General entry requirements

Minimum requirements

2:i undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject or a good Master’s degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject. Supported by a good research proposal (2500 words).

English language requirements

You can find out more about our English language requirements. This course requires the following:

• Band B
• IELTS overall score of 7.0, minimum component scores of two at 6.0/6.5 and the rest at 7.0 or above.

International qualifications

We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications.

For more information, please visit the international entry requirements page.

Additional requirements

There are no additional entry requirements for this course.

Our research

Research themes can include:

• Lifelong learning in any context including workplace, community, and formal education, plus informal learning in the family or elsewhere
• Lifelong learning at any age including childhood, young adulthood, mid-life, and/or later years
• Theories of learning
• Professional and vocational education
• Popular and radical education
• Issues of culture, class, gender, ethnicity, age, sexual identity, and/or disability
• Access to learning, retention, and drop-out
• Transitions, learner identity, and career development
• Transformative learning
• Motivations to learning

The above is not an exclusive list of research areas and you are free to propose additional topics or themes.

Research proposal guidance

Find a supervisor

Recent examples of areas for PhD supervision (an indicative list):

• Adult Education in HE
• FE
• Lifelong Learning
• Community education
• Popular/radical adult education
• Informal learning and work-based learning – with a focus on issues of inequality, (class, gender, ethnicity and age)
• Access issues
• Experiences of learning
• Learning transitions
• Theoretical enquiry
• Identities, transitions into the labour market

We have four PhD routes. There is some flexibility in choice of route and applicants are encouraged to discuss this with their potential supervisor. The most important aspect is the nature of your project and its potential for supervision in our department.

Within each route, you will find links to potential supervisors' profiles. You are asked to view your intended supervisor's profile and read their work. Please think about what might make your proposed PhD attractive to your supervisor, and customise the proposal accordingly.

• How does your project relate to your intended supervisor's work?
• How might your project enhance, advance, or develop it?
• Could you take it in a different direction?
• What kind of methods and approaches are likely to appeal to your potential supervisor?

We receive a large number of proposals every year and only have capacity for proposals that are carefully tailored to our specific areas of expertise.

Find a supervisor guidance

Visit our website to explore our PhD routes and areas of expertise.

Tuition fees

Tuition fees are payable for each year of your course at the start of the academic year, or at the start of your course, if later. Academic fees cover the cost of tuition, examinations and registration and some student amenities.

Taught course fees  Research course fees

Fee Status Guidance

We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Students will be classified as Home or Overseas fee status. Your fee status determines tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available. If you receive an offer, your fee status will be clearly stated alongside the tuition fee information.

Do you need your fee classification to be reviewed?

If you believe that your fee status has been classified incorrectly, you can complete a fee status assessment questionnaire. Please follow the instructions in your offer information and provide the documents needed to reassess your status.

Find out more about how universities assess fee status

Additional course costs

As well as tuition fees and living expenses, some courses may require you to cover the cost of field trips or costs associated with travel abroad.

For departmental specific costs, please see the Modules tab on the course web page for the list of core and optional core modules with hyperlinks to our Module Catalogue (please visit the Department’s website if the Module Catalogue hyperlinks are not provided).

Associated costs can be found on the Study tab for each module listed in the Module Catalogue (please note most of the module content applies to 2022/23 year of study). Information about module department specific costs should be considered in conjunction with the more general costs below:

• Core text books
• Printer credits
• Dissertation binding
• Robe hire for your degree ceremony

Scholarships and bursaries