Course summary
Home of the two-year degree, the University of Buckingham, based in the South East of England, is ranked 6th for Student Satisfaction in the UK (National Student Survey, 2020). We are proudly independent and not-for-profit, and offer courses in Allied Health, Business, Computing, Education, Humanities, Law, Medicine, Psychology and Security and Intelligence. We are one of the few universities in the UK that offer September and January start dates for almost all of our courses. Based in Buckingham on a riverside campus, we are only 20 minutes’ from Milton Keynes central station and a short drive from Bicester, Aylesbury, Banbury and Northampton. There is free parking on-site and we are within easy reach of London and Oxford. Our award-winning small class tutorials ensure every student is known by name and supported throughout their studies, including by dedicated personal tutors. As pioneers of the two-year degree, we offer a condensed version of the traditional three-year degree, meaning you can gain a full honours degree and complete your studies a whole year earlier. Alternatively, you can complete both your undergraduate and master’s degree with us in just three years: saving you time and money. The PhD in Stuart History – which incorporates the history of the Civil War and the English Republic (1649-1660) – is an advanced research degree, awarded on the basis of a thesis and an oral viva voce examination. The primary purpose of the PhD is the preparation and presentation of a substantial piece of independent and original academic research, completed in three years if studying full-time and usually six years if studying part-time. There is also the possibility of early submission in cases where the student makes particularly rapid progress. There is an enormously broad range of possible thesis subjects in British History during the ‘long’ seventeenth century: the age of Stuart rule from the accession of James VI of Scotland as James I of England and Ireland in 1603 through to the death of Queen Anne, the last of the Protestant Stuart monarchs, in 1714. Theses in the recent past have ranged from Anglo-French relations in the early seventeenth century, to the political career of the second Earl of Warwick, one of the towering figures of the parliamentarian leadership in the English Civil War, through to the financial underpinnings of British government after the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688. The University encourages applications from those who are interested in all aspects of the social, religious, political and cultural history of Stuart Britain. Given sufficient evidence to illuminate it, almost any aspect of the history of Britain in the ‘long’ seventeenth century may potentially form an appropriate focus of study. Your supervisors (or prospective supervisors) are on hand to offer advice. The definition of the PhD subject is an iterative process, and it is usual for the candidate’s first thoughts on the topic to be modified in the course of the first year of study.
Modules
Every PhD student in School of Humanities is supported by two supervisors. Supervisors are experts in their field of study and support students throughout the PhD. Students will also benefit from the advice and support of other academic members of the Faculty who will be involved in progression through the various stages of the PhD, including Annual Review meetings with a senior professor (where progress is monitored and support offered towards the planning of the next period of study). Each student is allocated two supervisors. There is a First (or Principal) Supervisor, who is the student’s regular guide during his or her research, and with whom the student meets regularly throughout the year. There is also a Second Supervisor, whom the student may consult on a more limited basis where a ‘second opinion’ on a particular draft chapter may be helpful.
Assessment method
PhD students undertake supervised but independent research, at the end of which they submit a thesis embodying the results of that research. The length of the dissertation should not be fewer than 70,000 words and no longer than 80,000 words of text (excluding the thesis-abstract, appendices, footnotes, tables, and bibliography). This thesis must demonstrate familiarity with, and an understanding of the subject, its principal sources and authorities. It should display critical discrimination and a sense of proportion in evaluating evidence and the judgements of others. A PhD thesis must embody an original contribution to the knowledge of the discipline either by the discovery of new knowledge or by the exercise of a new and independent critical approach.
Entry requirements
Applicants are normally expected to have a first or upper second-class degree or significant relevant experience. Age is usually an irrelevancy and the University of Buckingham’s current doctoral students range in age from those in their twenties to those in their seventies. Academic ability is the only criterion regarded as relevant. Wherever possible, students are encouraged to begin their studies at the start of the academic year (in September), in order to be in step with their peers. Where this is not possible, however, entry points exist at the start of each academic term.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
No fee information has been provided for this course
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .
Additional fee information
Fees to be confirmed
Provider information
University of Buckingham
Hunter Street
Buckingham
MK18 1EG