UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL

Getting Started
Before submitting your application to the Education PhD programme, you
are strongly encouraged to explore whether your proposed field of
research is a 'good fit' with the research agenda of the Graduate School of
Education by looking at the areas in which supervision is available.
Our People pages provide an overview of the research interests of our
academic staff, which will enable you to see whether there are people in
the Graduate School of Education who are likely to be interested in
supervising in your chosen field. If you wish, you may contact individuals
to discuss your intended research project prior to application.
Please note that correspondence between you and any Graduate School of
Education staff member should not be treated as a formal offer of a place
on the programme you must still submit an online application.
Making Your Application
All applicants should submit their applications for places on the Education
PhD programme online.
The formal entry requirements for the programme can be found on
the Postgraduate Programme Finder for the Education PhD.
When applying, you should provide the following:
a transcript of your final grades from your Masters degree. If you have
not yet completed your Masters degree, you should provide a transcript or
other document from your university which confirms the grades that you
have obtained so far during your Masters study.
a research statement
two academic references in support of your application. At least one of
these must be from a tutor on your Masters programme.
Applicants whose first language is not English are also required to
demonstrate that they meet the English language requirements for the
programme (IELTS score of 6.5 overall, with no sub-test score lower than
6.0) - further guidance is set out in the Profile E guidelines; Please note
that your language test certificates must be dated no more than two years
before your date of entry to the Education PhD programme; i.e. all tests
for entry in September 2014 must have been taken in October 2012 or
later.
Conditional offers are not made for entry to the Education PhD
programme, except where applicants are currently in the process of

completing their Masters degree. You must demonstrate that you have
met all other entry requirements before your application will be sent for
review by academic staff.
Entry is normally only in September each year, due to the structure of the
programme; in your first term, you will take core units from the MSc
Educational Research programme which are only offered in the Autumn
term. In exceptional circumstances, you may be granted permission to
start study at a different time of year; this is strictly at the discretion of
the Programme Coordinator. If you wish to request an alternative start
date, please email us stating your preferred start date and reasons for
requesting this.
Once we have received your application, it will be checked by
administrative staff, who will email you if any required documents are
missing or do not meet the entry requirements. Once we have received all
documents, your application will be forwarded to the Programme
Coordinator (the member of academic staff responsible for the Education
PhD programme) who will pass your application to academic staff who
may be interested in supervising your studies, and if an offer is to be
made, will formally agree your supervision arrangements.
You will be contacted via email when a formal decision has been made.
We always endeavour to deal with applications within 21 days, but at
certain times of year (particularly during August, and in December and
January) it may take longer. If an offer is made, you will be able to access
your offer letter online via the online application system, and you can
print this out for use in scholarship applications and any other purposes.
Research Statement & Application Criteria
During the application process, you will be asked to provide a 1,000 word
research statement, outlining your intended research project. Please
explain your intended methodology, and ensure that you include
bibliographic information about your key sources.
Your application will be assessed according to the following criteria, which
you are advised to consider when writing your research statement:
Previous experience of the applicant;
The quality of the proposal;
The originality of the proposal;
The content and coherence of the proposal;
The methodology and methods;

 The applicant's references.

Scholarships and Funding
Information about the scholarships available via the Graduate School of
Education can be found on the Funding Opportunitiespage.
The Universitys Student Funding Office may also be able to provide
further assistance for applicants and offer-holders who are seeking
funding.
There is a section of the application form which asks you to state whether
you wish to apply for any of our funding competitions, or if you have
already obtained funding elsewhere. If your funding arrangements change
after you have applied, please let us know.

Tuition Fees
Details of tuition fees can be found on the Academic Registrys
Fees pages. The Education PhD programme is a postgraduate research
programme in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law.
Full-time students are required to pay the full-time student fee at the
prevailing rate for a period of three consecutive years. Part-time students
are required to pay the part-time student fee at the prevailing rate for a
period of six consecutive years.
You will also need to consider the cost of your living expenses during your
studies. If you are offered a place on the programme, your offer letter will
provide guidance on the estimated cost of living in Bristol.
Application Deadlines
There is no formal deadline for applications to the Education PhD
programme, although overseas students who wish to be sponsored by the
University of Bristol for visa purposes are requested to make their
application by the end of July in the intended year of entry in order to
facilitate the visa application process.
Contact Us
The Student Services Office in the Graduate School of Education manages
the admissions process for the Education PhD programme. If there is
anything you would like to discuss with us, please contact us by;
Email - ed-phd@bristol.ac.uk
Telephone - +44 (0) 117 331 4417

Office location - Room 1.08, 35 Berkeley Square, Bristol BS8 1JA