A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Enhancing academic and Practice

Supervising research students
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of London, 2007: 3) including the key requirement: ‘the thesis shall form a distinct
contribution to the knowledge of the subject and afford evidence of originality by
the discovery of new facts and/or by the exercise of independent critical power’. The
requirement for an ‘original’ contribution is common to most universities and the
meaning of originality is something which supervisors will need to discuss with their
students and put in a disciplinary context. Most universities set a word limit on thesis size
– 100,000 words for the Ph.D., and for a professional doctorate (e.g. Ed.D.) a maximum
of 60,000 words. Universities also make statements on the scope of the thesis and the
University of East Anglia (2005: 501) states: ‘Examiners shall take into account that the
substance and significance of the thesis should be of a kind which might reasonably be
expected of a capable and diligent student after three years of full-time (or equivalent)
study.’ This focuses on the fact that the Ph.D. represents a three-year project. However,
supervisors need to be aware that this does not imply three years of full-time research,
but three years to include writing up and integration of other essential skills training into
the programme, as will be discussed later.
Growing numbers of doctoral students
There has been steady growth in the numbers of doctoral students in the UK and, over
the five years to 2005, the numbers expecting to graduate increased by about 15 per cent.
Earlier growth over the five-year period to 2003 was 31 per cent. Table 12.2 shows the
numbers of doctoral qualifications obtained in the UK over the period to 2005, classified
as full-time and part-time, and by UK domiciliary (UK), other European Union (EU ex
UK) domiciliary and non-EU overseas domiciliary.
For those graduating in 2005, the gender balance between total numbers is about 43.3
per cent female and 56.7 per cent male. When considering numbers of full-time students
separately there is little difference. With part-time students there is a slight shift in the
balance to 44.6 per cent female graduates. Of the 2005 graduating cohort 40 per cent of
students are from EU countries other than the UK and non-EU countries, indicating the
diversity of doctoral students in the UK.
These figures show the continued growth of full-time and part-time students from
outside the UK to be greater than those from the UK. Of these, the greater proportion
comprises non-EU overseas students, and experienced supervisors are well aware of this
change, especially as represented by Chinese students.
Graduate schools and the Researcher Development Programme
The changing world of doctoral supervision and the increasing number of students have
led many universities to establish graduate schools. These are generally responsible for:
• managing resources for research students;
• assuring quality of the student learning experience;
• delivering elements of skills training which form part of the research degree.