PhD journey explained

You should complete your research degree within the time scales outlined below.

To complete, you must:

• submit your thesis for examination
• have your viva
• complete post viva activity such as amendments

PhD full time – four years

Three years plus completion year.

Earliest thesis submission - 33 months after your start date.

PhD part time – seven years

Six years plus completion year.

Earliest thesis submission - 48 months after your start date.

MPhil full time – two years

One year plus completion year.

Earliest thesis submission - 12 months after your start date.

MPhil part time – started before 1 August 2023 - four years

Three years plus completion year.

Earliest thesis submission - 24 months after your start date.

MPhil part time – started after 1 August 2023 - three years

Two years plus completion year.

Earliest thesis submission - 24 months after your start date.

Funded PGR

If you are a funded PGR, your funded period may be different to the programme duration. Your offer letter should detail the length of time you will be funded. 

Starting your degree after 1 August 2022

If you started your research degree after 1 August 2022, you will need to pay the full award amount detailed in your offer letter.

You still need to pay the full award amount even if you submit your final thesis for examination early. 

Tuition fees

Your tuition fee will be detailed in the offer letter that you received when you were admitted onto your research degree. This is a set fee and will not increase while you are on the programme of study that you were admitted onto.

Thesis pending fee 

If you started your PhD or MPhil before 1 August 2022, you will need to pay a thesis pending fee when you move into your Completion Year. See the Research Degree Programme Duration section on this page for an explanation of when your completion year is. The amount will be written in your offer letter. 

• This fee is charged once per year  
• You will pay it each year when you re-register until you submit your thesis for examination
• It is not reduced if you only study part of the year

There is a four-week grace period. This means if you submit your thesis within four weeks of your re-registration date, you will not have to pay. 

Example: If your re-registration date is 1 October, you will not be charged if you submit your thesis by 28 October. 

Re-registration fee

If you started your PhD or MPhil after 1 August 2022, you do not pay a fee when you enter your Completion Year.  See the Research Degree Programme Duration section for an explanation of when your completion year is. If you do not submit your thesis by the end of your Completion Year, you will need to extend your registration and pay a re-registration fee. The amount will be written in your offer letter. 

• This fee is charged once per year.  
• You will pay it each year when you re-register until you submit your thesis for examination.
• It is not reduced if you only study part of the year.

There is a four-week grace period. If you submit your thesis within four weeks of your re-registration date, you will not have to pay. 

Example: If your re-enrolment date is 1 October, you will not be charged if you submit your thesis by 28 October. 

Re-examination fee

If your final exam result is that you need to be re-examined, you will have to pay a re-examination fee of £500 when you next re-register. 

• This fee is charged once per year.
• You will pay it each year when you re-register until you submit your thesis for examination.
• It is not reduced if you only study part of the year.

There is a four-week grace period. If you submit your thesis within four weeks of your re-registration date, you will not have to pay.  

Example: If your re-enrolment date is 1 October, you will not be charged if you submit your thesis by 28 October. 

The University Tuition Fee Policy explains what may happen if fees are not paid and how refunds may be given. 

You must re-register each year. This is part of the conditions of offer and enrolment.

You must complete your registration before starting your research degree.

You must stay registered until your award is complete. 

Each year, on the anniversary of when you started, Registry Services will ask you to re-register. 

If you do not re-register, you could: 

• lose IT access
• lose funding
• be withdrawn from your research degree 

Even if you have handed in your thesis for examination or have had your viva, you still need to re-register. 

If you have submitted your thesis for examination, you will not be charged a fee for re-registration. 

Your award cannot be processed unless you are fully registered. 

Engagement with your research degree 

• Full-time students: At least 35 hours a week for 45 weeks each year. 
• Part-time students: At least 17.5 hours a week for 45 weeks each year. 

We understand postgraduate research students often have other responsibilities. If you need to change your hours, you must talk to your supervisors and agree the changes in advance. 

Supervisory meetings

You must meet your supervisors regularly.

• Full-time students: At least 10 times a year. 
• Part-time students: At least five times a year. 

Both you and your supervisors are responsible for making sure these meetings happen. 

After each meeting, you must record it in eDoc. 

The university will check that meetings are being recorded, so get into the habit of updating eDoc straight after each meeting. 

There is a guide to recording supervision meetings on eDoc in our eDoc guides page.

Your project may need ethics review and governance approval. This applies if your research involves human participants or personal data. You may need to apply to the University Research Ethics Committee (UREC), an NHS Research Ethics Committee (REC) or the Health Research Authority (HRA). You must do this before beginning any research activity.  

For details, visit the Research Ethics and Governance website and read the Standard Operating Procedures.

Discuss your application early with your supervisors. The Lead Supervisor submits the final application.

Not all projects need ethics review. However, all PGRs must complete the online Research Ethics training before Programme Approval.

Within the first few months of your project you must complete a training plan on eDoc.

After this, a new training plan must be completed annually.

Setting your training goals

The plan sets out your training and development objectives for the year ahead, along with actions and timescales. Workshops to help you meet these objectives are listed in the eDoc calendar.

Before starting a training plan, it’s a good idea to talk to your supervisors about any skills gaps you currently have and what sort of training or development would help address these. eDoc has a training needs analysis tool that can help you with this process.

There are guides to the training needs analysis and training plan functions on eDoc on our eDoc guides page.

The training needs analysis and training plan are mapped to Vitae’s Researcher Development Framework (RDF) 2025. This is a framework developed by the research sector that explains the skills, knowledge and behaviours researchers need today.

During your research degree, you will have regular reviews. These make sure that: 

• your progress is on track 
• you get the right support 
• any problems are picked up early 

On your eDoc project page, the project dates tab shows the deadlines for your reviews. These dates are based on when you started your degree. eDoc will remind you when a milestone is coming up. 

Below are the main milestones you need to know about. 

Programme approval 

Who does this?

PhD and MPhil students  

Deadline

• Full-time within three months of starting 
• Part-time within 6 months of starting 

Purpose

To check and approve your research project. 

You need to provide

• A summary of your research (aims and main questions).
• How your project links to or challenges existing work. 
• A short plan of your research work.
• Details of facilities, equipment or funding you need.
• Details of ethical approval (if needed).
• Proof you have completed the required steps below.

Mandatory requirements before approval.

• Attend your Faculty induction (note: different from the Doctoral Academy welcome event).
• Complete the Research Ethics online training (certificate must be uploaded to eDoc).
• Submit a training plan on eDoc.

There are guides to doing a Training Needs Analysis and creating a Training Plan in our eDoc Guides page. 

Your application will be reviewed by the Faculty Research Degrees Committee by people who are not your supervisors. 

Confirmation of registration

Who does this?

PhD students only  

Deadline

• Full-time within 12 months of starting  
• Part-time within 24 months of starting 

Purpose

To check you have the potential to finish your PhD successfully. 

What’s involved​

Written submission

• Draft work that could form part of your final thesis.  The content/length of this will depend on your subject. Check your Faculty PGR Handbook for more detail. 
• A short progress report (max one page) that reflects your progress and has plans for how you will complete your degree.  
• A research training report (max 1 page) that reflects on training that you have already done and what more training you still need to do. You can use the Training Needs Analysis section in eDoc to help you to think about what other training you need or skills that you need to work on. 

Oral assessment (mini-viva)

• You will present and defend your submission and future plans.
• Assessors write reports before and after the oral assessment.
• The Review Panel then writes a final joint report and recommendation for the Research Degrees Board. 

Who assesses you?

A Review Panel including:

• one Independent Assessor (The Independent Assessor is someone from LJMU and normally from within your school or subject area but form outside of your supervisory team)
• your Lead Supervisor
• at least one Co-Supervisor (The Independent Assessor organises the meeting and completes documents in eDoc)

Annual progress review 

Who does this?

PhD and MPhil students  

Deadline

One month before your annual re-registration date (except in the year you do Confirmation of Registration) 

Purpose

To decide if you can continue with your research. 

You need to provide

• Reflection on your progress so far.
• Key objectives for the next 12 months.
• Reflection on training completed and a training plan for the year ahead.

Check your Faculty Handbook for any extra requirements. 

There are guides to doing a Training Needs Analysis and creating a Training Plan in our eDoc guides page. 

Submission planning 

Who does this?

PhD, PhD by Published Work, and MPhil students 

Purpose

To prepare for thesis submission. 

What you must do

• Submit a final draft thesis to your supervisors for review.
• Supervisors need about 1 month to give feedback.
• Their opinion is advice only – the final decision to submit is yours.

You cannot submit your thesis for examination until this process is complete. 

There are guides to Creating an Examination Record and Submission Planning in our eDoc guides page.

Examination overview 

Your Research Degree examination has two main parts: 

• Submitting your thesis and having it reviewed by examiners.
• Defending your thesis at a viva voce (oral exam) with the same examiners.

In your final year, you will normally complete both of these steps. The full examination process can take several months, so it’s important to plan ahead.

We recommend that you attend the following workshops:

• Preparing for Submission and Assessment
• 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva workshops.

You can find these in the Events calendar section of eDoc.

More information is available in the Research Degrees Regulations and the Policy and Guidance for the Examination of Research Degrees. We encourage you to read this information to become familiar with the examination process.

Below is a summary of each stage of the thesis submission and viva process.

Intention to submit and thesis submission

After you have completed submission planning, you should complete the Intention to Submit form in eDoc. This lets the Doctoral Academy and your supervisors know when you plan to submit your final thesis. 

You must submit your thesis electronically as one PDF file through eDoc. If examiners request printed copies, the Doctoral Academy will provide these. 

Please do not send your thesis directly to your examiners. You supervisors should not do this either. 

There are eDoc guides to help you to complete the Intention to Submit form and submitting your thesis in our eDoc guides page.

Appointment of the examination panel

Your Lead Supervisor is responsible for recommending suitable examiners. These recommendations are then reviewed and approved by the Research Degrees Board. We strongly advise discussing potential examiners with your supervisors well in advance.

Sometimes an Independent Chair is appointed to oversee the viva voce.

The Policy and Guidance for the Examination of Research Degrees has details about: 

• the number of examiners you will have 
• their eligibility criteria 
• how an Independent Chair is appointed 

There is a guide to nominating the examination panel through eDoc in our eDoc guides page. 

The Viva Voce

Your Lead Supervisor will confirm the practical arrangements for your viva. You will receive the date, time, and location through eDoc.

Please note:
If you need any reasonable adjustments, let the Doctoral Academy know as early as possible so that we can support you.

Your viva may be held in person, online, or in a hybrid format. See our online viva guidance for more information:

• PGR guide for online viva voce examinations (PDF, 182KB)
• Examiner and supervisor guide for online viva voce examinations (PDF, 400KB)

Before the viva

Each examiner will write a preliminary report on your thesis. These reports are confidential and are not shared with you or your supervisors. 

On the day of your viva

Your examiners will give you their provisional recommendation verbally. They will then submit a formal report, which must be approved by the Research Degrees Board. Once approved, you will receive confirmation via eDoc. 

Viva results

Details about the possible outcomes of your viva can be found in Research Degrees Regulations. 

We understand that your circumstances may change during your research degree. If you need to request a change, please speak with your supervisors as early as possible and before submitting an application.

Full details are in the Policy and Guidance for Attendance, Engagement and Change of Circumstances for PGRs. 

You can request the following changes through ‘Request a Change’ in eDoc: 

• Switching between full-time and part-time study.
• Transferring between PhD and MPhil.
• Requesting a Leave of Absence.
• Returning to study.
• Withdrawing from your research degree.
• Requesting an extension to your registration.

If you are on a student visa, it is your responsibility to check that any change or leave of absence is allowed under your visa conditions. You must consult International Student Support before applying. 

If you are funded, you must check that your funder allows the change and get their approval before applying. 

Change in mode of study 

You can request to change your study mode (full-time to part-time or part-time to full-time). These changes: 

• Cannot be approved once you have entered the completion year 
• Need approval from your supervisors and the Faculty Research Degrees Committee 
• Must be processed by Registry Services and the Doctoral Academy 
• Can only be applied within your current year of study, not retrospectively 
• May have funding implications, which you are responsible for checking with your funder 

Transfer between PhD and MPhil

You are initially registered for the award you were admitted to, but you may request a transfer between PhD and MPhil. 

This change: 

• requires approval from your supervisors and the Faculty Research Degrees Committee 
• is processed by Registry Services and the Doctoral Academy 
• can only be applied within your current year of study, not retrospectively 
• may have funding implications, which you must check with your funder in advance 

If you are considering using Student Loan Company funding, the Money Advice team can support you. 

If you hold a student visa, UKVI rules may need you to return to your home country to apply for a new visa. You must consult International Advice before submitting the request. 

Absence from study

There are two types of approved absence: 

Short-term absence (less than 30 days)

A short-term absence: 

• does not pause your registration 
• does not extend your thesis submission deadline 

A short-term absence is suitable for: 

• short illness 
• holidays 
• fieldwork 
• bereavement 
• caring responsibilities 
• other personal reasons 

A short-term absence is requested through the "Recording Short Term Absence" tab in eDoc.

It must be agreed by your Lead Supervisor.

If you are on a student visa, you must check with International Advice before submitting a request. 

Leave of Absence (30 days to 24 months)

A Leave of Absence: 

• Pauses your registration 
• Extends your thesis submission deadline 

A Leave of Absence should be used for longer-term circumstances such as:  

• maternity, parental or adoption leave 
• long-term illness 
• employment needs 
• significant personal/financial issues 

It must be supported by evidence (for example medical documentation).

It must be submitted through ‘Request a Change’ in eDoc. 

Requires approval from: 

• your supervisors 
• the faculty 

You may also need approval from external funders.

A maximum of two years of leave can normally be taken during your degree (full-time or part-time). Exceptions (for example medical reasons) may be considered with evidence. Maternity, paternity and adoption leave do not count towards the two-year limit. 

Leave of Absence will not normally be approved: 

• in your first month of enrolment 
• retrospectively, unless there are exceptional reasons (for example serious illness) 

While on leave: 

• you cannot take part in research activities 
• you may still access Student Advice and Wellbeing and use university facilities 

Before you return, Registry Services will contact you with instructions. You may need to meet conditions such as paying any outstanding fees. If you cannot return as planned, you must request a further period of leave. 

You must meet your supervisors within two weeks of returning. Topics to cover are outlined in the relevant policy. 

Extensions to registration

If you need more time to complete your thesis, discuss this with your supervisors and agree a realistic new submission date. You can apply through ‘Request a Change’ in eDoc. 

Your request: 

• must include your new expected submission date and the reasons for the extension 
• needs approval from your supervisors and the Faculty Research Degrees Committee 
• must then be approved by the Research Degrees Board 

If your extension takes you past your next re-enrolment date, you will need to pay the additional fee outlined in your offer letter. 

Extensions are normally capped at: 

• two years for full-time PGRs
• four years for part-time PGRs 

Maternity, paternity and adoption leave do not count towards this limit.  Exceptional extensions (for example medical reasons) may be approved with supporting evidence. 

To support a request to re-register, PGRs should show: 

• satisfactory completion of formal progression reviews 
• regular supervisory meetings

When you complete your research degree, you need to upload the final approved version of your thesis to the LJMU E-Theses Collection. You will receive instructions once your degree has been awarded. You can find information in the Policy and Guidance for the Presentation and Deposit of Research Theses. 

There are specific deadlines you must meet to be eligible to attend a graduation ceremony. Your research degree must be fully completed by the relevant deadline. Fully completed means: 

• you have submitted any required amendments through eDoc 
• your final thesis has been fully approved and signed off by the named examiner or examiners in the outcome report 
• your degree has been approved by the Research Degrees Board, and you have received official confirmation of completion 

Deadlines for 2026 graduation ceremonies

To attend a ceremony in 2026, your award must be approved by the Research Degrees Board by the following dates: 

• Spring 2026 ceremonies: Approval deadline: Thursday 22 January 2026 (Research Degrees Board meeting at 9am) 
• Summer 2026 ceremonies: Approval deadline: Thursday 4 June 2026 (Research Degrees Board meeting at 9am) 

Please note:
Graduation planning begins several months before the ceremonies. This means you may receive an invitation to register for a ceremony before your degree is fully completed. However, you must still meet all the requirements and deadlines above to be eligible to attend. 

For full details about graduation, including terms and conditions, please see the graduation webpages. 

The Doctoral Academy does not manage your IT account. Please visit the Account expiration webpage for details about the closing of your IT account.

Please note:
Make sure you save copies of any important files or emails stored in your LJMU IT account. Once your account has closed, you will not be able to access it again, and LJMU cannot reopen it or grant further access.

Degree certificates are produced by Registry Services. Further information is available on the Registry Services awards webpage.