1. The degree of Doctor of Clinical Practice (DClinP) may be awarded by the Senate to postgraduate students who have successfully pursued a programme of study to the satisfaction of the Board of the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Biological Sciences ('Faculty Board').
   
   

Admission

2. Candidates must be able to satisfy the Regulations for Admission as specified by the University. In addition, candidates must normally have:
   
   

(a) a good Honours degree in a relevant subject (normally First or Upper Second Class) or MSc in a health related subject

(b) a health professional qualification leading to current registration with the appropriate professional body

(c) a minimum of three years' relevant clinical/professional practice

Scheme of study

3. The programme shall contain a combination of clinically focussed research leading to submission of a written thesis, and a modular taught component comprising compulsory and optional modules. The programme shall be undertaken over a period of not less than three years of full-time, and four years of part-time, study. The maximum duration of candidature is four years full-time and six years part-time. The period of study ends when the thesis is submitted. The research component of the programme is continuous throughout the period of registration. The taught component will normally be completed within the first two years for full-time students and within four years for part-time students. A candidate who fails to complete coursework, examination requirements or the thesis by the date specified, or within the maximum period allowed for the programme, will be deemed to have failed the programme.
   
   

Taught component - moderation of assessment and student progress

4. An external examiner will be appointed, in accordance with University regulations, to moderate the standard of work submitted for the modular taught component of the programme. Additional external examiners may be appointed to oversee each professional pathway and /or to moderate work with a specific clinical focus as required.
   
   
5. Students will be assigned a personal tutor, who is not one of their research supervisors, to give guidance on the taught component of the programme.
   
   
6. For each module (up to a maximum of three modules) a student is allowed to revise and re-submit a failed piece of work on one occasion only and normally within three months of the notification of failure. In exceptional circumstances a third attempt may be offered at the discretion of the Board of Examiners. A student who fails a module at the second (exceptionally third) attempt will be deemed to have failed the programme and will have their registration terminated. A student who fails a fourth module at the first attempt will be deemed to have failed the programme and will have their registration terminated.
   
   
7. Candidates who are registered for, but do not complete, the doctoral programme may be eligible for the award of the MSc in Clinical Practice if they have successfully completed modules amounting to 120 credits and a research dissertation equivalent to 60 credits (15-20,000 words); or the award of the Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Practice if they have successfully completed modules amounting to 120 credits.
   
   

Research supervision and progress

8. Students will normally be assigned two research supervisors, who will be responsible for the supervision of the candidate's research project and for providing academic advice to the candidate; they will report on the candidate's work and progress when requested to do so by Faculty Board.
   
   
9. The Faculty Board may at any time review the progress of an individual candidate. If this is unsatisfactory and if, after due warning, there is insufficient improvement, the Board may recommend termination of candidature to Senate.
   
   
10. Students will undergo an Interim Assessment at least six months before submission of the thesis and normally no later than eighteen months after registration for full-time and thirty-six months for part-time students. The assessment will take the form of an oral examination based on a written report of no more than 10,000 words, on progress to date.
    
    
11. An internal examiner who meets Faculty criteria for the examination of doctoral theses, but has no supervisory responsibility for the student, will be appointed to conduct the Interim Assessment. Following the assessment, the examiner may recommend that the candidate:
    

(a) may proceed to submission of a doctoral thesis

(b) may not proceed to submission of a doctoral thesis, but may be permitted to undergo a further Interim Assessment on one subsequent occasion

(c) may not proceed to submission of a doctoral thesis, but may be permitted to complete a smaller-scale research project compatible with the award of the MSc in Clinical Practice.

The recommendation should be supported by the supervisor(s). If the recommendation is not supported by the supervisor(s), the matter will be referred to the Programme Director for a final decision.

12. If the recommendation of the examiner, supported by the student's research supervisor(s), is that continuation to submission of a doctoral thesis is not supported, a clear written statement of the reasons will be provided to the student with guidance on ways in which he/she might reach the required standard and a date when the recommendation might be reviewed. Only one such review will be permitted.
    

Examination and submission of thesis

13. A candidate who is about to submit a thesis shall give at least two months’ notice in writing to the Faculty Registrar, which shall include the full title of the thesis. Such notice of intention to submit a thesis shall be given no later than 1 February if the candidate seeks award of the degree the following July.
    
    
14. Candidates must have successfully completed the taught component of the programme before submission of their thesis.
    
    
15. On submission of a thesis a candidate shall be required to sign two documents: (a) a form of consent that the thesis, if successful, may be made available for inter-library loan or photocopying from a date stipulated (subject to the law of copyright) (b) a declaration stating that the thesis is the result of work done wholly or mainly while the student was in registered candidature; that where the thesis is based on work done by the candidate jointly with others, a substantial part is the original work of the candidate.
    
    
16. A thesis may not exceed 50,000 words, unless prior permission to exceed this length has been given by Faculty Board on the recommendation of the supervisors.
    
    
17. Normally there will be one internal and one external academic examiner for each candidate's thesis. A third examiner, normally a senior health care practitioner (academic or non-academic, who may be internal or external to the University) may be appointed to provide additional expertise, as appropriate. The supervisors may not be appointed as examiners.
    
    
18. Candidates for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Practice will normally be required to attend an oral examination.
    
    
19. Examiners for the thesis shall recommend one of the following courses of action:
    
    (a) that the degree of Doctor of Clinical Practice be awarded
    
    (b) that the degree of Doctor of Clinical Practice be awarded, subject if necessary to minor amendments to the thesis being made by a date specified (minor amendments include: minor omissions of substance, typographical errors, occasional stylistic or grammatical flaws, corrections to references, addition/modification of one or two figures, and minor changes to layout, and require no new research. They may be certified by the internal examiner only). The date specified for the submission of such minor amendments should normally be no later than a month after the formal notification to the candidate.
    
    (c) that the degree Doctor of Clinical Practice be awarded subject to the correction of modest errors/omissions of substance being made, by a date specified (the procedure for re-examination of the thesis should be clearly specified in the report). Such amendments may require limited further analysis but will not affect the originality of the central thesis. They will be of a scale to require certification by both the internal and external examiners, though normally not so extensive that an oral is required. The date specified for the submission of such intermediate amendments should normally be no later than six months after the formal notification to the candidate.
    
    (d) that the candidate be required to attend for a further oral examination;
    
    (e) that the candidate be permitted to submit by a date specified a revised thesis for the same degree for re-examination on one subsequent occasion. The date specified for submission of the revised thesis should normally be no later than twelve months after the formal notification to the candidate.
    
    (f) that, in the case of a candidate who has failed to satisfy the examiners, permission be given to the candidate to apply within a specified time for the award of the Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Practice or MSc in Clinical Practice, as appropriate. This may be allowed without re-examination, subject to any minor amendment of the thesis which may be required by the examiners, or may be subject to re-examination of a revised thesis;
    
    (g) that the degree be not awarded and that resubmission of the thesis be not permitted.
    
    
20. A candidate who fails to submit corrected coursework or a revised thesis by the date set by the examiners shall normally be regarded as having failed the examination and the recommendations of the examiners shall lapse.
    
    
21. Where the examiners recommend that the degree be not awarded and that resubmission of a revised thesis be not permitted, the candidate may ask for the case to be reviewed in accordance with the procedures laid down by Senate. A copy of the procedures may be obtained from the Faculty Registrar.