Registration and administration

You are required to register every year for your programme as well as pay your tuition fees. Notification for enrolment will be sent to your college email account, it is your responsibility to check this account regularly.

Students will initially be registered as candidates for the MPhil degree. During their programme they will be subject to a formal assessment of their research ability and the standard of their research.

The purpose of this assessment is to confirm the student’s transfer of registration to candidate for the PhD degree. The Transfer of Registration process is also known informally as the ‘Upgrade’. For full guidelines pertaining to the Transfer of Registration process, please refer to Section 6.2 of the Code of Practice for Postgraduate Research and Training (PDF).

Following any transfer panel attempt, all parties (including assessors, student, and Departmental PGR Committee chair) are required to complete a UP1 - Transfer of Registration Panel outcome form indicating the assessors’ decision.

In certain circumstances, research students registered with the College may, for reasons integral to their research (e.g. overseas fieldwork), need to be based for defined periods (normally between 3-12 months) at an off-campus location.

If you are registered on a full-time MPhil/PhD programme and are going to be researching away from campus for a period of time you can apply for Off-Campus Research status for the applicable period. If approved, your tuition fee for those months will be adjusted pro rata to the part-time rate for your programme. 

You can read the current guidelines applicable to Off-Campus Research in the Code of Practice for Postgraduate Research and Training (PDF).

Please note, there are additional considerations for students who are studying on a visa when applying for Off-Campus Research status; if you are studying on a visa, you are advised to contact Goldsmiths Immigration Advice Service to discuss your plans before making an application.

With departmental consent you can change your mode of attendance or degree programme. For full guidelines pertaining to changing your mode of attendance, please refer to Section 2.4 of the Code of Practice for Postgraduate Research and Training (PDF).

To request a change, please complete a Change of Programme Form and return it to your department for approval.

The PGR Board has also approved temporary amendments to the policy governing the Completion period, as set out in the Code of Practice for Postgraduate Research and Training (PDF), to the effect that:

From 1 April 2021, eligible students are permitted to opt-in to an extension to their Completion period of 6 months FT/ 12 months PT

The following students are eligible for extensions to their Completion periods:

• Students who started their MPhil/PhD programme prior to 1 March 2020 
• Students who have been approved for Completion status 
• Students who have not yet submitted their thesis for examination 
• Students who have already been granted extensions to their maximum registration periods and are currently in Continuation status who wish to avail themselves of this adjustment should contact graduateschool (@gold.ac.uk)
• Students who have been granted UKRI funding extensions (through their own DTP or through the Graduate School’s Phase 2 scheme) who wish to avail themselves of this adjustment should contact graduateschool (@gold.ac.uk) to check their eligibility

For more information about this amendment, please refer to Covid-19 Amendments to PGR Student Policies (PDF) or email graduateschool (@gold.ac.uk)

With departmental consent you can take some time away from your study. You can interrupt for a minimum of 2 months and a maximum of 24 months. For full guidelines pertaining to periods of interruption, please refer to Section 2.2 of the Code of Practice for Postgraduate Research and Training (PDF).

To request an interruption, please complete Interruption Form and return it to your department for approval.  

Completion status is a reduced fee status available to MPhil/PhD students who are confirmed to be in the 'writing up' phase of their programme.

The criteria for approval for completion status is included in full in Section 2.5 of the Code of Practice for Postgraduate Research and Training (PDF). For information about fee liability in this mode, please refer to Annex 7 of the College’s Tuition Fee Policy and Procedures (PDF).

See tuition fee amounts for each academic year.

If a student’s work is deemed unsatisfactory by the supervisory team, the student may, with the agreement of the Departmental Postgraduate Research Committee (or equivalent), be placed on Special Academic Review (SAR) for a defined time period.

For full guidelines pertaining the SAR process please refer to Section 6.3 of the Code of Practice for Postgraduate Research and Training (PDF).

PGR convenors are normally expected to submit the formal request for SAR via the Graduate School’s online form (SAR1 - Special Academic Review Department request).

At the conclusion of the SAR period, the Assessors should complete SAR2 – Special Academic Review Joint Report. Once ratified by the Department, this form should be returned to graduateschool (@gold.ac.uk).

Graduate School will oversee a formal process for individual doctoral researchers wishing to apply for extended periods of research and study outside of the UK. Please see Remote research application process (doctoral researchers) (PDF) .

Where a doctoral researcher is approved for a period of Remote Research, it is expected that arrangements will be in place to ensure that the core aspects of the doctoral experience, such as contact time with supervisors, opportunities to engage with training and with the academic community and the means to access other support will be at an equivalent level to those studying on or near campus.

Tuition fee rates will therefore be the same regardless of location, and there are no fee reductions associated with Remote Research status.

Applications should be made via the Remote Research application form. A copy of the form’s questions is available in the Remote research application process (doctoral researchers) (PDF).

The PGR Board has also approved temporary amendments to the policy governing the Completion period, as set out in the Code of Practice for Postgraduate Research and Training (PDF), to the effect that: 

• From 1 April 2021, eligible students are permitted to opt-in to an extension to their Completion period of 6 months FT/ 12 months PT 

The following students are eligible for extensions to their Completion periods:

• Students who started their MPhil/PhD programme prior to 1 March 2021 
• Students who have been approved for Completion status  
• Students who have not yet submitted their thesis for examination  
• Students who been granted  funding extensions who wish to avail themselves of this adjustment should contact graduateschool (@gold.ac.uk) to check their eligibility. PGR students in receipt of UKRI funding will not be eligible for this Completion extension if the period will violate their expected Completion date

For more information about this amendment, please refer to Covid-19 Completion Extensions Policy (PDF) or email graduateschool (@gold.ac.uk)

Any international travel for face-to-face research is subject to approval by the Head of Department and the university’s insurance team.  

PGR students looking to undertake research-related international travel are encouraged at the earliest possible opportunity to liaise with the University’s insurance team in order to check eligibility and likely cost of insurance coverage to avoid disappointment at a later stage of the process.  

In all cases, PGR students looking to undertake research-related travel must, in advance, have:  

• Sought and received the support of their supervisors 
• Received the specific approval of their departmental PG committee or Head of Department  
• Submitted all relevant ethics, risk and safety applications to, and received approval from, their Departmental Research Ethics and Integrity Committee 
• Completed an insurance risk assessment in consultation with the University insurance team

Once all of the above have been completed and the insurance team have confirmed eligibility, they must secure final authorisation and sign off for travel from SMT and confirm insurance cover.  

Only subsequent to these steps should students make travel arrangements. UKRI-funded students whose travel is supported by a UKRI grant must arrange travel through University approved travel agents and further guidance on Travel insurance and assessment.