Registration Status

Trainees may assume several different levels of registration throughout their studies:

Full Time Registration

Full time trainees have access to all facilities in the Academic Unit of Psychology, including supervision, use of resources, computing facilities, libraries and so forth. This status persists until the trainee has completed their PhD studies, and submitted their thesis and portfolio of competence, provided this does not exceed the maximum permitted time. Full time registration requires the payment of full time fees.

Part Time Registration

This is similar to above. However, trainees cannot expect the same level of provision (network access, desk space, lab usage) as they would if full time. Part-time fees apply in this case.

Nominal Registration

Nominal registration incurs a much lower fee than either full time or part time fees (please refer to the FSHMS Handbook on the Graduate School website for further information), and can extend for a period up to 12 months, subject to Faculty approval. To be eligible for nominal registration status, a trainee must have completed the minimum period of study, and must not be receiving supervision or require access to University facilities. In the normal case this means that the supervisor has seen a ‘substantially complete draft’ of the thesis and portfolio of competence and all that remains is the correcting, production, copying, binding and submission of the thesis and portfolio of competence.

Nominal registration is appropriate following completion of  PhD studies, and during the 3 month timescale prior to the viva. The Programme Director needs to approve the change to nominal registration, and can do so after notification from the supervisor that a complete draft of the thesis and Portfolio of Competence has been seen.  Application to transfer to nominal registration must be submitted via PGR Tracker – https://pgrtracker.soton.ac.uk

Nominal registration should not be used to solve financial problems, or to cover poor progress in the PhD. It cannot be extended beyond a 12 month period, and it does count towards the maximum period of study. Any trainee who finds that time is running out, or who has not yet reached the draft thesis stage should seek temporary suspension instead. Once on nominal registration, the trainee has no automatic right to either desk space or use of facilities in the Academic Unit of Psychology.

Suspended Registration

Suspended registration means that the trainee has temporarily halted their trainee status. This should be considered during periods of illness, personal problems, financial difficulties or other such events. Suspension is expected to be temporary, and an expected end date should be entered when seeking suspension. A review will occur if the trainee has not re-registered within a period of 12 months after the first date of suspension. Suspension will not normally be back-dated. All requests for suspension should be discussed in the first instance with their supervisor and the Faculty Graduate School Office who can advise you on the procedures.  If you wish to suspend from your studies you must complete the Special Consideration from via the Quality Handbook website (https://www.southampton.ac.uk/quality/pgr/research_degree_candidature/pgrspecialconsiderations.page?).

When suspended, trainees normally no longer have their former trainee status. (Note: this can affect immigration or student(trainee) residency status for overseas students(trainees). Suspended trainees have no automatic rights to any University facilities, accommodation or supervision. Once in suspended registration, the University ‘clock’ effectively stops. The time periods allowed are extended to cover this period of suspension, but note: funding agencies may not automatically take the same view. They must be informed of this change of registration and agree to the period of suspension.

A trainee cannot submit their thesis and portfolio of competence while suspended. Re-registration is required for a period of at least one month part-time to be eligible to submit.

Duration of Registration

Note that whereas a minimum of two years (full-time or part time equivalent) of supervised practice must be completed and documented for the purpose of demonstrating sufficient supervised practice, the minimum period of overall candidature, from the date of registration, are as follows:

PhD:

  • Full-time candidates – not less than 24 months
  • Part-time candidates – not less than 36 months

In practice the period of candidature will usually be longer. The maximum duration of candidature for PhD trainees (including nominal roll registration) is four years (48 months) for full-time candidature and seven years (84 months) for part-time candidature.

Extension of Candidature

The minimum and maximum periods of candidature should be strictly adhered to. In exceptional circumstances, if trainees are unable to complete their theses within the maximum time allowed, they may be allowed to apply for an extension of candidature.  You can apply for an extension you much complete the Special Consideration form, via the Quality Handbook website (https://www.southampton.ac.uk/quality/pgr/research_degree_candidature/pgrspecialconsiderations.page?). The Graduate School will inform the trainee of the outcome.
In teaching a decision the following factors are taken into account:

  • whether steady progress is being maintained and work has been produced recently;
  • the likelihood of completion – how much remains to be done and whether the candidate has access to adequate facilities;
  • whether this is the first request for extension and if not, how much was completed during the previous period of extension;
  • whether they are any personal or medical factors to be taken into consideration.#

Some extensions agreed my be deemed “final”.  In such cases candidature will expire on the date specified if the thesis has not been submitted.  Please note extensions are strongly discouraged.  Trainees should learn to manage their time early in their academic careers.

Withdrawal of Candidature

A candidate may withdraw from their studies voluntarily, if they decide that they do not wish to continue with their programme of research or stage 2 competences. In this case, a trainee may elect to submit for an MPhil/PhD in Psychology (in which case they are not eligible to apply for HCPC Health Psychologist registration or BPS Chartered Psychologist status), or an MPhil rather than a PhD in Health Psychology Research and Professional Practice (in which case they are not eligible to apply for BPS Chartered Psychologist status, but are eligible to apply for HCPC Health Psychologist registration). Additionally, however, the Academic Unit may recommend withdrawal of candidature for a candidate and this is based on grounds of ‘lack of demonstration of sufficient progress’. Very often, this situation arises when a trainee fails to keep in contact with the Academic Unit or their supervisor, fails to complete required monitoring reports, and/or fails to demonstrate sufficient progress in their academic and generic skills training. A candidate may also be ‘deemed withdrawn’ if they do not submit a thesis and portfolio of competence by the end of their period of registration.

Comments are closed.