Doctorate Education in the UK

What is a PhD?

A PhD is the highest-ranking research program you can achieve at a UK university. Education often revolves around a serious research project of 100,000 words. This project is written as a thesis and then needs to be defended orally in front of an expert jury. Few doctoral programs include a taught module and accordingly, the student is expected to take more responsibility for their own work and program.

Doctorate Entry Requirements

UK Universities can accept anyone to the PhD program. The student to be admitted is expected to have completed his undergraduate education with a minimum average of 2.7/4.0 (upper second-class honors), and also to have obtained a master’s degree. Proof of English language skills will be required and an IELTS score of at least 7.0 is generally required.

PhD Thesis Proposal

All students are required to submit a thesis proposal when applying for doctoral education. The proposal should clearly state the research you want to do, how you will do it, and why it is important. The proposal must be accepted by a jury before the program begins.

Other Doctorate Types

-MPhil (Master of Philosophy)

If you want to do a PhD, you may need to study an MPhil first and move on to a PhD program after 12-18 months. The MPhil is also a qualification in its own right and is usually thesis work only, with options for one year full time and two years part time. The thesis must present the results of educational work and research and must be a maximum of 60,000 words.

If the proposed research is not of sufficient scope for a full doctoral study, students choose to study MPhil.

-MRes (Master of Research)

An MRes is an advanced graduate research degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Some doctoral programs require an MRes qualification before starting, and the student is required to write a 40,000-word dissertation.

MRes would be a good trial to see if you enjoy conducting your research before fully embarking on and investing in a PhD.

-Professional Doctorate Education

Professional doctoral training is similar to a PhD, but aims to improve professional practice rather than improving academic ability. The most common professional doctoral studies include law, education, business, engineering and medicine.

How can I apply for a PhD?

Once you’ve decided on a thesis topic and figured out how to fund your research, there are many documents required when making your application. These may include:

academic transcripts
academic references
Letter of Intent
Thesis proposal (sample)
Students will also need to designate an advisor to oversee their doctoral studies.

UK Universities

University	City	Explanation
University of Bradford	Bradford	A social university with dozens of undergraduate and master’s programs
University of Brighton	Brighton	An international university among the top 250 universities in the world
Cardiff University	Cardiff	One of the UK’s oldest and top 10 universities
University of Greenwich	Greenwich	Award-winning green campus, one of the UK’s most preferred universities
University of Liverpool	Liverpool	An excellent British university in the UNESCO cultural capital city of Liverpool
Heriot Watts University	Edinburgh	One of the oldest universities in the United Kingdom in the capital of Scotland
University of Sussex	Brighton	One of the best research universities in the world and the UK
King’s Colleges	Oxford, London, Bournemouth	One of the best schools in England where you can get foundation education before undergraduate and master’s degree.
London Metropolitan University	London	London’s largest university, founded in 1848
Oxford Brookes University	Oxford	One of Oxford’s best universities with a reputation for business
University of Southern Wales	Cardiff, Newport, Pontypridd	One of the biggest universities in England with 5 different campuses
University of Kent	Catenbury	The university, which is famous in the field of computers, is located in Catenbury, one of the cultural cities of England.
Kaplan International Colleges	London	Offers top-quality foundation programs before applying to the Top 20 UK universities
Bellerbys College	Brighton, Cambridge, London, Oxford	Offers intensive foundation training for engineering, TIP or social sciences
University of Law	London, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Bloomsbury	One of the best options for studying Law in the UK
Birkbeck University of London	London	University with more than 200 undergraduate and graduate programs, founded in 1823
Brunel University	London	One of the UK’s most prestigious universities, ranked among the top 50 universities
Durham University	Durham	Founded in 1832, the 78th best university in the world
Kingston University London	London	The most applied university of any university in London with 25,000 students
Manchester Metropolitan University	Manchester	Among the top 200 universities in the world in Educational Sciences
Middlesex University	London	London’s distinctive university with its deep-rooted history
Newcastle University	Newcastle	Russell Group university, which is among the top 150 universities in the world
Queen’s University Belfast	Belfast	One of the UK’s oldest universities with 2 Nobel Prize-winning graduates
University of Reading	reading	Universities with more than 300 programs that are among the top 200 universities in the world
Royal Holloway University	London	Founded in 1876, the 290th best university in the world, a member of the University of London
Sheffield Hallam University	Sheffield	One of the UK’s largest universities in the heart of Sheffield
The University of Edinburgh	Edinburgh	6th oldest university in the world with 20 Nobel Prize-winning alumni
University of Aberdeen	Aberdeen	Among the top 20 universities in England, which is in the 1% of the world’s most successful universities
University of Bristol	Bristol	Russell Group University ranked 49th in the 2020 World Rankings
University of Gloucestershire	Gloucestershire	One of the UK’s popular universities offering innovative education on 3 different campuses
University of Leeds	Leeds	The 93rd best university in the world with one of the largest campuses in England
University of Sheffield	Sheffield	World’s second best university in Information Management
University of Sunderland	Sunderland,London,Tokyo	An international university with 40% foreign students
University of Surrey	Guildford	Leading university in Sociology, Psychology and Engineering
University of Westminster	London	A university in central London with many business alumni, award-winning MBA programs
London South Bank University	London	Lots of options in fields such as Art, Architecture, Engineering and Law
University of Stirling	Stirling	The university, which is one of the best in Scotland, has a very good place in the world rankings.
University of Swansea	Swansea	The university, which stands out in law and engineering education in England, has a department for them.
University of Glasgow	Glasgow	It has an excellent history as the 4th oldest university in English speaking countries
Nottingham Trent University	Nottingham	One of the best universities in England, founded in 1832
Queen Mary University of London	London	One of the most preferred UK universities from which many famous British artists have graduated.
University of Portsmouth	Portsmouth	A port city university with 100 years of history in arts, social sciences and sciences
Bangor University	Bangor	Ranked in the top 20 UK universities for teaching quality and excellence
University of Plymouth	Plymouth	The university, which has been teaching since 1862, is at the forefront of health sciences and social sciences.
Coventry University	Coventry	The university in Coventry, one of the UK’s top 5 student cities, is a favorite of international students.
University of Bournemouth	Bournemouth	University in Bournemouth, one of the most preferred schools by Turkish students
University of East Anglia	Norwich	A prestigious educational institution ranked among the UK’s top 15 universities

If you want to study for a master’s or doctorate in the UK, make an appointment for a free consultation with Oscar Education, headquartered in London