Doctor of Social and Public Policy (SPPD)

The Doctorate in Social and Public Policy is comprised of two stages.

• Stage 1 (Thesis preparation stage - years 1 and 2): Organised around the completion of six 20 credit modules. Four modules engage with the theory and practicalities of social science methods, and two modules enable students to explore theoretical and conceptual aspects of social science relevant to their disciplinary area. Three modules will be taken in year 1 and three modules taken in year 2.
• Stage 2 (The Thesis stage - years 3-7) is devoted to developing and conducting your own research project in the field of social and public policy. Under the guidance of 2 experienced academic staff, you’ll produce an independent research thesis of between 40,000 to 50,000 words in length. The research thesis must focus on an approved topic in social and public policy and may be relevant to your professional practice in social and public policy. Work on the thesis begins in year 3 and takes between 3 and 5 years to complete.

You’ll be taught by academics with a mix of expertise and research experience in the relevant areas.

For stage 1 the focus will be on research training and preparation for undertaking the thesis.

• Each taught module is delivered on campus over three days: teaching starts on Thursday evenings and continues throughout Friday and Saturday. Teaching is carried out through a mix of lectures and discussion-based sessions that enable you to reflexively consider issues and concepts discussed in relation to your own work contexts and proposed research area. Led by research active staff, these modules introduce key methodological concepts, methods, and frameworks relevant to conducting high quality research and to reflecting on the types of knowledge produced.
• Each 20-credit module assumes 200 hours of study.
• You’re required to achieve an overall mark of no less than 60% across all modules to progress to stage 2, the Thesis stage of the programme.

During stage 2, you’ll develop and undertake your own research project and produce a thesis (40-50,000 words) in social and public policy under the guidance of 2 supervisors, at least one of whom will be a subject specialist. Crucially, for the professional doctorate you are expected to critically draw on your professional knowledge and experience to examine a topic of relevance to your work context.

Year one

In the first year of the programme, you’ll receive an introductory session to introduce you to the programme, the different provisions available, including workspaces, library facilities and the University’s virtual learning platform Learning Central.

Years 1 and 2 together provide you with the necessary skills and knowledge to undertake doctoral level research in relation to your professional area of work.

In year 1, you’ll undertake 3 taught modules.

• Changing modes of Professionalism
• Qualitative Research Methods
• Quantitative Research Methods

Year two

The second year of the programme continues the ‘Thesis Preparation Stage’ with a further 3 taught modules, including Research Design which involves the production of a research proposal.

• Research Design
• Theory, Practice and Change
• Evaluation: Developing and Evaluating Interventions in Complex Social Systems

Year three

With successful completion of the Thesis Preparation Stage, you’ll progress to the Thesis Stage.

Years 3 to 7 involve regular meetings with your supervisory team who will guide your through the process of developing and undertaking a doctoral level research project in relation to an issue relevant to your area of professional practice. During this time, you’ll be undertaking a range of activities including, critically engaging with existing research and theoretical literatures, planning and undertaking fieldwork, analysing data and routinely producing written work.

How will I be supported?

Cardiff University offers a range of support services for doctoral students.

You’ll be allocated a personal tutor to provide pastoral and academic support. Your personal tutor will usually be one of your 2 supervisors identified for the thesis stage.

You’ll also have access to the programme co-ordinator and to the postgraduate professional services team who can support you in navigating programme level and administrative issues.

All modules within the taught part of the programme make use of Cardiff University’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Learning Central, on which you will find course materials, access to readings, and information on assessment. When you start the programme, you’ll be invited to an induction and provided with information on using the extensive library facilities and learning central.

The taught modules include activities that provide opportunities to develop advanced oral and written communication through discussion, critique, and engagement with preparatory readings and problem-based tasks. Engagement with these activities will provide informal feedback to supplement the formal feedback that you will receive on submitted assignments.

During stage 2 of the programme, you’ll have regular meetings with and be supported by your supervisory team who will provide feedback on ideas, progress and submitted work, and encourage you to reflect on both the substantive content of your research and the skills development necessary to successfully progress the thesis.

There will also be periodic reviews of your progress as part of the ‘Research Student Progress Monitoring Procedure’ to ensure that you are on track to successfully complete your thesis in a timely manner, and to identify any challenges/needs to be addressed. Part of this process of ongoing support will involve undertaking a ‘Training Needs Analysis’ to help you to identify and arrange any additional skills required for you to succeed in your research.

Throughout your studies, you’ll be able to use the dedicated postgraduate research office spaces and computers located in the Glamorgan Building. You will also have access to the University’s Doctoral Academy which provides a wide range of training courses designed to support students in their thesis stage, with both academic and more general skills development. We have a range of active research groups and centres, and you are encouraged to participate as a member or attend seminars and other activities organised by the wider research community within the School. There may also be opportunities to attend postgraduate taught modules offered across the College of Arts, and Humanities and Social Sciences.

What opportunities are available to study through the medium of Welsh?

We are committed to providing a supportive environment for the Welsh language.

Modules are taught through the medium of English, but you will have the option to submit assignments in Welsh.

Depending on your proposed research topic and the availability of Welsh speaking supervisors, it may be possible to undertake your thesis through the medium of Welsh.

What knowledge and skills will I gain by the end of the Programme?

The Learning Outcomes for this Programme describe what you will achieve by the end of your programme at Cardiff University and identify the knowledge and skills that you will develop. They will also help you to understand what is expected of you.

On successful completion of your Programme, you will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding:

• Generate and interpret original research that makes a significant contribution to knowledge in the field of social and public policy.
• Demonstrate a systematic understanding of a substantial body of knowledge which is at the forefront of social and public policy research or professional practice.
• Apply and critically appraise advanced research methods and techniques appropriate to doctoral-level enquiry in the field of social and public policy.
• Critically and creatively evaluate knowledge and theory at the forefront of social and public policy research and practice.

Intellectual Skills:

• Independently conceptualise, design and undertake investigations to address topics of theoretical, policy or professional interest within the field of social and public policy that generates significant new knowledge.
• Analyse complex issues and ideas, exercising critical judgement in evaluating sources of information.
• Demonstrate flexible and creative analyses of complex or contradictory data/theories/evidence.
• Apply research critically to a specialist area of professional practice relevant to social and public policy.

Professional Practical Skills:

• Comprehensively organise and communicate new and advanced information at the forefront of the social and public policy field to specialist audiences in highly complex contexts.
• Present and defend research outcomes which extend the forefront of social and public policy research and development and professional practice.
• Demonstrate an advanced critical understanding of the practical challenges faced when gathering empirical data and display resilience, adaptability and creativity in response.
• Demonstrate a capability for critically evaluating methodological debates, assessing competing approaches in the empirical investigation of social scientific phenomena.
• Exercise a proactive and self-reflexive approach to work and professional relationships.

Transferable/Key Skills:

• Present research findings effectively in both oral and written form reflecting technical proficiency in the English language.
• Demonstrate advanced strategic insight to research informed problem solving in a professional context.
• Comprehensively apply a highly advanced awareness of ethical and professional values as part of own professional practice.
• Develop a very high level of adaptability and personal responsibility to engage in reflexive independent learning which ensures continuing professional development.

Duration

The scheme provides a maximum period of candidature of seven years. However, students many complete in as few as five years. This will depend on student’s flexibility and availability for study.

Alternative exit awards

You will be encouraged and supported to complete your full doctoral degree. However, we do offer alternative exit awards for students who are unable to complete their programme of study. These are:

• Postgraduate Diploma in Research Practice upon successful completion of six taught modules (120 credits);
• An award of MPhil in Social Policy Research Practice may be approved as a subsidiary award by an examining board following the submission of a thesis and a Viva Voce examination.

Assessment

During stage 1, modules are assessed by 100% coursework and against assignment specific marking criteria which you should read prior to commencing work on summative assessments. Coursework assignments are comprised of a range of types of assignment, including research proposals, oral tests, reports, and essays. All modules and assessments on this programme are required.

Assessments are designed to encourage autonomy in applying academic theories and methods to your area of professional practice, while enabling you to demonstrate that you have met the learning outcomes for the module.

All modules provide formative feedback. For some modules you will be required to submit a draft of the assignment(s) for feedback. Based on the feedback provided, you will revise the assignment and submit a final version for marking. This process is reflective of the supervisory experience and will help prepare you for stage 2 of the programme. Other modules may have two assessments where feedback from the first assessment provides feedback that feeds forward into the second assessment.

The pass mark for each module is 50% and you are required to achieve an overall mark of no less than 60% across all modules to progress to the thesis stage of the programme.

During stage 2, you’ll be assessed on a thesis in the field of social and public policy of between 40-50,000 words. This will be examined by 2 qualified academics and will include a viva voce examination.

Our research is world-leading, achieving excellent research impact, quality and environment scores for Education and Sociology in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), scoring 3^rd and 10^th in the UK respectively.

We are committed to theoretically informed research with a clear policy focus. Our research is interdisciplinary, innovative and has impact.

We have a diverse research portfolio, centred around seven themes.

• Science, technology and risk
• Crime, security and justice
• Children and young people
• Culture, interaction and everyday life
• Education, skills and the labour market
• Inequalities, division and diversity
• Knowledge, learning and pedagogy

Our work is characterised by a combination of sociological theory and methods with application to real-world issues. As a multi-discipline School, we value an interdisciplinary approach and embrace a range of methods and approaches to issues.

We have a large postgraduate community in the School, with students taking a key role in shaping our research environment. Students undertake research-capacity development and engage in regular seminars, workshops, public engagement activities as well as the student-organised Postgraduate Café, a monthly forum for research-focused discussion.

International reputation

Our staff includes Fellows of the British Academy and the Learned Society of Wales, Academicians of the Academy of Social Sciences, several winners of the Learned Society of Wales Dillwyn Medal for outstanding early career research and the winner of the 2015 BRA/BBC Ethnography prize.

Grants and collaborations

Our collaborations range from partnerships with major universities and international agencies around the world, to working with local policy makers and practitioners.

Since 2014, we have secured research grants totalling in excess of £63 million. We have one of the highest per capita external grant captures of any Social Science department in the country.

We are partners in the Welsh Graduate School for the Social Sciences (WGSSS). We host the Wales Institute for Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods and the Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE). We also lead the Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement (DECIPHER).

The programme can help enhance your career or make you more effective within your current role. Whether you aim to become a senior policymaker at national, regional or local level, a practitioner aiming to more effectively influence and respond to policy, or a policy researcher in the third sector or a think tank, the Doctor of Social and Public Policy programme will place you at the forefront of your field with the expertise to shape the future of the profession and the sector.

Funding

See our latest PhD studentships and projects and find out more about other funding opportunities.

Tuition fees

The fees for the Professional Doctorate are the same as the PhD Arts-based programmes and can be found on the university’s website.

Students are usually self-funded, or part-funded by their employers, or supported by the Doctoral loan scheme.

Students from the UK

Get the latest information on postgraduate fees.

Students from the EU, EEA and Switzerland

Get the latest information on postgraduate fees.

Students from the rest of the world (international)

Get the latest information on postgraduate fees.

The Professional Doctorate scheme has an annual admission date in October and applications are welcomed until 1 June. Late applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

As part of the application process, applicants are required to provide two references, evidence of qualifications, a personal statement and a research proposal - outlining the research topic in they intend to pursue for the thesis stage of their studies.

The module stage of the programme is designed to equip students with a suitable knowledge and understanding to undertake doctoral level research.  As such, it is acknowledged that initial ideas about a research topic may evolve by the time students progress to the thesis stage. Even so, an outline proposal remains a key part of the application, helping the School to establish the suitability of an applicant for doctoral-level study and to identify prospective supervisors.

In addition to their application form, applicants are required to provide:

• a personal statement
• a research proposal to supplement the summary proposal in the application form
• qualification certificates and transcripts, with translations if needed
• evidence of meeting the English Language entry requirements
• two references, one of which must normally be an academic reference, to be requested by the applicant.

Specific personal statement required (approx. 500-800 words)

When planning the structure of your personal statement, please consider the following:

• What are your reasons and motivation for applying to undertake doctoral study? This could include some comments and expectations on doctoral study;
• What is the relevance of your previous academic and professional learning and experience for a doctoral programme of study? This could include your assessment of the strengths and personal skills that you would bring to your study;
• Why would now be the right time for you to embark on your doctoral study? This could include information regarding your work and/or personal circumstances and how these would facilitate engagement with study.

Research proposal

Research proposal (approx. 1000-1200 words)

The outline description of the proposed research should include:

1. an indicative title for the proposed study;
2. a brief summary of research that has already been undertaken in the field, addressing key relevant literature and research, and demonstrating engagement with a diverse range of sources;
3. a statement of the aims of the proposed research within the context of 2 above;
4. potential specific research questions to be addressed by the study, ideally no more than two or three;
5. an outline of the proposed research design and methodology, including information on prospective research access, sampling, and methods of data collection - try to include a plan for a three-year timetable;
6. an indicative bibliography.

References

You will also need to provide two references, one of which should be an academic reference. These should be signed, dated and less than six months old at the time you submit them.

Admission process

We will review your application and ifyou meet the entry requirements and suitable supervisors have been identified, we will invite you to an interview.Following the interview a decision will be made as to whether we can offer you a place.

You must possess a good first degree (i.e. normally a 2:1 or above) or an equivalent international degree and usually have completed a master’s degree. Either your first degree or master’s degree should be subject-relevant, e.g. social sciences or humanities, or you must show evidence of other forms of studies that provide substantive subject knowledge.

You should have two or more years’ professional experience in a social or public policy related field. Much of the taught modules and subsequent thesis stage focus on engagement with issues affecting, or relevant to, research and professional practice. As such, you are expected to have experience of - or current access to - professional settings in a policy-related field.

English language requirements

A valid IELTS with an overall score of 7.0 with at least 6.5 in all other subskills, or an accepted equivalent for those who have not had a substantial part of their education taught in the English language.

Please read our English language requirements for more details.