Abstract
As elsewhere across the globe, for the past two decades doctoral
education in the UK has been in the throes of change. This article
seeks to describe and analyse developments in 1) the national
framework for doctoral education, 2) institutional structures, 3)
doctoral programmes, 4) doctoral candidacy, 5) doctoral supervision
and 6) doctoral examination. Multiple sources of evidence,
including official documentation and the results of investigations
of the public-facing websites of the 150 institutions providing
doctoral programmes, are used. The conclusion shows that these
changes have been far-reaching, particularly for supervisors, and
a call is made for greater recognition of their contributions to
doctoral education.