General entry requirements

Minimum requirements

2:1 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 requirementsLink opens in a new window. 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 pageLink opens in a new window.

Additional requirements

There are no additional entry requirements for this course.

Our research

Research themes for this PhD 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
• Lifelong learning as it relates to career development work, coaching, counselling, early childhood practice, psychotherapy, social work, and/or social policy
• 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.

We provide this named PhD route covering a range of professional and academic areas linked to lifelong learning. This results in a PhD with the named route 'Adult Education and Lifelong Learning' on the University transcript. If you prefer to follow a PhD without a named route, there are also strong links between this PhD and our Open Professional Studies Route PhD (P-X3S1). So this option can be pursued.

Hear from our students

Find a supervisor

Find a supervisor

Please hover above the names listed below for a quick overview then click to view the full profile.

• Dr Anil AwestiLink opens in a new window
• Professor Will CurtisLink opens in a new window
• Dr Alan DolanLink opens in a new window
• Dr Steve GascoigneLink opens in a new window
• Dr Phil GossLink opens in a new window
• Dr John GoughLink opens in a new window
• Professor Ruth HewstonLink opens in a new window
• Dr Nalita JamesLink opens in a new window
• Dr Charlotte JonesLink opens in a new window
• Dr Tania LydenLink opens in a new window
• Dr Phil McCashLink opens in a new window
• Dr Kevin StoneLink opens in a new window

Applicants are encouraged to contact their potential supervisor. The most important aspect is the nature of your project and its potential for supervision in our department.

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.

The University's Find a Supervisor Guidance

Research proposals

When putting together your research proposal please:

• Provide an overview of your research question, explaining why it is of academic and or practical importance
• Outline the main objectives of your research, providing details of two or three key aspects
• Indicate the importance of previous related research and how your own research question might make a useful contribution to the area
• Briefly state the main research techniques (interviews, case studies, modelling, literature review, etc.) you might use
• Indicate your suggested literature and/or data collection procedures, indicating sources and any possible difficulties
• Explain the techniques you intend to use
• Add an outline timeline of activities

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.

Find your 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

Centre for Lifelong Learning (CLL)

For more than 30 years, the Centre for Lifelong Learning has been a centre of expertise in the education of lifelong learners in different contexts. It has a focus on enabling adult learners to achieve their personal and professional goals by accessing a Warwick education, irrespective of background.

Our departmental research strategy focuses on four interconnected themes: concepts of lifelong learning; people-focused professions; wellbeing and identity; participation and collaboration. We seek to enthuse staff, students, and the wider community with this vision. More information is available on our website.

Find out more about us by visiting our website.Link opens in a new window

Our Postgraduate Taught courses

• Career Development and Coaching Studies (MA)
• Career Development and Coaching Studies (PGCert)
• Career Development and Coaching Studies (PGDip)
• Career Development Theories (PGA)
• Career Education, Information and Guidance in HE (MA)
• Career Education, Information and Guidance in HE (PGCert)
• Career Education, Information and Guidance in HE (PGDip)
• Career Development Theories - CEIGHE (PGA)
• Challenges of Careers Work in Higher Education (PGA)
• Coaching (MA)
• Coaching (PGCert)
• Coaching (PGDip)
• Leadership and Team Coaching (PGA)
• Psychotherapy and Counselling (MSc)

Our Postgraduate Research courses

• Open Professional Studies PhD
• PhD in Adult Education and Lifelong Learning
• PhD in Social Policy and Social Work
• PhD in Social Work

How to apply

Applications are now open for courses that start in September and October 2025.

For research courses that start in September and October 2025 the application deadline for students who require a visa to study in the UK is 2 August 2025. This should allow sufficient time to complete the admissions process and to obtain a visa to study in the UK.

How to apply for a postgraduate research course