Guides for researchers.

Written from primary sources, with every external link checked and a visible review date on every page. Where institutions differ, we say so and tell you where to find your own rules.

Guide index Reviewed · 8 October 2026

Guides

Practical guidance for postgraduate and doctoral candidates at UK universities, written from primary sources — UKCGE and QAA guidance, and published university regulations — rather than from other people's blog posts. Every external link in every guide is checked before publication, and each guide carries a visible review date.

Where a guide states something that varies between institutions, it says so and tells you where to find your own rules. Your university's regulations override anything you read here.

Viva & defence prep PhD viva questions, and what each one is testing Twenty-six questions with the check hiding behind each one, what a weak answer sounds like, and the follow-up it invites. Includes a section for whoever is running your mock viva. Policy Academic integrity policy Where the line falls between mentorship and ghostwriting, and how to declare the support you have received to your university.

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More guides are in preparation, including the Turnitin similarity score explained, what to do when a dissertation supervisor stops responding, and a pre-arrival introduction to the UK viva for international students. They are not published yet, which is why they are not linked.