In certain cases, exceptions can be made to some of the regulations governing research degrees. Such dispensations are granted in exceptional and well substantiated cases only, and at the discretion of the Medical Sciences Board. Candidates should remember that no one has a right to dispensation from the requirements of the Examination Regulations and should not proceed on the assumption that applications will be granted.

All applications for dispensation require the written support of the supervisor and the approval of the department’s Director of Graduates Studies. Most also require the support of the college. Application forms should accordingly be read with care and students should ensure that all the necessary supporting documents are included with the form when it is submitted to the Graduate School Assistants. You will be advised of the outcome of your application by email, approximately two to three weeks following receipt of the complete form.

In the categories indicated below, the power of the Medical Sciences Board extends only to making a recommendation within time, i.e. during the period allotted to each degree. For applications made ‘out of time’, the application is sent to the University’s central Education Committee via the Graduate Schools Assistants.

Additional detailed guidance on changes to postgraduate research student circumstances is published on the University Policy and Guidance page.

Dispensation from the residence requirement

Those holding the status of Probationer Research Student are required to pursue their studies in Oxford. Students may be dispensed from this requirement in exceptional circumstances, on the grounds that it is necessary for the students’ work that s/he be allowed to study at some place other than Oxford.

The minimum residence requirements are as follows:

for the MSc - three terms
for the DPhil - six terms
for a DPhil candidate who has successfully taken the Oxford MSc - three terms

There is no provision for dispensation for taught MSc students under the Medical Sciences Board.

Applications for dispensation from the residence requirement can be considered if, and only if, it is essential for the work on the thesis to be carried out away from Oxford. The maximum number of terms for which such dispensation may be granted by the Medical Sciences Board is three. Applications must be made on the GSO.8 form (this form is submitted via the My Student Record section of Student Self-Service).

Please note that students who are seeking permission to live permanently outside the residence limit (which is within 25 miles of Carfax) will need to do so via their college to the Proctors’ Office; the GSO.8 form is not used in this case.

Suspension of status

Suspension of status within the University ‘stops the clock’ for all elements of your degree, including residence, fees and terms for which a particular status may be held. Suspensions of status must currently be taken by term (rather than by calendar month) and for these purposes the term includes the vacation period that follows it. You can request to suspend your status for a minimum of one term and a maximum of three terms per application. No student can be granted more than six terms of suspension in total during their DPhil.

You should complete and submit your application for suspension of status via a GSO.17 form as soon as the need for such an application is identified. If the application is approved, you will not be liable to pay fees during the period of suspension. At the end of the period, you should either return and submit a GSO.17a to the Graduate School Assistants, or apply for a further period of suspension if necessary. It is possible to apply for a retrospective suspension of status in certain circumstances.

Applications for suspension on the following grounds will be considered

Where you are effectively prevented from pursuing your course of study in circumstances which are outside your control though there are good grounds for believing that you will be able to resume work within a reasonable period (e.g. cases of physical or mental ill health or unexpected domestic crises).
- Where suspension of status is requested on the ground that you are in unforeseeable financial difficulty, the committee will require certification from your college that it was fully satisfied, when you were first admitted, that your financial position was at that time sufficiently secure to enable you to complete your studies, but that since then an unforeseeable deterioration has occurred which makes it impossible for you to continue your studies for a limited period. An increase in university fees will not normally be regarded as a sufficient ground for granting suspension of status. It should be noted that, in the case of unforeseeable financial difficulty, the University’s Committee on Student Hardship may be able to provide assistance. Information about this Committee should be obtainable from your College Secretary.
To concentrate on some other project which cannot reasonably be deferred until your postgraduate work is completed (e.g. in order to acquire some ancillary qualification)
To take up temporary work which is likely to be relevant to your subsequent career and the opportunity for which is unlikely to recur.
To study abroad
- where you hold a research council studentship which is suspended during the period of study abroad because of the nature of the study, or
- where you receive an award which does not cover fee liabilities, if the nature of the study abroad is such that, in the case of holders of a research council studentship, the studentships would be suspended during the period abroad, or
- where a your work is unduly delayed by difficulties in making arrangements for study, or in carrying out such study, in another country.

**Applications for suspension on the following grounds will not be considered**

The Medical Sciences Board is not prepared to consider applications for suspension merely on the ground that a candidate wishes to engage, for personal reasons, in some other activity and then return to his or her postgraduate work at some later date.

Suspension of status arrangements for students holding a student visa

The UK Border Agency usually expects student visa holders to leave the UK for the duration of the suspension unless there are exceptional circumstances e.g. medical reasons preventing you from travelling. In any such cases, before submitting your application for suspension of status, you should first email student.visacompliance@admin.ox.ac.uk to check whether you can remain in the UK or whether you need to return home.

Suspension of status for maternity, extended paternity and adoption leave

Women who give birth during their period of registration for a postgraduate research degree are automatically entitled to suspend their studies for up to 3 three terms (one year) of maternity leave. This period of leave is considered separately from the six terms of suspension that may have been allowed on the grounds detailed above for a standard suspension of status. Terms of maternity leave do not have to be taken consecutively when sharing parental leave, but do have to be taken within 12 months of the birth and any unused terms may not be taken at a later date.

Students should notify their college, supervisor and Director of Graduate Studies of their pregnancy (via their MATB1 form, available from a midwife) no later than the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth. Earlier notification may be necessary in some cases, for example where a student works in a potentially hazardous environment.

Postgraduate student fathers may take two weeks’ paternity leave at or within three months of the birth; this is not taken as a suspension of study. They may also take up to three terms' (one year) extended paternity leave. Terms of paternity leave do not have to be taken consecutively, but any unused terms cannot be taken at a later date.

Parallel arrangements have been put in place for adoptive parents.

Applications for suspension of status for maternity, extended paternity and adoption leave should be submitted via a GSO.17b as soon as the need for such an application is identified.

University guidance for student parents and the University's Student Maternity, Paternity, Adoption and Shared Parental Leave Policy.

Extension of time

The Medical Sciences Board may consider applications for extension of time (in addition to the terms allowed for these degrees), up to the following limits:

MSc by Research - up to an extra three terms
DPhil - up to an extra six terms

Applications for an extension of time should be made using the GSO.15 form (this form is submitted via the My Student Record section of Student Self-Service) at least a month before your current maximum submission date. It is not usual for more than one term of extension to be granted at once; if more time is still required, another application for a further extension of time would have to be made towards the end of that period.

Extensions of time are granted in cases where unavoidable circumstances have prevented completion within the normal maximum period and where there is a real prospect of the thesis being submitted within the foreseeable future. If there is no such prospect, then the candidate’s status will be allowed to lapse. Should there subsequently be good reason to suppose that the thesis will be completed within a foreseeable period, he or she may apply for reinstatement (see bottom of page).

Candidates can make it easier for the committee to grant extensions of time if, during each term in which they are registered as still working on their thesis, especially if not in residence, they keep in sufficiently close touch with their supervisors for their termly reports to give some indication of their progress. In particular, when adverse circumstances have hindered or prevented progress, it is very important that the supervisor should be kept informed.

If a candidate has still not submitted his/her thesis after these periods have expired, it is possible for the Medical Sciences Divisional Board, but only in very exceptional circumstances, to recommend to the University’s central Education Committee that further extension be granted. Application is made by letter, in addition to the normal form, together with supporting statements from the supervisor and the college.

Reinstatement to the graduate register

An application for reinstatement as a research student requires (i) a completed GSO.23 form with supporting statements and details of anticipated period required from both college and supervisor (ii) a work plan and timetable for the remaining work. The completed GSO.23 form must be signed by the Department’s Director of Graduate Studies and then the entire application can be submitted, via the Graduate School Assistants, to the Medical Sciences Board.

If the application is made after all the terms allowed in which to submit have been exhausted or more than twenty-four months have passed since the student's enrolment was withdrawn then the application will be forwarded to the University's central Education Committee for consideration.

Antedating of admissions

In exceptional circumstances, it may be possible for a newly admitted Probationer Research Student to apply to antedate his or her admission by up to three terms, in order to cover a period immediately before admission when he or she was conducting research in the admitting department and of direct relevance to the thesis topic.

Applications for this can be granted only by the University’s central Education Committee, but should in the first instance be made by letter, with supporting statements from supervisors, college and Director of Graduate Studies, to the Medical Sciences Board (care of the Graduate School Assistants), which will then make a recommendation to the central Education Committee. You should expect to hear the outcome no earlier than four weeks following receipt of the application by the Graduate School Assistants.

It should be noted that if antedating of admission is granted, a student immediately becomes liable to pay, in total, the fees for all of the backdated terms. Remission of fees can be considered only when a student who has paid fees at another institution transfers to Oxford following the appointment to a post with the University of his or her existing supervisor.

Queries as to whether an application for antedating admission is necessary or appropriate should be directed to the relevant Graduate Studies Administrator in the first instance.