RD6 reflective review
RD6 is a reflective conversation about your development, progress, experience and support needs. It is not an academic examination or a substitute for ongoing supervision, but it is a required process.
When reviews happen
| Situation | Framework schedule |
|---|---|
| Full-time doctoral students | Twice yearly, October and March |
| Part-time students and all MRes/LLMRes students during standard registration | Annually in the October/March following the start: an October starter has first and subsequent reviews in March; a March starter in October |
| Grace period | Twice yearly for everyone, regardless of degree or mode |
| After thesis submission and during corrections | Continue as in the grace period until requirements are met and the Operations Team issues thesis-acceptance confirmation |
| Formal study break | Appropriate contact and DoS-completed RD6 continue; no student reflective report is expected. Part-time/Masters students have a full RD6 on returning if a review fell during the break |
The official FAQ broadly describes six-monthly reviews for everyone, unlike §4.5’s standard-registration distinctions. Confirm your School’s actual schedule; see Source differences and clarifications. PhD by Published Works still has RD6 at the standard time.
Prepare your reflective report
- Aim for four to five pages, 1.5 spacing, 12-point sans serif, written in the first person.
- An alternative format is acceptable if comparable in length, accessible to the panel, retrievable and storable.
- Reflect on research, what you learned, skills gaps, problems and responses, wellbeing/support, writing, publishing, presentations, training and teaching as relevant.
- A useful prompt: What happened? How did you feel? What would you do differently?
- Send it to the panel at least one week before the meeting.
The report is for your panel. It should not itself be forwarded to the committee; the staff review form needs enough detail for committee oversight while respecting privacy.
At and after the meeting
Your DoS arranges it; the IPC chairs. Discuss the report, realistic support and your Supervision agreement. You and the supervisors each speak privately with the IPC before reconvening. The DoS ensures required paperwork reaches the SRDC.
Failure to provide the report, where required, is treated as absence of progress. If preparation is difficult, raise it early with your DoS/IPC rather than missing it silently.
At the last standard-registration RD6, consider RD19 if needed; where that review is less than three months before your end date, the application belongs at the penultimate RD6 instead.
Sources: Framework §§4.5, 7.12, pp. 43–45, 83. Read the source.
Reviews and deadlines · Taking a study break · Completing corrections