British PhDs: a year-by-year guide

A PhD is unlike any other educational program of study. While a doctoral degree is relatively unstructured compared to masters, undergraduate and high school, it is not quite right to say that it is totally unstructured. This article takes a look at how the PhD is broken down year-by-year:

Year 1: Initial Research Design and Assessment

The first year of the PhD involves all of that planning for subsequent years of the doctorate. For one, many students find that the project they actually want to do is significantly modified from the one which they applied to complete during the admissions phase. This may be because of supervisor feedback, more time to plan out the project, or other research-specific reasons. Those planning on doing field work for their research also begin planning where they would like to go and obtain any necessary permissions.

In some cases, PhD programs also have a provisional probation period which is marked by an end of first year assessment called “registration” or “transfer of status”. Often, a brief sample of written work and a plan for the whole PhD will suffice. This experience will allow you to prove the feasibility of your project and also allow you to receive detailed feedback from experts in your field.

Year 2: Data Collection

Whether it is fieldwork or other forms of research, Year 2 is a crucial year for gathering your evidence. In some disciplines – like the humanities – writing and data gathering happen simultaneously. Meanwhile, for others, such as some social sciences and the hard sciences, data collection is a more isolated process which happens before any significant writing. Spending year 1 carefully planning your data collection will allow you to approach the second year in an organised and targeted way.

Year 3/4: Writing Up

It is increasingly common for PhDs to take four years, but regardless of whether you take one or two final years to complete the PhD, these years are the key time where you write up your findings and go through the (re-)drafting process. Writing up is challenging for any doctoral candidate, so make sure to plan carefully how you will divide this time – it passes quicker than you might imagine! – and listen closely to any feedback which your supervisor gives you.