Guidance on a change of status
There are a number of reasons why a student may need to make changes to their registration status during their studies, and the guidance on these pages is intended to make this as simple as possible.
All changes of status are subject to the Regulations for Research Degrees and require the support of the First Supervisor and approval from the Faculty Director for Postgraduate Research (FDPGR) under delegated authority of the Faculty Research Degrees Committee.
Students on bursaries should take note of the requirements of their contracts and can contact Research Degrees for advice about the impact of potential changes to registration.
Once the approval has been granted the Research Degrees team will process the change and formally notify the student, their First Supervisor and the Faculty Admin team.
There are many practical reasons for considering a change of registration status, but students may also be affected by wellbeing issues, so please remember the University can offer support with those as well as the procedures detailed below.
If, for any reason, a students’ circumstances change it may be beneficial for them to interrupt their studies or change their mode of study from Full Time to Part Time or vice versa.
International students with student route visa should be aware that interruptions of over 59 days must be reported to the home office.
In the first instance the student should discuss their options with their First Supervisor or contact the Research Degrees team for guidance.
Students may apply to interrupt their registration for up to one year within their whole period of study. Any further interruptions would be seen as exceptional and consideration for approval of these will be at the discretion of the Faculty Director of Postgraduate Research (FDPGR).
To confirm a request for an interruption, a UPR4 form will need to be completed and signed by the relevant members of the Faculty before being returned to the Research Degrees team for processing. When an interruption is approved, the Research Degrees team will formally write to the student to confirm their new thesis submission date and any applicable deadlines for Annual or Major Reviews.
Bursary students should refer to the details in their Bursary agreement regarding periods of interruption and payments.
Changes of mode can be requested for students other than those who are studying PhD by Publication or Professional Doctorates which are only available part-time.
International students should be aware that interruptions or changes of mode may have an effect on their visa. Any students wishing to check their visa status should email The UKVI Student Compliance Team (ukvi-student-compliance@port.ac.uk).
To confirm a request for a change of mode, a UPR4 form will need to be completed and signed by the relevant members of the Faculty before being returned to the Research Degrees team for processing. When a change of mode is approved the Research Degrees team will formally write to the student to confirm their new thesis submission date and any applicable deadlines for Annual or Major Reviews.
Maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave do not count towards the one year maximum period of interruption. Please see the Guidance on pregnancy, adoption and becoming a parent while studying.
If you are thinking of withdrawing, please talk to your supervisors and other staff to ensure that you have explored all the support mechanisms available to you - it might be that we can help you to continue your registration or take a managed break from it before returning.
If a decision to withdraw is made, a UPR4 form must be completed with all the necessary signatures, and returned to the Research Degrees team.
If a change of course is required, for example from Prof Doc to PhD or PhD to MPhil then a student must gain the consent of their First Supervisor and approval from their Faculty Director of Postgraduate Research (FDPGR). A UPR4 form must be completed and processed by the Research Degrees team who will formally write to the student to confirm the change.
Further information regarding all of the above changes to registration can be found in the Regulations for Research Degrees or in the Operational Handbook.
If a student is unable to submit their thesis within their approved registration period then they should apply for an extension before the registration comes to an end.
An extension of up to one year may be granted but bursary students should check the requirements of their contract.
To request an extension, a UPR12 form must be completed by the student and signed by their First Supervisor before the student reaches their end date. Once this has been approved by the Faculty Director of Postgraduate Research (FDPGR) it will be sent to the Research Degrees team for processing.
For all students an extension of registration for one year can be approved, although part time PhD students who started their studies before October 2017 and Prof Doc students who started before October 2022 can apply for 2 years.
Exceptional extensions
Any further extension would be classed as an exceptional extension and as such must be accompanied by a statement from the student which is supported by their First Supervisor and approved at the discretion of the FDPGR.
All associated Fees for extensions can be found on the Postgraduate research fees and bursary information webpage.
These are mostly likely to occur when a supervisor leaves the University of Portsmouth; however they can happen for a number of reasons including maternity leave, sabbaticals, long term ill health or if the student/supervisor relationship is not working as well as it could be.
To initiate a change of supervisor a UPR3 form must be completed and fully signed by the student, First Supervisor, Departmental Director of Postgraduate Research (DDPGR), Head of Department and Faculty Director of Postgraduate Research (FDPGR).
Once the form has been sent to the Research Degrees team it will be processed, the changes will be made on the system and an email sent to the student formally notifying them of the change.
FAQs
These will be adjusted as appropriate by the Fees team and will depend on how much you have previously paid and what time of the academic year the interruption is within. For any Fee queries contact feeenquiries@port.ac.uk.
This will be determined by the amount of time you currently have left before the current thesis submission date. If you change from Full Time to Part Time this will be doubled. If you change from Part Time to Full Time it will be halved.
No, there is no distinction between full time and part time students in the regulations when it comes to extension periods.
If you have already submitted your Annual Review documents these will be used for the review on your return. If you haven’t yet submitted the documents you will be required to do so shortly after your studies resume. Research Degrees will include information relating to the impact on reviews in the confirmation email sent when your interruption has been processed.
As soon as you know that the interruption is required you should inform your Supervisor and fill out the UPR4 to make the request.
You should inform your Supervisor and Research Degrees that you are returning to study. Your record will then be resumed. Depending on the length of your interruption you may be required to register.
Should you need to extend the interruption you will need to complete another UPR4 form and have this approved by the FDPGR.
Yes, you can. However, the minimum fee for an extension is for 6 months. Therefore you would still need to pay 6 months worth of fees.
This is dependent on approval from the budget holder. If you are a bursary student in this situation you should have a discussion with your Faculty around this.