MPhil and MRes in Education and Social Work

Our MRes/MPhil programmes are geared to support academics and professionals from different disciplines, especially those who value inter-professional collaboration within the settings of education, social work, educational psychology and community learning and development.

Our MRes/MPhil students come from all over the world and there is a strong community that you will be able to draw on, both academically and non-academically. 

We provide Research Methods and Generic Skills Training and you will be assigned two supervisors relevant to the area of your studies.  You will meet with them regularly.  Supervision can take place by telephone, email, and video conferencing.  Guidance can also be drawn from other relevant members of staff with specific expertise. 

As an MRes or MPhil student, you will also have access to doctoral student office accommodation, IT facilities, telephones, printing/photocopying, and access to financial support to attend research conferences.

You can study on this programme full or part-time.  Full-time normally takes three years and part-time normally takes five years although there can be some flexibility depending on a candidate’s circumstances.

How your progress is monitored

Your progress will be monitored in a variety of ways:

Supervision

You will meet with your supervisors at least every month so they can support and guide you

Presentations

From time to time you will be expected to make presentations about your work to other students and staff.  This aims to help support you with your work and to build on your work so far.

Thesis Monitoring Committee

Your progress will be monitored by an independent Thesis Monitoring Committee within the School.  This Committee consists of at least two members of staff not concerned with a student’s supervision and it meets twice per year for full time students, and one per year for part-time students.

You will be expected to present your work to the Thesis Monitoring Committee who will determine the level that you are working at – either Masters of Doctoral level.  This process is called Transfer of Ordinance and it confirms whether you should transfer to a PhD programme or whether you should remain on the MPhil programme.  Part-time students will normally present before the end of their second year of study.

Viva

At the end of study, students undertake an examining process called Viva Voce to present  their thesis to an Examination Board who will determine whether a student’s work is of a high enough standard to be awarded the degree.