DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

Length of course and teaching arrangements: EdD is a part-time programme which will enable you to conduct your own research project over five years. From 2022 the EdD programme will be open not only to home but also to a small number of international students.

If you start in October 2022, you will register directly for the EdD degree, the first two years of which will be considered a probationary period. In years one and two, you will attend sessions in educational theory and research methods in the form of four weekend study blocks. You will work on two assignments (Year One) and develop your research proposal (Year Two). By the end of the second year, after the successful completion of the two assignments and the research proposal, your probation will be confirmed by a review panel composed of your supervisors and an internal assessor.

You will then progress to your research (Years Three, Four and Five) and we will support you in producing a series of formative assignments towards the preparation of the final thesis of up to 60,000 words. The four weekend study blocks in the first two years offer you an opportunity to engage, together with your cohort, in advanced professional development that is required before the EdD thesis submission.

In addition, you will benefit from excellent face-to-face and online training in the Social Sciences Faculty. A successful completion of the EdD also requires personal independent study time of at least 60 hours per month.

Indicative teaching schedule 2022-24

• Study Block 1 (both face to face and online format): Fri-Sun, October 2022
• Study Block 2 (online format): Fri-Sun, March 2023
• Study Block 3 (online format): Fri-Sun, October 2023
• Study Block 4 (both face to face and online format): Fri Sun, June 2024

Sessions will combine asynchronous and synchronous engagement. For those who attend the study block remotely, the appropriate technology should be in place for remote attendance and participation. Also, for remote attendance, although we will do our best to accommodate time differences, there is a possibility for the synchronous online sessions to be at inconvenient times depending on your geographic time zone.

Supervision meetings, Probationary Review Meetings, and Vivas

They are offered online or face to face depending on individuals’ circumstances.

Assessment

Year One

Critical Literature Review (3,500 words)

Comparison of Methodologies (6,500 words)

Year Two

Research Proposal (5,000 words)

Ethics Application

Year Three and Year Four

Four formative assignments including Literature Review, Methodology, Issues Emerging from Data and Results/Conclusions

Year Five

A thesis of up to 60,000 words, incorporating the four formative assignments, with an oral examination.

Candidates will normally be expected to have a relevant Master’s degree preferably with research component or other experience of research in Social Sciences. It is also expected that applicants will have experience in a relevant professional area. 

Attendance to study blocks and training is required.

Information about visa requirements for non-home students can be found on our student visa types page.

Fees do not include accommodation and meals if you opt to stay on campus or locally. You will also need to provide any equipment required for virtual attendance and for your own research. This will almost certainly include audio recording equipment but you may also want to use video, photographic equipment or other digital media. You can find further details on our tuition fees page.

UEA Alumni 10% Scholarships - A scholarship of a 10% fee reduction is available to UEA Alumni looking to return for postgraduate study at UEA. Terms and conditions apply.

PGR loan for home students: For information on Postgraduate Research tuition fees see our PGR Fees and Funding page.

Applications can be made online:

Please ensure that your application is accompanied by:

• Official transcripts and certificates (in English) of your higher education qualifications.
• A Personal Statement
• A CV detailing your work experience to date.
• Two academic references.
• An official copy of your English language results (if relevant)
• A Research Proposal of around 2,000 words

The research proposal

The research proposal submitted with the application is not expected to be a perfect or finished product, as it is likely to undergo changes over the course of the first two years of study, in consultation with your supervisor. However, it has an important role to play in that it is used to judge both the quality of the proposed project as well as the fit of the topic with the research expertise and supervisory availability within the school. This may be particularly important if the course is oversubscribed.

A successful research proposal is therefore likely to:

• be of relevance to the school's research area (see Research in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning) 
• have an appeal for supervisors who have interests or expertise in that area (see here for research interests of potential supervisors, as well as their research profile and publications to gain a good idea). The application asks you to identify possible supervisor/s and this will help speed up the processing of your application
• convey any relevant prior experience - research or practice - related to the topic, you can indicate why are you motivated or excited by the topic
• focus on a viable issue or set of questions that it proposes to explore
• have a sense of the contribution the research can make to the field (in terms of professional practice, theory and/or methodology) and respond questions such as: who might benefit? how might it change things? what 'new' knowledge might we gain?
• convey a good grasp of key texts or debates in the research literature in the field, and if possible, a theoretical framework for the investigation
• contain a tentative research plan outlining possible research methodology and methods that will be used to explore the topic, also, indicate what kind of data you might collect, how much, how might you analyse it, etc.
• contain a reasonable timescale for completion (see the course structure to get a feel for how this might assist you)
• exhibit excellent referencing and bibliography skills.

Selection to the course will be based on the proposal's quality, applicant's qualifications, interview, as well as on the availability of supervisors with appropriate expertise and interest in your area of research. 

We are now receiving enquiries for the cohort starting in October 2022. The deadline for applications is 31 May 2022 (International applicants) or 30 June 2022 (Home applicants).

If you have any queries in relation to any aspect of the EdD or would like to discuss your application, please contact the Director of the programme, Dr Ana Inés Salvi.