7.5.1 Where a candidate has discontinued their research and has not been engaged with the programme, the withdrawal of registration must be notified to the Research Degrees Team immediately by the Supervisors, and /or the candidate to ensure that the necessary processes are implemented immediately.
7.5.2 On the recommendation of a candidate’s supervisors and the Faculty or Departmental Postgraduate Research Tutor, the Research Degree Committee may terminate the registration of a candidate for the following reasons:
- if a Probationer Research Student does not register their proposal within a maximum period of 1 year from the date of initial enrolment (pro rata for part-time students);
- if the candidate’s period of registration has expired and an application for extension of registration has not been submitted within a reasonable period;
- if the candidate has not responded to any correspondence from the supervisors and there has been no contact between the candidate and the supervisors for a period of 1 year;
- if the candidate has not maintained enrolment as a student of the University and paid the appropriate fees;
- if the candidate’s Faculty provides evidence for unsatisfactory academic progress, over a period of one academic year.
Reinstatement of registration
7.5.3 A candidate who has formally withdrawn may apply for reinstatement of registration if, due to a change in circumstances, the candidate is in a position to be able to resume the research programme.
The application should be considered by the appropriate Postgraduate Research Tutor in line with the Admission procedures in the Code of Practice for Postgraduate Research. Consideration will also be given to the likelihood of completion, past academic achievement, progress, references, financial viability and whether adequate supervision is available.
To note that the University rules state that no student who has been financially excluded may be permitted to be enrolled again on a programme of study.
7.5.4 As part of the application, the candidate should submit a full proposal containing a detailed progress report, clearly outlining the work already undertaken with a full account of the work still to be completed. The application should include a realistic timetable of when the various stages of the remaining work will be completed.
The application will be considered by the Faculty or Departmental Postgraduate Research Tutor in the same way as for a new application. However, particular attention will be paid to the progress made and the academic standard of the work already completed when the candidate was previously registered. The Faculty and the Research Degree Committee reserve the right to refuse re-entry to the programme if previous work was not of a satisfactory standard or if there are no longer supervisors available to support the work.
If an application to resume study is successful, the candidate will be required to enrol on a new student number and pay the appropriate full-time or part-time fee; no concession will be made for fees previously paid. An application for registration will then be made to the Research Degree Committee in the usual way; the amount of time allowed for the backdating of a candidate’s new registration will depend on the recommendations made by the Faculty and Committee.