Open letter: Durham University, reverse the reintroduction of continuation fees for postgraduate researchers
To sign this open letter, complete the form below. We welcome signatures from current Durham PGRs and others signing in solidarity. Share at bit.ly/NoContinuationFeesDU
Dear Professor Tony Fawcett, Interim Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education) and Professor Debbie Riby, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Postgraduate Research Students),
We, the undersigned, are dismayed by the decision to reintroduce continuation fees for Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs) or PhD Students at Durham University who are outside of their period of supervised research, effective from 1st October 2023. These fees have been waived since the outbreak of COVID-19, showing recognition of the difficulty of completing PhDs within official periods of supervised study and funding during the pandemic. The reintroduction of these fees suggests misconceptions about the reasons for such difficulty: completing a PhD within 3 years was challenging before the ongoing pandemic and continues to be so more than ever in the current climate. We object to the fees being reintroduced on the grounds that current PGRs have been and continue to be impacted by COVID-19; continuation fees represent minimal financial gain to the university at great personal cost to PGRs; and PhDs rarely take less than three years in the UK, with 55.9% of universities reporting that PhDs take an average of 4 years or more to complete (page 5). Durham University should support those who have entered continuation to complete their doctorates to the best of their ability, rather than administering an additional fee.
The waiving of continuation fees demonstrated a welcome recognition by the university executive that disruptions in the life course of a PhD can have significant impact on the time it takes to complete a PhD. The ongoing pandemic has caused many such disruptions to current PGRs, including interruptions to data collection, supervisory arrangements & training opportunities; Long COVID; mental health impacts of pandemic and lockdown; and bereavement. Various other factors which predate the pandemic also make it difficult to complete a PhD within the 3-year (full-time equivalent) standard period of supervised study and funding. Many of these are associated with EDI considerations, including lengthy and/or intermittent disruptions to work due to caring responsibilities, disabilities, chronic illness and other health conditions; the period of time some international PGRs and PGRs from non-academic backgrounds require to adjust to learning, teaching & research culture in UK HEIs; and the impacts of traumatic experiences or difficult life events such as the death of a loved one during the course of a PhD. Whilst some funders and departments provide support and resource to account for some of these disruptions to a regular work pattern, the spread of support is uneven across PGRs. Self-funded PGRs are particularly exposed to the financial and emotional turmoil of such disruptions.
Continuation fees are a barrier to PGRs that threatens completion of their doctorates. It is unusual to complete a UK PhD in under 3 years (full-time equivalent); a recent survey by the UK Council for Doctoral Education of HEIs in UK and Ireland found that 51.5% of institutions reported that their average length of PhD completion was 4-5 years, a further 44.1% reported an average completion time of 3-4 years, and 0% reported less than three years (page 5). PhD programmes also have high dropout rates, with 19-26% of Durham’s PhD researchers leaving the university without obtaining their planned doctorates between 2015-16 and 2019-20 (a time period almost entirely prior to the pandemic and cost of living crisis). When these statistics were published, the University acknowledged that dropouts are largely due to “financial and life challenges.” Given PhDs typically take between 3-5 years to complete and financial challenges threaten their completion altogether, it is high time the University recognised this and supported PGRs through their continuation period, rather than charging an additional fee for not completing within the period of supervised study.
Continuation fees hit PGRs when they are at their most precarious, when sources of income through funding have stopped or, for self-funded PGRs, the point at which they have exhausted savings and other planned sources of income. At the same time, PGRs in continuation are faced with the likelihood of an unknown period of unemployment or underemployment as they search for work in a difficult job market, with low prospects of finding secure stable work in academia post-PhD. The reintroduction of continuation fees now, at a time when rents in Durham have skyrocketed, when the prices of energy, fuel and food are high and rising more quickly than incomes, shows a complete lack of understanding of the financial and emotional pressures faced by PGRs in the current cost of living crisis. It is particularly galling for those of us who started in 2019 and 2020 (or earlier if part-time) who are still in our period of supervised study, have faced significant disruption due to COVID-19, yet are expected to absorb these impacts where allowances were made for previous cohorts.
PGRs are vital members of the student and staff body, contributing to research and teaching excellence of the University, as well as to community building and outreach throughout their PhD programmes and into continuation. If Durham University wants to continue to attract diverse cohorts of PGRs, there needs to be a demonstration that PGRs will be supported fully throughout the life course of the PhD, building in recognition that PhDs normally take longer than 3 years to complete, especially for disadvantaged groups. With this in mind, we call on the University to reverse the decision to reintroduce continuation fees with immediate effect and to put in place additional financial support for all PGRs in continuation. We request that you work with Postgraduate representatives and officers from the Students’ Union and Universities and Colleges Union, as well as relevant university support services, to ensure there is a comprehensive, clear and accessible package of support available to all PGRs—funded and self-funded—which enables them to meet their living costs during continuation. We would like to see Durham University leading the sector in not only permanently abolishing continuation fees but also setting realistic expectations around the length of time required to complete a PhD, particularly for many of the most disadvantaged PGRs.
Yours sincerely,
We will begin to publish signatures when we have at least 100.
Anonymous comments from signatories:
"I think waving the continuation fees should be the bare minimum. The UK Government charges international PGRs for 4 years of health insurance surcharge, stating that 4 years is the amount of time usually required. Yet our scholarships cover only 3 years, making this a clearly exclusionary practice."
"Cost of living, mental wellbeing"
"Like most PGRs I started out (in 2019) thinking I would be done in 3 years, discovering pretty quickly what the unis/funders already know: that it almost always takes longer than this. I went part-time and got a Covid extension but I still unfortunately have to try and budget for an unfunded continuation period later this year, in a cost of living crisis. I have not budgeted for even having to pay the uni a fee to finish my research for them. This further financial hit will negatively impact my young family."
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Grant Denkinson
UCU
Dr Julia Molinari PhD SFHEA
Benji Bacchus
Dr. J Bernadette Moore
Kellie Turtle