This section summarises the changes made to the Code of Practice for 2023/24.
a. Rewrite of the Code of Practice.
New text and a new structure for the Code aims to improve accessibility for staff and PGR students. The changes are presentational and there is consistency of meaning with the old version of the Code. The rewritten version was published on Monday 8 April 2024 and supersedes the previous 2023/24 version.
b. Corrections for doctoral degrees by published work (2.22 and 21.10).
Update to clarify that examiners can only require corrections to the commentary and not to the publications.
c. Doctoral degrees by published work (2.5).
An expanded eligibility criteria for doctoral degrees by published work opens this option up to a wider range of stuff, including honorary and professional services staff. The length of service before staff can apply has also been reduced from three to two years.
d. Students registered on two programmes (3.16).
The allowance for doctoral students to be registered for a research master’s degree at the same time if they have submitted their research master’s dissertation has been extended to cover taught masters as well.
e. Part-time periods of study (4.13).
Existing part-time PGR students were permitted to move to a fully pro-rata period of study alongside new entrants from 19 September 2022 onwards, but they had to make the request by 31 July 2023. An allowance permits any part-time students who were on suspension during 2022/23, and so were not able to meet the July deadline, to make a request within two months of their return from suspension.
f. Suspensions for jury service (4.27).
Jury service has been explicitly included as a reason for requesting a suspension.
g. Student entitlements for maternity, adoption, and partner/other parent leave (6.18 to 6.31).
These student entitlements have moved to regulation from a previous policy that was mostly focused on funding matters.
h. Attendance requirements and monitoring (7.12 to 7.17 and 10.10 to 10.11).
Changes to the attendance requirement and to formal supervisory meetings respond to relevant policy and other obligations, such as the Policy for student engagement and attendance and the rules for student visas.
i. Co-supervision and partnerships (9.14 to 9.16).
An update to expand the rules for supervision for joint and dual degrees to cover supervisory arrangements with other partnership arrangements as well.
j. Submission of the dissertation (17.7).
An allowance for PGR students to send in a new electronic file of their submitted dissertation if there are technical or presentational issues has been added.
k. Dissertation length for the MScR in the Faculty of Arts (17.8).
The word count for the MScR in Arts has been changed so that it is the same as the faculty's MPhil word count.
l. Policy on plagiarism and other academic misconduct for PGR examinations and awards.
An update clarifies that where there is minor referencing problems identified in a Turnitin check, the formal process in this policy must still be followed. The nominated reviewer cannot ask the student to make changes outside of the formal process. In addition, there is another change to clarify that the nominated Turnitin reviewer must be independent of the student and of the examination.
m. Policy for research degrees by distance learning.
The policy has been refreshed with a streamlined approval process and a reduction in the number of compulsory visits to the University.
n. Student entitlements for maternity, adoption, and partner/other parent leave (6.18 to 6.31).
These student entitlements have moved to regulation from a previous policy that was mostly focused on funding matters.
