Program Overview

Overview

This programme will not be running for 2025 year of entry but is due to open for applications for 2026 entry in September.

We offer high-quality supervision by internationally-recognised scholars in specialist areas including educational psychology, secondary data analysis, higher education, teaching and learning in schools, professional development, comparative and international education, language education and linguistics, learning in the city, environmental and climate change education, non-formal education.

Academic staff include experienced researchers with methodological expertise in advanced quantitative methods, experimental methods, a range of qualitative research methods and mixed methods. You will be part of a large, diverse doctoral community in an atmosphere that is exciting, creative and welcoming.

You can expect:

• Membership of a research centre, network and/or faculty-wide research group that includes staff and postgraduate researchers.
• Accredited research methods units.
• Networking opportunities with other doctoral researchers across disciplines and neighbouring universities through membership of the South West Doctoral Training Partnership and Bristol Doctoral College;
• Support for developing as a researcher, including attending conferences and publishing research;
• Opportunities to apply for short-term paid research assistant and teaching assistant roles;
• Access to professional development and short training courses tailored for postgraduate researchers;
• Access to a dedicated school library on site, faculty and other University libraries;
• Dedicated study spaces within the School of Education and in the wider university;
• Opportunities to participate in seminars (often featuring national and international visitors), research student seminars, reading groups and specialist methodological workshops.

The PT only PhD programme is designed to fit flexibly around the commitments of ambitious international mid-career education professionals from a range of settings, including schools, further education and higher education, whose work requires them to have a high level of research capability.

You can study at your own pace, designing your own pathway through a combination of units taught either online or intensively over three days taught in person in Bristol. Teaching is conducted by the distinguished academics at the University's School of Education, who are experts with international reputations for research in their field.

Our doctoral programmes attract high-achieving participants interested in a wide range of aspects of teaching, learning, leadership, management, policy and evaluation. This programme is new, having recently been updated and restructured to provide a coherent, flexible and accessible learning experience that supports the journey to becoming independent researchers.

Key information

Programme duration

• Eight years part-time

Start date

• September 2025

Delivery method

• Online with On-Campus Elements

Location

• Clifton

Awards available

• PhD

Programme structure

Visit our programme catalogue for full details of the structure and unit content for our programme.

World-leading research

• 5th: The University of Bristol is ranked fifth for research in the UK (Times Higher Education).
• 94%: 94% of our research assessed as world-leading or internationally excellent.

Entry requirements

• An upper second-class undergraduate honours degree (or equivalent) and normally a merit at MSc/MA level (or equivalent) and normally at least three years' appropriate professional experience (eg employment in organisations that have an educational function or roles related to any aspect of education, training or individual learning).
• See international equivalent qualifications on the International Office website.

Admissions Statement

Read the programme admissions statement for important information on entry requirements, the application process and supporting documents required.

English language requirements

• If English is not your first language, you will need to reach the requirements outlined in our profile level C.
• Further information about English language requirements and profile levels.

Fees and funding

Home: part-time (one year)

• £9,000 per year

Overseas: part-time (one year)

• £9,000 per year

Fees are subject to an annual review. For programmes that last longer than one year, please budget for up to an 8% increase in fees each year.

Alumni discount

• University of Bristol students and graduates can benefit from a 25% reduction in tuition fees for postgraduate study. Check your eligibility for an alumni discount.

Funding and scholarships

• Please check our web page for the full range of funding opportunities for prospective UK and international postgraduate students and whether they apply to distance learning courses.
• Further information on funding for prospective UK and international postgraduate students.

Career prospects

We offer academic and personal development opportunities to equip you for the intellectual, social and personal challenges you will encounter during your career. Our overarching goal is to enable our graduates to display the following characteristics:

• Equipped to demonstrate impact, excellence and distinctiveness in your chosen field;
• Visionary, imaginative, innovative, reflective and creative;
• High ideals and values, including a strong sense of social justice;
• Highly employable throughout the world;
• Adaptable, with the potential to be a leader in work and in the community.

Meet our supervisors

The following list shows potential supervisors for this programme. Visit their profiles for details of their research and expertise.

• Dr Jessica Abrahams
• Dr Shazza Ali
• Dr William Baker
• Dr Ioanna Bakopoulou
• Dr Katherin Barg
• Professor William Browne
• Dr Simon Brownhill
• Professor Alf Coles
• Professor Gemma Derrick
• Dr Sarah Eagle
• Professor Keri Facer
• Dr Marina Gall
• Dr Frances Giampapa
• Dr Carolina Gordillo Bravo
• Dr Lyndsay Grant
• Dr Kate Hawkey
• Dr Tracy Helliwell
• Professor Elena Hoicka
• Dr Philippa Howard
• Professor Paul Howard-Jones
• Dr Jon James
• Dr Lucy Kelly
• Dr Navin Kikabhai
• Dr Cathryn Knight
• Professor George Leckie
• Dr Lisa Lucas
• Professor Helen Manchester
• Professor Angeline Mbogo Barrett
• Dr Rafael Mitchell
• Dr Alison Oldfield
• Dr Janet Orchard
• Dr Ioanna Palaiologou
• Dr Jo Rose
• Dr Paulina Ruiz Cabello
• Dr Felicity Sedgewick
• Dr Robert Sharples
• Dr Lorna Smith
• Professor Sally Thomas
• Professor Leon Tikly
• Dr Sue Timmis
• Dr Maria Tsapali
• Dr Sharon Walker
• Dr Nicola Warren-Lee
• Professor Liz Washbrook
• Professor Richard Watermeyer
• Dr Lucy Wenham
• Professor Guoxing Yu

Research groups

The overarching mission of the School of Education is to develop learning and leadership for a changing world through research and teaching that promotes achievement, opportunity and social justice. The aim is to build intellectual and practical leadership among policymakers, practitioners, students and the wider research community, which is urgently required to enable education to adapt and thrive in a time of rapid local and global change.

Research in the school is concentrated into five main areas of inquiry and expertise within these five research centres:

• Centre for Higher Education Transformations
• Centre for Comparative and International Research in Education
• Centre for Multilevel Modelling
• Centre for Psychological Approaches for Studying Education
• Centre for Teaching, Learning and Curriculum

As a doctoral student you will join one of the research centres associated with these key areas of research and work with staff and other doctoral students who have similar research interests. Please see the School of Education research centres and networks for more information.