Types of Doctoral Registration

The four types of registration are:

Full-time PhD:
The minimum period of registration is one year, with a limit of three for completion.

Part-time PhD:
The minimum period of registration is two years, with a limit of six for completion.

Entry Qualifications

Applicants should have a minimum of an upper second class honours undergraduate degree (or its international equivalent). A good Masters degree would also be advantageous. At least one of these qualifications should be in a relevant discipline.

If English is not your first language, we require you to achieve an IELTS score of 7.0 with a minimum of 6.0 in each component part. We may waive this requirement if you have during the last three years, obtained a degree from a UK university, or from a country where English is used as a first language and you have recent experience of preparing extensive documents in English. If you are unsure if these exemptions apply to you, please contact us for clarification.

Joint Location Programme

The Joint Location Programme is intended for international students who wish to divide their period of research between Sheffield and an overseas location. A minimum of one year must normally be spent in Sheffield (either as one whole period or distributed across the period of research). The minimum period before submission of the thesis is three full years. In order to be admitted under this scheme candidates must:

meet the University's normal entry requirements for higher degrees by research;
plan to pursue a scheme of research which inherently requires some of the work to be undertaken in a location away from Sheffield;
demonstrate adequate supervisory arrangements for the scheme of research acceptable to the Faculty of Social Sciences;
prove access, where appropriate, to the necessary library and other facilities.

Approval for a Joint Location candidature should be sought prior to admission through the Faculty of Social Science.

Remote Location Programme

The Remote Location Programme is intended for part-time candidates who would like to study towards a PhD at an approved overseas remote location.

Candidates are allowed to spend the majority of their programme of research at the remote site, but they are required to attend this University in order to meet a number of statutory requirements. These will include all viva voce examinations. The candidate's progress is monitored via departmental and faculty authorities, and it is a requirement that all candidates register for the degree of PhD. PhD status will be confirmed at the review after the 12 month probationary period. Academic approval for a candidate to study under the Remote Location Programme must be gained during the application process from the Faculty of Social Sciences.


Fees for 2012/13 (PhD) are:	Full-Time	Part-Time
UK/EU	£3,828	£1,914
International (Non-EU)	£12,160	£6,080