Education policy and practice PhD

We welcome applications to study for an Education Policy and Practice PhD at the University of Brighton’s School of Education, particularly across the broad themes that are supported through our Research and Enterprise Groups:

As an Education Policy and Practice PhD student, you will undertake applied research, combining theoretical analysis with fieldwork data collection to produce leading edge studies.

The research of our supervisory staff generates knowledge that advances social justice and fosters critical understanding of learning and teaching in diverse cultures and complex worlds.

Staff and PhD student research spans broad areas of education, including for example: investigating children and young people’s rights in UK and international contexts; researching the learning, development and working lives of educators in different educational settings; mentoring and coaching in education settings; and examining pedagogical practices in higher education.

We carry out innovative, creative and participatory research involving children, young people, adults and those who work with them. We also specialise in narrative and biographical methodologies and approaches and, as part of this, listen to educator’s and learner’s stories and examine their life histories, to better understand their experiences and world views.

Our PhD students have gone on to a variety of different roles following the successful completion of their research. These include academic posts as lecturers and postdoctoral research assistants at Brighton and elsewhere. Many have gone on to management positions in related areas such as business consultancy.

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Key information

Education Policy and Practice PhD study is available on a full-time or part-time basis. As one of our postgraduate research students, you will:

benefit from a supervisory team comprising two members of academic staff with expertise in your area of interest. Depending on your research specialism you may also have an additional external supervisor from another school or another research institution, or an external partner from government or industry
benefit from access to a range of electronic resources via the University’s Online Library, as well as to the physical book and journal collections housed within the Aldrich Library and other campus libraries.

Full-time Education Policy and Practice PhD students also have access to desk space and a desktop PC.

Academic environment

Staff and doctoral student research span broad areas of education, including for example: investigating children and young people’s rights in UK and international contexts; researching the learning, development and working lives of educators in different educational settings; mentoring and coaching in education settings; and examining pedagogical practices in higher education.

Based at the university’s Falmer campus, the School of Education has over 90 academic and research staff. Staff expertise within the School of Education span a range of disciplines covering policy, pedagogy, practice and professional development within early years, primary, secondary, further and higher education, as well as within youth work and other non-formal educational contexts.

PhD students take an active role in a range of intellectual and social activities within the Schools. Postgraduate students working on Education Policy and Practice are encouraged to integrate into one or more of our four Research and Enterprise Groups (REGs) listed above. These groups provide you with opportunities to present ‘work in progress’ and network with other researchers.

The Brighton Doctoral College offer a training programme for postgraduate researchers, covering research methods and transferable (including employability) skills. Attendance at appropriate modules within this programme is encouraged, as is contribution to the Schools’ various seminar series. Academic and technical staff also provide more subject-specific training.

Research themes

Researchers within the School of Education are engaged in work across a broad range of areas; we are, therefore, able to accommodate a wide range of doctoral research interests. Our particular areas of expertise currently include:

children and young people’s learning and education
children and young people’s rights and voice
educators’ initial, early and continuing professional learning and development
the role of video technology in facilitating professional learning and development
educators’ use of digital tools
professional identities
educator wellbeing
educator retention
mentoring and coaching
professional migration and boundary crossing
pedagogy in formal and informal contexts
higher education pedagogy, policy and practice.

Some of our supervisors

Dr Nadia Edmond

I currently supervise doctoral students (PhD and EdD), and am interested in supervising new doctoral students, in the following areas:

Professionalism/professional identities/professional development and learning;

Higher Education pedagogy and policy;

Diversity and inclusion in Higher Education;

The development of learning and professional knowledge through postgraduate study.

I am a critical realist and welcome supporting research from that perspective.

Prof Ivor Goodson

My key interest are:

Life history and narrative research specialisations
Teacher's lives and careers and teacher professionalism.
Policy issues in initial teacher education and teacher professional development
Teachers’ professional learning and school improvement
Socio-cultural issues in teachers’ lives and careers
Teachers’ lives and careers
The impact of educational policies
Teaching and learning research methods

Prof Angie Hart

Students drawn to studying with me are generally people with a commitment to social change. All of them share my passion for researching resilience-related topics and most of their studies involve some form of co-production with communities, policymakers or practitioners. Many of them also volunteer for our social enterprise Boingboing and there are loads of opportunities in our Centre for students to get involved in some fabulous personal development activities, for example attending conferences on behalf of our Centre, being on the Management Group, staffing a stand etc.

Prospective supervisory topics I get excited about include:

Co-productive and resilience-based approaches to tackling social and environmental issues including:

Child, family and adult mental health

Practitioner stress and burnout

Schools practices

Higher Education community-university partnership practices.

Prof Andrew Hobson

Andy is happy to work with applicants seeking to conduct research into the professional learning, development and/or well-being of teachers and other professionals. Specific foci include but are not restricted to studies of:

Teachers’ early professional learning
Teacher well-being
Mentoring for early career teachers / professionals
Mentoring across professions
Judgementoring
ONSIDE Mentoring

Dr Rachel Marks

My supervisory interests include teaching and learning in primary schools, particularly in primary and early years mathematics. I am also interested in the social context of schooling, policy and assessment, including interests related to ability-grouping and equity issues. I am interested in supervising projects involving mixed methods approaches as well as large-scale literature reviews including meta-analyses.

Dr Rachel Masika

Higher education pedagogies and policy

Equity and inclusivity in higher education

Widening participation in higher education

Higher education students' transitions and experience

Higher education student learning and teaching

Higher education pedagogic research development

Dr Mark Price

I'm interested in supervising students whose research considers and explores issues of professionality, career changing, agency, intersubjectivity, leadership, policy enactment and resistance, informal and community based learning, youth and adolescence, transitions and change.

Methodologically, I'm especially interested in qualiative inquiry, including narrative, autoethnographic, participatory, representational and relational processes, including witing as inquiry.

Dr Jools Page

Infants, toddlers & children under 3 years of age
Attachment based relationships - Love, Care and Intimacy
Theory, policy and practices with infants and toddlers
Quality and learning/ policy, practice and pedagogy
The Rights of babies and young children
Professional adult roles – e,g primary caregiving/key person approach
Parent roles

Prof Carol Robinson

I currently supervise doctoral students (PhD and EdD), and am interested in supervising new doctoral students, in the following substantive areas:

Children and young people's rights;

Children and young people's human rights education;

Children and young people's voices, experiences and perspectives;

The development of learning and professional knowledge through doctoral study.

I am particularly interested in supervising studies which adopt a constructivist approach.

Prof Gina Wisker

Higher education, curriculum, doctoral learning and supervision, learning and teaching; contemporary literature, postcolonial literature , women's writing, Gothic literature

For further supervisory staff including cross-disciplinary options, please visit research staff on our research website.

Entry requirements

The normal entry requirements for registration for the degree of MPhil and EngD are:

A first or second class honours degree, or other qualification which is regarded by the University of Brighton as being equivalent, and which is normally relevant to the programme of study.
Appropriate research or professional experience at postgraduate level. An application made by someone with this experience will be considered on its own merits and will normally require independent academic references

All EngD students require an industrial partner for the professional placement.

The normal entry requirements for registration for the degree of PhD are:

We require candidates to have a recognised Masters degree or other qualification which is regarded by the University of Brighton as being equivalent, and which is normally relevant to the programme of study proposed
Substantial appropriate research or professional experience at postgraduate level which resulted in published work, written reports or other appropriate evidence of accomplishment. An application made by someone with this experience will be considered on its merits and will normally require independent academic references
Exceptionally, a first class honours degree, or other qualification which is regarded by the University of Brighton as being equivalent, and which is normally relevant to the programme of study proposed, where there is clear evidence of work at postgraduate level. An application made by someone with this experience will be considered on its merits and will normally require independent academic references

The normal entry requirements for the EdD (Professional Doctorate) are:

A qualification, normally at Masters level in a relevant subject or appropriate research experience. An application made by someone with research experience but with no Masters level qualification will be considered on its merits and will normally require independent academic references.
Applicants will normally have at least four years of appropriate professional experiences.

English language requirements

For applicants whose first language is not English, the minimum standard of English competence accepted is normally equivalent to the following International English Language Testing System (IELTS) scores:

Normally we require an overall score of 6.5 with 6.5 in reading and writing, 6.0 in listening and speaking. There are exceptions to this and they are as follows:

Research degrees in Arts and Humanities and Health Professions require 7.0 overall, 7 for writing, and none below 6.5.
Research degrees in Brighton Business School and the School of Sport and Service Management: 7.0 overall, 7 for writing, and none below 6.0.
Research degrees in Engineering, and Environment and Technology requires a minimum of 6.0 in each component

All SELT (Secure English language tests) must have been obtained within the preceding two years of the course start date.

Important information regarding changes to the approved Secure English Language Test (SELT) list:

The University of Brighton will continue to accept non-SELT tests such as ‘IELTS Academic’ and ‘Pearson Test of English Academic’, as long as your test results meet the course requirements.

If you are concerned that you might not reach the required level for the course, and therefore may need to take an English Language course, we would recommend that you take the ‘IELTS for UKVI Academic’ at an approved test centre details of which can be found on the government website.

If you have taken an English language test not listed here, please contact the Doctoral College for advice at Brighton-Doctoral-College@brighton.ac.uk.

Before you apply

We encourage potential applicants to look at the research currently taking place within the university and to find a suitable supervisor to support the proposal and assist with the application

If you are in doubt about whether we can offer the appropriate supervision, please contact the Doctoral College.

Application Deadlines

We operate a rolling intake so students can make applications at any time throughout the year. Start dates will always be on the first working day of the month and will normally be determined as follows:

UK/EU students: Normally one month after an offer is made

International students: Normally three months after an offer is made

Professional Doctorates and programmes with a taught component usually have one intake a year, which is normally at the start of October.

The university cannot guarantee that you can start at your requested date

Making an online application

All applications are made online and for most disciplines an approach to a lead supervisor is recommended, following which you will have help and support with. The RSAs can provide you with advice from your initial enquiry through to when a decision is made on your application, so help is always at hand.

The research proposal
Some areas recruit students to specific research projects, but in these instances you would still be expected to take ownership and shape it into an independent piece of work which would normally make an original contribution to knowledge. Other areas expect applicants to propose a research topic of their own prior to considering for them for admission.

We advertise PhD projects on our Funding and Opportunities page, so unless you are applying to an advertised project you would normally need to apply with a research topic of your own choosing.

Guidance for writing a research proposal – General or Arts specific

If you are unsure if we can supervise your research topic, please get in touch with Brighton Doctoral College. In some instances we may have to tell you that we cannot supervise as it would not be in your best interests to accept you if we are unable to provide the necessary facilities and supervision.

Online applications can be made via our online portal

Documents to include with your application
When you make your application please make sure you include the following:

Evidence of your degree(s) – you need to provide copies of your degree certificates and transcripts. Official translations should be provided where appropriate. If your degree has not yet been awarded please note this on your application form.
Evidence of English language (EU/International applicants) – this is normally an IELTS or Pearsons certificate. All language tests must have been obtained within the preceding two years of the course start date. If you cannot provide a language test, please contact us for advice.
References - you need to provide two references and one of these must be from your most recent period of study. All references must have been written within the last 12 months and need to be signed, dated and stamped with the organisation's stamp or on headed paper. Alternatively, you can provide contact details for your referees as part of the application process and we will contact them on your behalf.
Passport – please provide a copy of the photo page and where applicable a copy of your current visa. These documents can be uploaded to the ‘Education’ tab.

After you apply

Your Research Student Administrator (RSA) will assess your application to make sure you meet our entry requirements and you have provided all of the required documentation.

The complete application will be reviewed by the appropriate Director of Postgraduate Studies who will assess if we can offer supervision. If we can identify potential supervisors, your application will be sent to them for consideration. If we are not able to supervise you we will notify you of this as soon as possible.

It normally takes around 4-6 weeks to reach a decision on postgraduate research applications. However, this can be delayed if your application is incomplete and we require additional information from you. If you have not had a decision on your application within 8 weeks please contact your RSA via the application portal.

If we have supervisors who are interested in supervising your project, you will be invited to attend an admissions interview. This can be held via Skype if you are not in the UK.

Types of offer

Conditional

If we have made you a Conditional offer, the conditions will be stated in your offer letter. When you have met these conditions you should provide this to your Research Student Administrator. When you have met all the conditions of your offer, we will provide you with a new offer letter.

Except where indicated in the offer letter, there are no specific deadlines for meeting the conditions of your offer. However make sure you leave enough time after meeting the conditions to make arrangements to start your course, for example if you need to arrange accommodation or a visa.

Unconditional offers

An Unconditional offer has no conditions. You just need to let us know whether or not you wish to accept or decline our offer of a study place and you do this by accepting/rejecting the offer via the new applicant area.

Deferring your offer

If you have been made an offer of study, and for unforeseen circumstances you cannot attend at the start of your course, you may ask to defer your place to the next admission point.

To request a deferral you should contact your Research Student Administrator via the new applicant area. Please note that a change of start date is at the discretion of your supervisors and Director of Postgraduate Studies. It is not automatically given and you may be asked to apply again.

Normally applicants are only permitted to defer their start date a maximum of two times.

Withdrawing your application

If you wish to withdraw your application please notify your research student administrator via the new applicant area and they will update your application for you.

Post offer

CAS number
International students who require a Tier 4 to study in the UK will need to apply for a CAS number. A CAS is a unique reference number that is 14 digits long that is given to you by the University of Brighton. It confirms to the Home Office that you have accepted an unconditional offer and met with the Home Office requirements regarding length of study in the UK and academic progression.

As part of your unconditional offer you will be asked to complete a visa questionnaire. Our visa compliance team will then review your eligibility and issue a CAS number as appropriate.

More information is available on our international pages

Tuition Fee deposit

If you are self-funded we cannot issue you with a CAS until you have paid your tuition fee deposit. We would advise that you pay this as soon as possible so that you are able to make your visa application in plenty of time.

More information about the tuition fee deposit and how to pay it is available International Student fees page.

If you are a funded student you will need to provide proof of your sponsorship before the tuition fee deposit can be waived.

See more information on visa applications

ATAS statement

You will need to obtain an ATAS certificate every time you make a Tier 4 Student application if you are studying or going to study one of the following research degree programmes:

Pharmacy
Biomedical Sciences
Healthcare Professions
Physiotherapy
Occupational Therapy
Engineering
Environment
Civil Engineering
Built Environment
Computing
Mathematical and Information Sciences
Information Technology

Where an ATAS statement is required, the process of how to apply for this will be provided in your offer letter so do read your offer letter carefully.

For details about the scheme and how to apply for your ATAS certificate visit the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) information about ATAS.

ATAS Certificates can take up to two months to be issued so you must apply for your certificate in plenty of time. The process of applying for an ATAS statement will be detailed in your offer letter.

Fees and funding

Funding

Undertaking a research degree requires an intellectual and financial commitment. The majority of students are self-funded; some are funded by their employer, through industrial partners, Research Councils and University studentships.

Learn more about the funding opportunities available to you.

Tuition fees academic year 2018–19

Standard fees are listed below, but may vary depending on subject area. Some subject areas may charge bench fees/consumables, this will be decided as part of any offer made. Fees for UK/EU and international students on full-time and part-time courses are likely to incur a small inflation rise each year of a research programme.

MPhil/PhD

Full-time	Part-time
£4,260 (UK/EU)	£2,130 (UK/EU)
£14,400 (international)	N/A
£12,690 (international tuition fee for those students registered in the School of Humanities or in the Brighton Business School)	N/A

Professional doctorate

Full-time	Part-time
N/A	£2,672.50 (UK/EU)

EngD UK/EU only

EngD
Full-time	Part-time
£5,520 (UK/EU)	N/A
£15,830 (international)	N/A

PhD by Publication

Full-time	Part-time
N/A	£2139 (UK/EU)

Contact Brighton Doctoral College

Email the team at Brighton-Doctoral-College@brighton.ac.uk detailing your enquiry. Please provide as much detail as possible as this will help us address your questions promptly and thoroughly.