UNIVERSITY OF KENT

FACULTIES SUPPORT OFFICE

POSTGRADUATE PROCEDURES: RESEARCH PROGRAMMES

SUBMISSION, CONTINUATION YEAR AND

FURTHER EXTENSION TO SUBMISSION DEADLINE

END OF REGISTRATION PERIOD

General Information

Four months prior to the end of a research student’s minimumregistration period a letter should be sent stating the procedure leading up to the end of the period of registration. (This action should be prompted by a diary note, put on the student’s record upon his/her arrival, dated four months before his/her completion date, noting: ‘send end of registration period letter if necessary’.)

The continuation year is the twelve-month period commencing on the date that the formal registration (either full-time or part-time) ends. Only those candidates, who are deemed to have completed their research and have made requisite progress in the production of their thesis, so that submission is expected within the twelve months, will be permitted to enter the continuation year. Those candidates who have not completed their research and who are deemed to require full supervision may be permitted to extend their period of registration for a further defined period.

The School Director of Graduate Studies (Research Students), the main supervisor and another member of the supervisory team will constitute the Submission Review Panel and will consider whether the student will be advised to submit within the registration period or will be permitted to enter the continuation year or whether to recommend an extension to their registration period. The consideration will be based upon a statement of the student’s work completed to date and a timetable for completion of the thesis. It is the responsibility of the student and his/her supervisor to submit the necessary materials to the School Office no later than three months before the end of the period of registration. Once the Submission Review Panel has made a decision, the student should be informed by letter. If approval has been given for the student to submit within the registration period, the student should be sent the submit letter and attachments as in section 3 below. If approval has been given for him/her to enter the continuation year, the continuation year letter should be sent along with the attachments detailed in section 4 below. If the Panel recommends an extension to the period of registration, this should be referred to the Faculty as outlined in section 5 below.

Paperwork

1.Upon receipt of the e-mail reminder from the student records system that the end of registration period letter is due to be sent, the student must be sent a letter - refer to the standard end-of-minimum-registration-period-letterand the Application to Submit Thesis or Enter Continuation Year Form.

2.Upon receipt of the completed Application to Submit Thesis or Enter ContinuationYear form, the School Administrator should send the form to the School Director of Graduate Studies who will chair the Submission Review Panel.

3.If the Panel approves the student’s application to submit within the period of registration, send him/her the submit-letter, together with the relevant ‘Instructions to Candidates on the Presentation of the Thesis’, a Notice of Submission Form and an Access Form pertaining to the appropriate degree.

4.If the Panel approves the student’s application to enter the continuation year, the student should be sent the permission-continuation-yr-letter together with the relevant ‘Instructions to Candidates on the Presentation of the Thesis’, a ‘Notice of Submission Form’ and an ‘Access Form’. A continuation year sliding scale proforma invoice should also be sent to the student, detailing the continuation year on the sliding scale. Refer to the continuation year sliding scale. The fee must be paid upon submission of the thesis. The maximum fee charged for submission within the extension year is 25% of the part-time non-laboratory postgraduate tuition fee in force at the start of the continuation year. The Faculties Support Office must be informed so that it can check the status of the student is correct and amend the category on the student data base.

5.If a student has not completed his/her research at the end of the registration period and is deemed to require full supervision, the Panel may recommend that he/she be permitted to extend their period of registration for a further defined period. The recommendation together with the form and the student’s file should be sent to the Faculties Support Office for approval by the Faculty Director of Graduate Studies. Once approved, the file will be returned to the School Officer. The permission-extend-reg-letter must be sent to the student

CMSDS Procedures

6.A permanent note should be entered on the notes screen in the student records system to record the fact that permission has been given for the student to either submit, enter the continuation year or to extend registration from [enter date] to [enter date].

  1. For those students permitted to enter the continuation year a letter should be copied to the Faculties Support Office electronically (i.e. attached by email) . The Faculties Support Office will change the category to T and amend the year of study to 4 for full-time students and 6 for part-time students.
  1. For those students permitted to extend their registration, enter a diary note reminder to send the end-of-minimum-registration-period-letterand the Application to Submit Thesis or Enter Continuation Year Form. Amend the diary note recording the submission of thesis deadline.

9.On the general screen change the completion date to the new one for those students permitted to extend their period of registration.

NB The academic status of students entering their continuation year will remain at R, but the category will be changed by the Faculties Support Office to T. When the student submits his/her thesis the academic status can be changed to T, the category will remain at T.

School File

10.This should also be noted in the student’s file.

EXTENSIONS BEYOND THE CONTINUATION YEAR

General Information

If a research student has failed to submit by the end of the continuation year, he/she may apply for a further extension to the submission deadline. This will only be granted on medical grounds or in grave and exceptional circumstances and is normally limited to a maximum of six months by the Faculty Director of Graduate Studies. Students who have been required to resubmit their thesis by the examiners will only be granted an extension in the deadline set for resubmission in exceptional circumstances subject to a maximum period of three months.

NB The Faculties Support Office will report statistics which relates to these students to the Graduate Studies Board as part of the annual monitoring process.

Paperwork

1.It is the responsibility of the student to request a form for any extension to the submission deadline from the relevant School Office.

2.The student should complete section 2 of the relevant application form – extension-submission-resubmission-app-form - and pass it on to his/her Supervisor for completion of section 3.

3.The form should then be returned to the School Officer, who will pass it on to the Faculty Director of Graduate Studies via the Faculty Support Office for approval.

4.When approved, write to the student. For those students granted an extension to the submission deadline, send permission-extension-submission-letter, enclosing a pro-forma invoice for the fees up to the new deadline for submission (fees are 25% of the part-time non-laboratory postgraduate tuition fee in force at the start of the further extension period). For those students granted an extension to the resubmission deadline, send permission-extension-resubmission-letter.

  1. Write a letter to the External Examiner to request whether or not they are happy to continue to act for the candidate. Refer to the standard letter: request-external-to-continue.

CMSDS Procedures

  1. Enter a permanent note on the notes screen in the student records system to indicate that permission has been given for the student to enter a further extension period.
    Also put on a diary note for the day that the thesis is due for submission.
  2. Change the due date for the thesis on the pg thesis screen.
  1. Amend the academic status to W – the category will remain at T. (This is important as it will enable the Faculties Support Office to produce statistics for the annual monitoring process).

School File

9.A note of the further extension period should be placed in the student’s file.

FSO/Procedures/PG/Published/thesis-submission/Submission-cont-ft-further-ext-note.docx

Aet updated 21/11/13 by CMT

1