with regularity and industry, if, in the opinion of the Supervisor concerned, a course record statement can properly be given. The certificate shall be signed by the Secretary of the Board. A fee of £7 shall be charged for each such certificate and for any similar certificate, letter, statement, or document that may be issued by the Secretary of the Board on application by a Graduate Student.

14. Fees shall be payable to Supervisors of Graduate Students as follows:

1. (a)No fee shall be payable to the holder of a University office specified in Schedule J of the Statutes or in the Schedule of offices whose holders may apply for study leave on the same conditions as are laid down in Statute D, II, 5 for University officers specified in Schedule J.
2. (b)Subject to the provisions of clause (a),
3.  (i)a fee of £55 a term shall be paid to a Supervisor for each Graduate Student under his or her supervision who falls under Regulation 11(a) or (d);
4.  (ii)at the request of the Degree Committee concerned, the Board may pay a fee of £55 a term to the Supervisor of a Graduate Student who has leave under either Regulation 1(b) of the regulations for the Ph.D., M.Sc., and M.Litt. Degrees, and for the Ed.D. Degree, or Regulation 2(a) of the regulations for the Eng.D. Degree, or Regulation 4 of the regulations for the M.Phil. Degree or Regulation 4 of the regulations for the M.Res. Degree to work outside the University;
5.  (iii)when a remission or reduction is made under Regulation 11(e) in respect of a Graduate Student who has not completed the requirements for the degree or other qualification for which he or she is registered or has applied to become registered, the Supervisor shall be paid a fee of £55 a term;
6.  (iv)when a remission or reduction is made under Regulation 11(e) in respect of a Graduate Student who has completed the number of terms of research or study and residence required for the degree or other qualification for which he or she is registered, the Board shall decide whether the Supervisor is to be paid a fee in respect of that student.

Temporary Regulation

15. The amendments to Regulations 10 and 11 approved by Grace 3 of 10 March 2010 shall apply to students commencing a course of research or study as a Graduate Student, or with a view to registration as a Graduate Student following such a course, on or after 1 October 2010.