Annual review guidance - for students
What is an annual review?
- Your academic progress is formally reviewed by an annual review meeting at least once every 12 months unless you have interrupted your studies for a whole 12 months from the anniversary of your start date, in which case the review will take place not more than two months after you have formally resumed your studies. This is the same for both full-time and part-time students.
- Your annual review deadline is calculated as 12 months from your start date / the anniversary of your start date. In your writing-up year, you will be expected to have a pre-submission interview within 6 months from your submission deadline unless you have submittted your thesis by then.
- The purpose of the annual review is to:
- consider your academic progress
- assess satisfactory completion of research training
- confirm whether you have discussed the ethical implications of your research
- determine new objectives and training requirements
- explore goals and personal development opportunities
The following information should be read in conjunction with the Annual review guidance - for students and your department's annual review checklist in the block further down the page.
- You are expected to have at least one annual review every 12 months
- Year 1: your first annual review must take place within 3 months from your annual review deadline (between 9-12 months from your start date)
- Years 2 & 3 (Years 2-7 for part-time students): your annual review should take place within 12 months from the anniversary of your start date
- Year 4 (Year 8 for part-time students): your pre-submission interview will be due within 6 months from your submission deadline if you haven't submitted your thesis by then
Reminders
- September/October starters - the Doctoral School will confirm your next review deadline to you and your supervisor in November
- Non-standard starters - the Doctoral School will contact you to confirm your next review deadline later in the year
Organising the annual review
- Once you receive the deadline reminder, reach out to your supervisor to organise the meeting
- If the Doctoral School has not received the completed paperwork for your annual review by the summer, we will send a final reminder for this. If the review has taken please, reach out to your supervisor to ensure the paperwork is returned to us.
If you have interrupted your studies for 12 months from the anniversary of your start date, you will be expected to have your annual review within 2 months from returning (in line with Section 10 (1) of the Research Degree Regulations) - thereafter, your annual review deadline will go back to 12 months from the anniversary of your start date.
- If you are due to have an upgrade attempt in the time between annual reviews, you will still be expected to have a separate annual review meeting as their objectives are different.
- The objectives of an annual review meeting are to make sure you have made enough progress and completed enough research training since your last review as well as making sure you are in track to complete by your submission deadline.
- The objective of the upgrade review is to formally show that your work is of PhD standard.
- For ease, both meetings can be combined into one if they are due to take place at similar times of the year, but you will need to complete two separate forms to allow your panel to confirm that the objectives of both reviews have been achieved.
- The panel must consist of at least one member of your supervisory team and at least one member who is completely independent from your supervisory team (i.e., they do not provide supervisory guidance related to your PhD work)
- The independent panel member can be the same for all your review meetings
You must submit the following paperwork to the annual review panel (cc Doctoral School) at least two weeks in advance of the meeting:
If you have any points or concerns that you would like to raise with the panel confidentially prior to your annual review meeting, please get in touch with the independent panel member.
As part of the annual review process, you will need to be able to confirm that you have discussed the ethical implications of your research with your supervisor.
Find out more about the University’s ethical approval process
- If you have a disability, specific learning difficulty or impairment and wish to ask for reasonable adjustments to be made to the conduct of the annual review meeting, may find it beneficial to speak to the University's Disability and Neurodiversity Services team for further guidance and support with requesting special arrangements. Examples of reasonable adjustments you might find useful can be found here.
- Once the arrangements are in place, we will notify your annual review panel so that the arrangements can be facilitated.
- You need to be registered with D&N for access arrangements to be put in place for your review
- If you want the annual review panel to be made aware of extenuating circumstances that have affected your study, you should submit your statement and supporting evidence to the panel chair alongside your annual review paperwork.
- In the case of circumstances relating only to your performance at the review meeting, you should inform the panel members and submit a statement and supporting evidence within seven days of the meeting to the Doctoral School.
If you are interrupted for 12 months from the anniversary of your start date
- You will be expected to have a return to studies meeting ideally within 1 month but no later than 2 months from returning to studies.
- Your regulatory annual review deadline will not change due to a period of interruption and will continue to be based on your start date/anniversary of your start date.
If you are interrupted for under 12 months
- Your annual review deadline will not be amended - your annual review panel should consider active engagement outside the period of interruption and make a decision on your progress with this factored in.
If you are interrupted for under 12 months and you miss your annual review deadline
- You will need to discuss with your supervisor whether you need a return to studies meeting following your interruption.
Return to studies meeting form - you need to complete this before attending your return to studies meeting and must provide a copy of the completed form as part of the paperwork submission for your next annual review.
- There are three possible outcomes that the annual review panel can choose from:
- Good progress
- Satisfactory progress, save for minor concerns in one or more areas
- Unsatisfactory progress
- If you receive an outcome of 'Unsatisfactory progress', you will be required to undertake a further review within a few months of the original meeting. The deadline for this referal meeting will be clearly stated on the annual review form. In certain cases, the Department / School may consider whether it is appropriate to issue a formal warning.
- If you have not submitted your thesis yet, you will be expected to attend a pre-submission interview in your writing-up year. This is due to take place within 6 months from your submission deadline.
- The meeting involves you and your School Director of PGR Education / Department PGR Lead.
- These meetings are an opportunity for you to discuss your work and your preparations for the examination process with an independent academic in your School.
- Once the meeting has taken place, the completed Pre-submission Interview form will be sent to the Doctoral School for processing by your School Director of PGR Education / Department PGR Lead.
The year you will be expected to complete a pre-submission interview, you will be notified of this in November (if you started your studies in September/October) or in March (if you have a non-standard start date). If you have submitted before the final 6 months, your submission will be noted, and the pre-submission interview will not be required.
- The chair of the panel / independent panel member will return the completed paperwork for the regulatory annual review (clearly indicating the outcome and agreed goals for your next review) withing 2 weeks from your review meeting
- You are welcome to add comments and feedback on the process either on the form or after this has been emailed to us
- Once we receive the completed paperwork, we will confirm the outcome to you, your supervisory team and the annual review panel
Department checklists
Please be aware that the Business School Semi-Annual Review Form is to be used for the semi-annual reviewn meeting only and does not need to be returned to the Doctoral School. Please use the Annual Review Form to record your regulatory annual review.