Postgraduate Handbook 24/25
Supervision
All postgraduate research (PGR) students at Kent are appointed a supervisory team, meaning students have more than one supervisor to assist with their research project.
This is just a summary of the main areas; you should refer to the Codes of Practice for Research Programmes for a full explanation of the responsibilities of the student and the supervisors in Annex H.
Any questions about supervision should be directed towards your supervisor(s) but you may also wish to consult with the Research Programmes Administration Team.
Supervision FAQs
The expectation is that full-time PGR students should meet with their supervisor(s) every month and part-time students every other month.
These meetings should be organised between the student and the supervisor(s). The meeting will ideally be face-to-face but may be by video-call, telephone, or substantial email communication. It is very important that these meetings are recorded on KentVision as these will be monitored. Over the summer, it is acceptable that either July or August is missed.
Please refer to the central Using KentVision - My PGR (Postgraduate Research students) guidance for full details on how to record Monthly Supervision Meetings in KentVision.
Although full supervision will cease during the Continuation/Discretionary Writing-up Period, students are required to maintain monthly contact with their supervisor during this time and a record of these meetings should also be added to KentVision.
Following the Viva Examination, if Minor Corrections are required, supervisors will be available for email communication with students. If Revisions or a Re-submission are required, monthly supervision will continue during this period.
Submission and Examination
A Submission Review meeting will be scheduled to take place three months before the end of your Minimum Period of Registration (MPR) for PhD students, and two/three months before the end of the registration period for Master's by Research students. Your supervisory panel will determine whether you are ready to submit your thesis.
One to two months ahead of submission, you are also required to submit a Notice of Submission form to indicate your intention to submit.
All PGR students will need to submit their final thesis to Moodle.
Once your thesis is submitted, your examination panel will appointed and your viva will be arranged.
You are advised to consult the PGR Examination Guide, which explains the submission and examination process in more detail.
Any questions about submission and examination should be directed towards your supervisor(s) but you may also wish to consult with the Research Programmes Administration Team.
Submission and Examination FAQs
The Submission Review is a progression review that takes place three months prior to the end of the Minimum Period of Registration (MPR) for PhD students, and two months (full-time) or three months (part-time) prior to the end of registration for MA/MSc-R students. It will be chaired by the School Director of Graduate Studies and will include you and your supervisors. The main purpose of this meeting will be to ensure that your research project is on track and that you have all the necessary support and resources in place to successfully complete it. It is also an opportunity to discuss any extension requirements, including the possibility of a fee-free Covid extension, and to agree a timeframe for the submission of your thesis. The meeting will also provide the chance to consider and discuss suitable examiners for your thesis.
In preparation for your Submission Review meeting you will be asked to provide the following documents:
- An electronic copy of your entire thesis in its current form. Please note that there is no expectation for this to be complete but is required to allow the panel to consider the progress made to date.
- PGR Review Report (a template is provided)
You should also ensure that your supervision meetings are completed on KentVision and that they have been reviewed and signed off by your supervisor.
At the Submission Review meeting, the review panel will consider your progress and make one of the following recommendations:
- That you will be ready to submit at the end of the Minimum Period of Registration (MPR) for PhDs or the end of registration period for Master's by Research courses
- That you will proceed to the Continuation Period (or PhDs only)
- That you should be entitled to a Covid Extension
- That you are making insufficient progress and should have your period of supervised research extended
- That you transfer to the award of MPhil (for PhDs only)
- That you transfer to the award of MA/MSc/LLM
- That you should withdraw from the University.
Please refer to the Submission Review Recommendations, for a full details.
Please refer to the PGR Examination Guide.
Please note we do not require hardcopies of your thesis.
If you have any further queries regarding this, please contact your Research Programmes Administration Team.
When you are ready to submit your thesis, please contact your Research Programmes Administration Team and they will provide you with the link to the Moodle Submission Point. Please let the team know when you have submitted to Moodle.
An oral examination (viva voce) is compulsory for doctoral degrees. If you are registered for a Master's by Research degree, (e.g. an MPhil, MA-R, MSc-R, or LLM) an oral examination may be held at the discretion of the examiners.
The oral examination provides you with an opportunity to defend your thesis and it assists the examiners in deciding whether or not you have met the requirements for the degree for which you are registered. Reading the thesis is one way of doing this, but the oral examination allows the examiners to:
- examine the general field within which the thesis lies
- discuss the thesis in detail
- explore the ideas and the theories proposed in the thesis
- clarify any points of ambiguity
- satisfy themselves that the thesis is your own work.
The viva is an important part of the examination process and you should prepare carefully, enlisting some help from your supervisor. You will need to be prepared for general discussion and detailed explanation, as well as for the examiners to have a different starting point and/or laying emphasis on different aspects of the thesis from your own. You will be given the opportunity to defend your thesis in every respect.
You can take notes into your viva but are advised that they can be a distraction as well as an aid.
The Graduate and Researcher College offers a range of support and advice for doctoral researchers who are preparing for examination.
If you have a disability and have special requirements for your viva, you are advised to contact the Research Programmes Administration Team to discuss your needs.
For further details, please refer to the PGR Examination Guide.
Vivas can be conducted either in-person or online. If the external examiner is based overseas, then the viva will normally be online, though it is possible for a hybrid approach of the student and internal examiner meeting in-person, with the external examiner joining online.
The mode of the viva (e.g. whether in person, hybrid or fully online) is to be discussed with the student at the Submission Review and any preference noted within the Notice of Submission of Thesis.
Agreement from the external examiner as to the method to be used must be obtained during the appointment process.
It is the responsibility of the internal examiner or the chairperson of the viva (if no internal examiner and two external examiners have been appointed) to make all the arrangements for the oral examination.
You are advised to make the internal examiner aware of any dates on which it would be particularly difficult for you to be available for the oral examination. Any dates you indicate as problematic will be taken into consideration, but the day chosen will depend on the examiners’ availability and commitments.
You will normally be given at least two week's notice of the date, time, venue and the names of those attending
If you have a disability and have special requirements for your viva, you are advised to contact the Research Programmes Administration Team to discuss your needs.
You must be present, together with the internal and external examiners, and the chairperson (if required).
Supervisors are expected to be available at the time of the viva, and can attend if preferred by the student, however they cannot participate in the viva. Supervisors cannot be appointed as the chairperson.
There are no rules concerning the length of time a viva will take. Examiners have discretion to make it as long or as short as they think necessary. Each combination of thesis, student and examiners is unique.
The Research Programmes Administration Team will send you a viva outcome letter shortly after your viva. This will confirm your initial result and the next steps.
Change of Circumstances
Please refer to the sections below for further guidance and forms for the following Change of Circumstances Requests:
- Changing your course
- Mode of attendance changes
- Intermitting from your studies
- Withdrawing from your studies
Changing your course
To change to another course, you should firstly discuss this with your Supervisor. If it is agreed that a Change of Course is appropriate, please complete Section 1 of the PGR Change of Course Form (below), and return this to the Research Programmes Administration Team, who will arrange appropriate approval from your main supervisor and Director of Graduate Studies.
If you are a visa (Student/Tier 4 route) student, you MUST follow this process using the change form or you will risk breaching your visa study conditions.
Mode of attendance changes
If you would like to change your mode of study from full-time to part-time or part-time to full-time, please speak with the Research Programmes Administration Team and your Supervisor(s) in the first instance for advice and guidance.
Mode changes are permitted during the Minimum Period of Registration (MPR) but not during the Continuation/Writing-up Period.
To change Mode of Attendance, please complete Section 1 of the PGR Mode of Attendance Change Form (below), and return this to the Research Programmes Administration Team, who will arrange appropriate approval from your main supervisor and Director of Graduate Studies.
If you are a visa (Student/Tier 4 route) student, you are
not permitted to change mode of attendance from full-time to part-time, as the University
do not sponsor part-time study.
Intermissions
You may wish to consider taking a period of intermission from your studies. Intermission, or taking a break, freezes your student record for the period of intermission and will resume again on your return. Intermission is granted in monthly units, typically three, six or twelve months. During a period of intermission, you will not be a registered student but you will maintain your IT and library accounts although you will not be entitled to receive supervision. There is therefore no requirement to complete monthly supervision records on KentVision during this period. If a Progress Review is due during a period of intermission, this will be rescheduled for after your return. Intermission may have implications on your financial, accommodation, and visa status, and so you are urged to seek advice before you apply for a period of intermission.
To apply for a period of intermission, please download the form below. Please complete Section 1 and then email it to the Research Programmes Administration Team, who will arrange appropriate approval from your main supervisor and Director of Graduate Studies.
If your intermission request is on medical grounds, you should provide medical evidence with your application. You may be asked to provide further evidence on your return to indicate your fitness to resume your studies.
You should inform the Research Programmes Administration Team as soon as you return from Intermission so that your student record can be updated accordingly.
Extension requests
Students may apply for an extension during either the Continuation/Writing-up Period, or after the Examination, where their ability to submit has been impacted by exceptional mitigating circumstances. All requests must be formally approved by the Divisional Director of Graduate Studies, and must be accompanied by sufficient evidence.
To apply for an extension, please download the form below. Please complete Section 1 and then email it to the Research Programmes Administration Team, who will arrange appropriate approval from your main supervisor and Director of Graduate Studies.
Withdrawing from your studies
If you wish to withdraw from the University, you should contact the Research Programmes Administration Team in the first instance. Once you have discussed your withdrawal, you will need to complete the Withdrawal Form (see button below) and return it to the Research Programmes Administration Team.
Please note, if you are transferring to another institution, you will be processed as a withdrawal on our system. You will need to follow the new institution's application processes to secure a place with them.
Leaving without telling anyone or, if you are in campus accommodation, just handing in a key is not sufficient notification of a withdrawal. If you are living in campus accommodation you will need to inform the University's Accommodation Office that you are leaving. Failure to inform the University that you wish to leave may result in you being charged tuition and accommodation fees.
Your withdrawal will be recorded from your last date of engagement (either when you were last in contact or your last Supervisory/Progress Review Meeting, whichever was more recent).
Once your withdrawal has been approved, you will be emailed (via both your Kent and personal email addresses).