Extending your PhD Registration and Milestones

Extending your PhD registration and/or milestones is a separate process to applying for an extension to your stipend.   

Students who are not writing up 

If you are not in the writing up phase of your PhD (writing up means that you have either a Writing Up Away From College Status or a Completing Research Status (CRS)), and you have been prevented from continuing with your research due to Covid-19, you will receive an automatic no-cost extension to your PhD registration and all future assessment milestones.   

Milestones are defined as:  

• Early Stage Assessment  
• Late Stage Review  
• Progress Review  
• Examination Entry   
• Thesis Submission (including Thesis Re-submission)  

The extension process will be handled by your Department and your Department may have specific guidance for you in order to take this forward.  If you have any concerns, please talk to your Department.   

If you were due to enter writing up from 16 March 2020 onwards

You can proceed as normal and be considered for entry to writing up at the appropriate point. No adjustments will be applied to your milestone deadlines and you will be expected to submit within 12 months of entry to writing up (or by the given submission deadline, whichever is sooner). Or, if you found that you have been prevented from finalising your experimental work and data gathering due to Covid-19, the automatic no-cost extension is available to you too. 

You should let your Department know whether you wish to proceed as normal or whether you require a no-cost extension to your milestones. 

Students currently writing up (Completing Research Status or Writing up Away from College Status) 

If you had already progressed to the writing up stage prior to 16 March 2020 you are not expected to have been impacted by the closure of laboratories and research facilities and, as such, no automatic registration or milestone extensions will be applied.  

However, if you have been affected by circumstances beyond your control in the lead up to thesis submission you will be able to request an extension to your thesis submission deadline. You should liaise with your supervisor to determine a reasonable new submission deadline, which should then be requested in accordance with the College’s Late Case* procedure.  

Interruptions of Studies 

Upon consideration of the above options, you could choose to interrupt your studies.  However, if you interrupt, please note there will be visa implications and financial implications which arise from losing your student status. Further guidance on interrupting your studies is available here).  

Guidance for all students on the impact of COVD-19 and appropriate adjustments is available on the Registry webpages.