7.5 Research Monitoring

The University seeks to ensure that as many research students as possible submit their theses for examination within their deadline. In order to check that that they are making satisfactory progress and to identify any support needs, the progress of all research students is monitored annually. Monitoring takes place within Faculties in the first instance. Students complete a monitoring form outlining their progress to date, training undertaken, and plans for the next academic year. Supervisors add their comments and the Faculty assesses the information, normally by interviewing students about their research.

The Graduate School convenes three university-wide meetings each year, in July, February and September, to receive reports from Faculties of any issues arising from their student monitoring. In particular, all PhD students must demonstrate satisfactory progress in their studies in order to be permitted to progress to the next year of registered study, and MPhil students wishing to upgrade to a PhD must demonstrate satisfactory progress before the upgrade can be confirmed. Students whose progress in not satisfactory are normally offered an opportunity to retrieve the situation, being given a set of tasks to complete within a set timescale, before progress is reviewed again. If progress remains unsatisfactory, students may, under the Academic Regulation on Academic Progress, be prevented from continuing with their studies, or downgraded from PhD to MPhil. The recommendation to exclude or downgrade to an MPhil template form can be found in Section 3.13 of the AQH: https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/academic-registry/handbook/taught-schemes/.