Policy

UKRI training grant guidance

• From: UKRI
• Published: 1 October 2025

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This guidance provides additional information for Training Grant Holders and should be read in conjunction with the Standard Terms and Conditions of Training Grant (the “Standard Conditions”) and any Specific Conditions that apply to your grant.

Introduction

This guidance is primarily for use by Research Organisations (universities, research institutes and other bodies) in receipt of Training Grants awarded by any of UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Councils:

• Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
• Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
• Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
• Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
• Medical Research Council (MRC)
• Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
• Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
• Research England
• Innovate UK

The guidance should also be considered by organisations in receipt of funds from other institutions that refer to the UKRI Standard Terms and Conditions of Training Grant. Where we use Training Grant Condition numbers (for example, ‘TGC 1’), this refers to a specific condition or set of conditions in the Standard Conditions.

While written for staff who work on Training Grants, Students and their Supervisors may find this guidance helpful but should check against the provision at the organisation in which they are based as to how any support is implemented for them.

TGC1 Variation to the Terms and Conditions

The latest version of the Standard Terms and Conditions of Training Grant apply to both new and existing Training Grants unless stated otherwise, however these do not supersede any Specific Training Grant Terms and Conditions. For auditing purposes, the Terms and Conditions applicable at the time of the activity or purchase resulting in a subsequent charge to the Training Grant will apply. Where a change to Our Terms and Conditions requires a new policy or process, we expect you to implement this within a reasonable timescale, and in the interim we will expect you to take steps to mitigate against any risks that have arisen as a result of non-compliance due to changes to Our Terms and Conditions.

TGC 2 Accountability and responsibilities of the research organisation

Through our councils we fund research training within a broad set of subject disciplines and in collaboration with partners. How funding for a grant may be used will normally be found as part of the funding opportunity.

It is a requirement that You and any Third Parties you collaborate with ensure that both Your Students’ research and the training they receive is delivered in a way that is compliant with all relevant legal, regulatory and ethical requirements.

The Standard Conditions refer to a number of specific legal and regulatory requirements, however the conditions are not intended to be a comprehensive list of all external requirements on You. You should also be aware that legal and regulatory requirements change from time to time and that you need to maintain your compliance. UKRI is not able to provide You with legal advice.

Therefore, staff leading or working on a Training Grant are expected to draw on the expertise of professionals as necessary. Regulators and representative bodies may also provide advice or guidance on how to ensure compliance with certain requirements. You should also ensure staff working on a Training Grant (including Supervisors) have an appropriate level of awareness of the legal and policy context in which they are operating, including undertaking training provided by their employer.
We generally expect that Research Organisations (ROs) and Third Parties will have policies or procedures that, so long as they are implemented appropriately for Your Students, will enable individual grants and or projects to operate in a compliant manner.

Consumer law

Students generally have a right to be treated in a way that is clear, transparent and fair. This will ensure that You are compliant with consumer law (see TGC 2.20).

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) guidance on compliance with consumer law though initially written for undergraduate education, is also likely to apply to most doctoral students. Note that the requirements start with information provided to students before they apply for their course. Consumer law may not apply to some students; if you believe this applies to your students, we recommend you seek legal advice.

Complaint handling

Complaint handling procedures and practices must be easy to locate, accessible, clear and fair to students. The CMA state that this is a requirement of consumer law. We require that your complaints processes have regard to advice from the relevant ombudsman. These vary by nation:

• the Office for the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) in England and Wales
• the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO)
• the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO)

The OIA in particular has a Good Practice Framework that is written for higher education providers and good advice on resolving issues before they manifest as formal complaints.

Employing Students

If you are employing Students, ensure that you don’t give them an oral or implied contract. Instead, ensure there is a written contract.

There are further details on our requirements for employing Students under ‘teaching and demonstration work’.

Statement of Expectations

In addition to the legal, regulatory and ethical requirements, you are also expected to deliver training in a way that is consistent with the relevant UKRI statements of expectations. This is a requirement under TGC 2.9.

For funding opportunities launched in or after 2024, this is the Statement of Expectations for Doctoral Training. The statement covers:

• support and student experience
• research skills and methods
• professional and career development

For grants made earlier, the 2018 Statement of Expectations for Postgraduate Training applies.

You are expected to make sure adequate facilities and resources are available in order to deliver against the statement and your other obligations.

Use of Training Grant information

ROs must ensure that Students, Supervisors and project partners are made aware of what information, including personal data, is provided to UKRI, and how that information about the Studentship will be used by both UKRI and the research organisation. This includes but is not limited to the RO:

• disclosing to UKRI any information that UKRI requests regarding the progress of their studies, the submission of their thesis (where appropriate), and the completion of their studies
• disclosing Student contact details to UKRI in order to allow UKRI or third parties acting on UKRI’s behalf to contact Students both during and beyond the duration of their Studentship for evaluation purposes, regarding funded courses, or to invite Students to events or conferences that we fund
• providing data on equality and diversity to allow UKRI to help assess how effective policies and procedures are in eliminating unlawful discrimination and promoting equal opportunities (this information may be used anonymously for statistical purposes and will be treated in confidence and in line with all relevant data protection legislation)
• providing any such information requested on UKRI’s behalf to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) or any other organisation or agency empowered to act on UKRI’s behalf, including UK Shared Business Services (SBS) Ltd

It is also helpful to remind Students and staff members that Students’ names and summaries of their research projects are made available to the public, for example through UKRI’s Gateway to Research.

They should use plain English to support accessibility. Project titles and summaries should be short, factual and easy to understand. They should avoid jargon and be written in the knowledge they are publicly accessible and searchable.

Modern Slavery Act 2015

Any RO carrying out business in the UK is required to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015. You must take steps to ensure that operations and supply chains are trafficking and slavery free. This includes imposing substantially similar obligations to those in this guidance where you are permitted under the Standard Conditions and any Specific Conditions to subcontract your obligations, so that multi-level supply chains are addressed.

You must ensure that neither yourself, your officers, employees, nor so far as you are aware any subcontractor or other persons associated with you, have been convicted of any offence involving slavery and human trafficking.

Any organisation in receipt of UKRI Training Grant funding must have a security management plan and hold relevant certification to provide an appropriate level of assurance. A robust set of controls, based on a cyber security risk assessment, must be implemented.

A positive cyber-security culture should be achieved through a cyber security training programme for all staff and Students and in line with UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation principles.

TGC 3 Research governance

Research ethics, misconduct and conflicts of interest

Ethical issues should be interpreted broadly and may encompass, amongst other things:

• the involvement of human participants or remains, tissue or data in research
• the use of animals
• research that may result in damage to the environment
• dual use research of concern
• the use of sensitive economic, social or personal data

Relevant professional codes of practice and ethical guidance provided by professional bodies should be followed. See also guidance on managing risks of research misuse.

Research involving human participants or data within the social sciences that falls outside the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research, such as research which poses no clinical risk or harm to the research subjects, must meet the provisions and guidelines of the ESRC’s research ethics framework.

Misconduct

You must report to us any investigations and their outcomes into research misconduct associated with the Training Grant within one month of deciding to undertake any formal investigation and subsequently notify us of the findings and actions taken. You must provide information on your management of research integrity and ethics as described in Our policy on the governance of good research practice.

Use of animals in research

You must comply with the provisions of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, and any amendments, where applicable, and ensure that all necessary licences are in place before any work requiring approval takes place.

The expectations of researchers are set out in Responsibility in the use of animals in bioscience research. Wherever possible, researchers must adopt procedures and techniques that avoid the use of animals.

Where this is not possible, the research should be designed so that:

• the least sentient species with the appropriate physiology is used
• the number of animals used is the minimum sufficient to provide adequate statistical power to provide a robust and reliable answer to the questions posed
• the severity of procedures performed on animals is kept to a minimum, and appropriate anaesthesia, analgesia and humane endpoints should be used to minimise any pain and suffering

Health and safety

Appropriate care must be taken where Students and Supervisors are studying or working on and off-site. This includes studying or working internationally where there may be insufficient protection. You must be satisfied that all reasonable health and safety factors are addressed. This includes reasonable adjustments to ensure the health and safety of individuals who have pre-existing conditions as well as those whose circumstances change.

Responsibility for completing suitable and sufficient risk assessment lies with the research organisation. UKRI expects that risk assessments will be completed by competent people. Health and safety advice must not be ignored even to meet a grant-related objective.

ROs must have health and safety policies in place to assess the research environment for Students. Health and safety risk assessments should be carried out where necessary, and in a proportionate way, to consider the requirements of all doctoral Students.

Risk assessment

We specifically require that an individual risk assessment is conducted when a Student informs you (or a Third Party where they are based) that they are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have given birth in the last six months. This is likely to take a similar form to the health and safety assessment required for workers when pregnant, in a period of maternity or while breastfeeding.

You should also provide health and safety assessment for Students who are disabled, giving consideration to reasonable adjustments where appropriate (see also Equality, Diversity and Inclusion). The Health and Safety Executive has guidance that may be applicable to your Students.

You should be mindful that, while health and safety is of paramount importance, actions you take should be proportionate, particularly if there is a risk that action puts a person at a substantial disadvantage because of a protected characteristic. You may need to consider additional steps to mitigate any disadvantage for a Student.

ROs should also have policies in place for Students to raise health and safety concerns and to ensure that these are dealt with proportionately and quickly.

Patients and other research participants

You must also consider the health, safety and wellbeing of patients and other research participants, in line with the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research (or equivalent). These systems must promote and maintain the relevant codes of practice and all relevant statutory review, authorisation and reporting requirements. We also have guidance on human participants in research.

Any significant developments that affect the safety and well-being of research participants must be assessed and mitigated as appropriate in a timely manner as the research proceeds (this may include suspending or terminating the research) and should be reported to the appropriate authorities and to us.

Reporting serious incidents

In the event of a serious incident, we require that you inform us of this for risk purposes. This should include (but is not limited to):

• death
• serious injury
• notifiable diseases
• dangerous occurrences

Public health and safety

You are responsible for complying fully with the requirements of all regulatory authorities for the storage, use and transfer of all potentially harmful materials. This includes pathogenic organisms, and any additional provisions to safeguard security that may be specified by such authorities.

You are also fully responsible for the management, monitoring and control of all research work funded by Us.

Policies and processes

You should have clear policies and processes for considering dual use risks wherever and whenever they emerge, providing advice and guidance to Students, Supervisors and staff and actively monitoring the progress of research where potential risks are identified. This may entail, for example, having mechanisms to call on expert advice or to convene expert groups (this might include individuals with scientific, biosafety, security and ethics expertise) to assess risks and benefits associated with projects of potential concern.

You should also include provision of appropriate training and education to Students, Supervisors and staff working in areas where dual use issues could emerge and have policies in place to ensure staff and Students can safely raise legitimate concerns.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

TGC 3.4 states that you are expected to ensure that equality, diversity and inclusion is considered and supported at all stages throughout the lifetime of the Training Grant, in alignment with our policies and principles.

You must ensure that the training and research is compliant with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 in England, Wales and Scotland and (“the Acts”). There is advice on what this means for higher education providers in England, Wales and Scotland:

• the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Technical guidance on further and higher education provides guidance on the law for higher education providers in England, Wales and Scotland, including on application of the Public Sector Equality Duty
• EHRC’s Advice note for the higher education sector from the legal case of University of Bristol vs Abrahart contains updated advice on providing reasonable adjustments to disabled Students

Guidance on legislation in Northern Ireland is available from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI).

Supporting disabled Students

The Acts require you to provide reasonable adjustments to disabled people (including anticipatory adjustments), with some additional provisions for education providers. You should ensure that you comply with all such requirements. The responsibility for ensuring that you provide disabled Students with reasonable adjustments lies with the education provider with which they are based, irrespective of whether these are funded by us.

In the Training Grant conditions, we require you to inform persons who may become UKRI-funded Students that if they are disabled they can request reasonable adjustments at the earliest opportunity, for example in offer letters you send to Students. You should ensure that Students are able to follow up and get reasonable adjustments put in place for the start of their Studentship where this is appropriate. You should also ensure that Students can seek reasonable adjustments throughout the whole period they are a Student.

TGC 3.4.3 requires that ROs and project partners must have a policy on the provision of reasonable adjustments for disabled Students. The policy is likely to apply across the whole of the organisation or all research Students in the organisation, rather than an individual policy for a single UKRI grant, though this is not a requirement. Where the policy is not specifically for our Training Grants, it should still demonstrably account for the support available for UKRI-funded Students.

Individual organisations should ensure all staff working on grants, including Supervisors, adhere to the policy. The grant’s project lead should verify to their own satisfaction that all partners that host Students funded by the grant have such a policy and take reasonable steps to address any significant compliance concerns (see TGC 2.1).

Definition of disability

In the Standard Conditions, disability has the same meaning as in the Acts. The Acts state that a person has a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment, and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. A simple guide to the meaning of disability is available from the Equality Advisory and Support Service. The UK government has published more extensive guidance. It is worth noting that the definition is broad and can cover impairments caused by a wide range of health conditions.

Because the definition tends to focus on the impairment, not the health condition from which the impairment arises, your policy should reflect contemporary guidance on assessing disability. This should include what proportionate measures you require to verify what a Student says about their health condition or requirements, or where you require expert evidence or recommendations to make well informed decisions. A degree of procedural formality will generally be appropriate.

Policy on reasonable adjustments

Where a Student has a severe or urgent condition, you may need to make reasonable adjustments without a diagnosis or medical or expert evidence. Your policy is likely to need to reflect your organisation’s view on assessing where an impairment puts a Student at a substantial disadvantage, and how to consider whether an adjustment is reasonable.

UKRI Training Grants provide flexibility that may be helpful to you in supporting disabled Students, including use of up to 52 weeks’ medical leave, additional leave (including disability leave), and additional funding where eligible under the UKRI Disabled Students’ Allowance framework (DSA). We have no specific conditions on whether or what medical evidence we expect you to review to be eligible to claim the costs of this support from UKRI. Provided your approach is consistent with your policy, and your policy is consistent with EHRC or ECNI (as appropriate) guidance, we are content to accept your judgement.

Obligation to inform UKRI

As the Acts’ requirements to make reasonable adjustments place a legal onus on you, TGC 3.4.4 notes that there may be cases where you are obliged to make an adjustment for a Student even though there is a tension with our requirements. If this is the case, you should make the adjustment, but note that UKRI is under no legal obligation to fund it. We require that you report any such instance to us, as this will enable us to consider our support. If contacting us, you should already have made a judgement that the adjustment is reasonable (or is highly likely to be reasonable) under the terms of the Acts.

Where an issue is raised with us, we will seek to provide a response within 20 working days. If we are unable to provide you with a final response in that time, we will give details of:

• the progress we have made
• the reason for the delay
• a target date for when we are aiming to respond

Note we cannot determine whether it is or is not reasonable for you to provide additional adjustments in individual cases, as this is your responsibility.

Failing to make reasonable adjustments

In the Standard Conditions we note that failure to make reasonable adjustments for a disabled Student in a timely fashion may result in the Studentship being extended at cost to the RO. This might happen where the Student has raised a grievance or complaint (for instance though your internal process, an ombudsman, or legal action) and is awarded additional time.

Disabled Students’ Allowance framework (DSA)

UKRI students are not eligible for other DSA schemes. UKRI DSA is intended to help with additional expenditure for the costs of study-related requirements that may be incurred where a Student’s physical or mental impairment means additional support is needed to undertake a UKRI-funded Studentship. For full eligibility criteria, see the UKRI DSA Framework.

DSA can cover the cost of:

• needs assessments
• specialist equipment and insurance
• non-medical assistance
• extra travel costs
• general DSA

ROs should normally arrange for an impartial assessment of need. A new assessment may not be required if, for example, the RO has an existing assessment from a previous course that is satisfactory for the doctoral programme. Costs associated with DSA do not come out of the overall grant. Instead, DSA payments are added to the grant funding.

ROs will be able to claim back eligible costs at the end of the Academic Year by submitting a completed DSA claim form to us by 31 October. If the Training Grant is in its final year, costs must instead be included in the Final Expenditure Statement.

Equality, diversity and inclusion training

We require you to ensure staff and Students receive suitable training, information and support to ensure compliance with your obligations. This should include making Students aware of the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) which assists individuals on issues relating to equality in England, Scotland and Wales. ECNI provides a similar service in Northern Ireland.

You have significant flexibility on how you deliver this information, provided that the Training Grant condition is adhered to. For example, it could be via an email. You should maintain a record to demonstrate that you have complied with the requirement if required to do so by our assurance processes.

The Public Sector Equality Duty

Governing bodies of higher education institutions are public bodies for the purposes of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), as are some other research organisations. If PSED applies to you, you should ensure compliance.

Guidance on PSED for decision-makers (and on whether PSED applies to you) is available from the Government Equalities Office.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is defined as taking all reasonable means to:

• prevent harm, particularly sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment from occurring
• protect children and vulnerable adults from harm
• respond appropriately when harm does occur

Bullying and harassment

Refer to TGC 3.6 in the Standard Conditions.

Whistleblowing

You must have clear, well-publicised policies and processes in place that are consistent with good practice, which at a minimum must cover:

• the organisation’s commitment to investigate the whistleblowing report and how it will protect the individual reporting the issue
• reporting steps
• internal and external reporting contact points

The National Audit Office Assessment Criteria for Whistleblowing policies provides useful guidance on how to both write whistleblowing policies and assess the effectiveness of these policies.

TGC 4 Use of Training Grant

Inflation

Training Grants funds include a provision for inflation.

Number of Students

You can change how many Studentships you intend to fund using the Training Grant without permission from us (unless stated otherwise in the Training Grant agreement), as long as you comply with all of the following:

• the Standard Conditions
• any Specific Conditions in your Training Grant agreement
• the relevant Statement of Expectations

All Studentships funded through the Training Grant must be in support of Students who are studying for a postgraduate research qualification.

Stipend

TGC 2.10 sets out that the level of Stipend awarded to eligible Students must be at least equal to our minimum rates for the relevant Academic Year. We publish our minimum Stipend and indicative fee level on an annual basis.

The minimum Stipend

Where we change the rate of minimum Stipend, the change should be applied from 1 October. The Training Grant condition gives you some flexibility, meaning that you can pay the new rate shortly before or after 1 October. This is to help with your compliance efforts and administration of Students. For example, if you normally pay Student Stipends on day 14 of each month, you could increase the rate from 14 October, without having to calculate different rates for part of the month.

Alternatively, you may implement the new minimum Stipend before 1 October. For example, if you would normally pay the Stipend in advance on day 28 of each month, you can increase the Stipend from 28 September. The flexibility may also be helpful if you have agreed that new Students will start before 1 October and you need to pay them the rate as advertised to them.

You must not have a policy of increasing Stipends for UKRI-funded Students on the anniversary of their start date. For example, we expect a Student who starts on 1 January to receive any Stipend uplift from around 1 October that year, and not 1 January the following year.

Enhanced Stipends

If you wish you may pay a higher level of Stipend. Where this results in total spend exceeding the value of the Training Grant, you must meet these costs from elsewhere. Stipends must be paid to Students in advance, with instalments paid in line with your policy.

Deployment of funds

We expect you to use the flexibility of the Training Grant funding for maximum strategic effect, and to think strategically about how best to maximise the impact of UKRI’s investment. This might include using the flexibility of part-funding to leverage funding from other sources or offering enhanced Stipends to attract the strongest candidates in areas of research in which you may have been experiencing recruitment difficulties.

Drawing funds

Unless stated otherwise in any Specific Conditions, at least 50% of the total cost of the Studentship must be drawn from UKRI.

The Standard Conditions state that funding should only be drawn from one grant at one time. Funding of interdisciplinary Student research projects is encouraged where the Student’s research project aligns with the aims of the funding opportunity. UKRI expects the full duration of the Studentship to be funding from a single Training Grant wherever possible. A Studentship may be reallocated to another Training Grant providing that it is all of the following:

• necessary for the continuation of the Studentship
• not prohibited by any special conditions of either Training Grant
• aligns to the investment objectives and aims of both funding opportunities

Where less than 100% of the total cost of the Studentship is being drawn from UKRI, the remaining costs must be funded from other sources, such as the research organisation’s funds or from research partners.

A Student must not be expected to bear the cost of any shortfall in funding nor pay costs beyond the level paid by UKRI. This means that you cannot charge the Student additional fees for their Studentship.

Fees for international Students

There is one exception allowed to the condition on fees.

Where you have an international fee that is higher than the home fee, the Standard Conditions allow you to charge the Student the difference between the two. You do not have to charge the Student the difference and, while you cannot charge the difference to the UKRI grant (or any other UKRI funding), you are also able to waive the fee, or to claim the difference from other sources, for example an RO or a co-funder.

Note that any fee charged directly to a Student is still likely to be subject to consumer law.

What funds may be used for

You should consult any Specific Conditions for use of grant funding. Generally, funds can be used for:

• Student Stipends
• fees
• project costs
• incidental costs of research training, such as travel and conference attendance, internships and to support small, local, cohort-specific conferences
• general conferences
• fieldwork
• broadening training
• placements

The complexity of a Student’s project should be taken into consideration when allocating funds for these costs. The Training Grant includes a research training support component, referred to as RTSG. This is a contribution towards costs incurred in training research Students, for example the provision of:

• consumables
• equipment
• travel

Research training support is not intended to relieve you of any part of your normal expenditure.

We require public funds to be deployed with due consideration to value for money, environmental impact, welfare and business needs across all activities.

Travel claims

All travel claims should evidence value for money as the primary consideration. Consequently, these should only include travel by standard class by train and economy class by air for flights.

Exceptions to this would be permitted where there is a justifiable health and wellbeing need and approved by the RO prior to purchase, and evidence of this should be available.

Consideration to the environmental impact of travel should be in line with your institutional policy. Carbon offsets are not considered to be a direct research cost and will not therefore be funded on Training Grants; further information can be found in our position statement on carbon offsetting.

Extraordinary care and childcare costs

The costs of additional caring responsibilities, including childcare, may be claimed against the Training Grant where this is required in order for the Student to participate. These costs must be both:

• beyond that required to meet the usual requirements of the Studentship
• directly related to the project or broader doctoral training experience

For example, these costs may include placements and internships. However, costs associated with the Student’s normal studying pattern may not be sought.

Any such costs need to be met within the Training Grant cash limit. If you hold a very small Training Grant and no expectation of future funding from us, you may request additional funding above the cash-limit. You will need to show that payment for caring responsibilities cannot be made from the Training Grant and that there is no other contingency funding or Training Grants to draw on.

Ineligible costs

Alcohol costs are not permitted and should not be sought as an eligible cost.

Spend timeframes

Training Grant funds cannot be used to meet the costs of an activity that will fall outside of an individual Student’s funded period or the Training Grant period itself. For example, costs for travel after the Training Grant period cannot be charged to the Training Grant even if the tickets are purchased in advance.

The only exception is for certain costs associated with UKRI’s DSA framework, where, in certain circumstances, we will reimburse costs that were incurred in advance of the Studentship starting, or after the end of the funded period. You should check the DSA framework for details.

Where these costs are incurred before the grant start date, a DSA application should be made in the normal way and payments will be made in arrears. If the cost is incurred after the grant has ended (for example, because an existing adjustment needs to be funded after the end of the Studentship until the Student completes their degree) we will need to consider what arrangements to put in place, as we would with an extension.

Teaching and demonstration work

Students may undertake teaching or demonstrating work when this is compatible with their training and provided that this is approved by their Supervisors. The total time spent (including preparation and marking) should not interfere with the progress of the doctorate.

The amount of time is at Your and the Supervisors’ discretion, but it is recommended that this is no more than six hours in any week. It must not be compulsory and must be paid for at your usual rate and supported by appropriate training. Costs for demonstrating or teaching must not be taken from the Training Grant.

If you are employing Students to do additional work, we require that this is not an implied or oral contract meaning it needs to be written. We don’t govern any employment relationship you have (we do not need to review contracts), but you should be aware that employment law applies and that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) audits higher education providers from time to time.

Our conditions might support your compliance with HMRC’s guidance, but ultimately the responsibility for being compliant rests with you.

Tax and national insurance

You are required to comply with any relevant tax law. It is generally assumed that payments made as part of UKRI Studentships are not regarded as income for income tax purposes. However, you should seek professional advice should you undertake activity that may create a tax liability.

You should ensure that Students are aware that earnings received from sources such as teaching and demonstrating may be taxable and should be aggregated with income from any employment when assessing income tax liability in any tax year. This is particularly relevant for the tax year in which the award ends.

It is the Student’s responsibility to ensure they understand their own tax liabilities. We are not able to provide advice on tax, national insurance, pensions or on benefits issues.

National insurance contributions

No additional payments will be made from the Training Grant for Students’ national insurance contributions.

You should ensure that Students are aware that they can, if they wish, pay national insurance contributions as non-employed persons. They should consult their local office of the Department for Work and Pensions about their position to determine the impact of non-payment of contributions on any future claims for benefit including the basic state pension.

Students may become liable for contributions in connection with any paid teaching or demonstrating which they undertake.

TGC 5 Starting procedures and Training Grant arrangements

Starting procedures

Refer to TGC 5.1 in the Standard Conditions.

Duration of Studentship

Subject to any Specific Conditions, the duration of doctoral Studentships must be within any parameters specified by the awarding Council.

You should support Students to complete their doctoral training, including wider training and submission of their doctoral thesis or equivalent, within their funded period by ensuring individual doctoral projects are designed to be achievable within that timeframe

Provision can be made to extend the funding period. See extensions for further details.

Flexible study

Research can involve periods of long study, out-of-hours working and shift patterns. This may vary between disciplines and projects. Some Students will want longer hours, but this should not be set as an expectation. ROs and Supervisors should ensure Students are not spending excessive hours on their qualification or to the detriment of their wellbeing.

It may sometimes be necessary for Students to adopt particular hours to complete an experiment or study (with adjustments made for disabled Students where reasonable), but on the whole Students who wish to adopt a “normal” week should not be disadvantaged.

In some settings, Students may be expected to attend a laboratory or other facility for specific hours each day. In such circumstances we require that you consider requests for flexible study options. There is no specific requirement that you accept any such request, though we remind You of Your obligations under consumer and equality law.

Mode of study (full-time or part-time)

Students may be full-time or part-time and should be made aware that funding for part-time study is an option. You may decide on the period of support for individuals.

Our Standard Conditions state that you must offer the option of studying on both a part-time and full-time basis with a minimum of 50% of Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) required. You are encouraged to consider offering different levels within that range (for example, 60% or 80% FTE), particularly where this will benefit diversity or other objectives, though this is not a requirement.

Changing mode of study

We do not restrict how many times a Student may change their mode of study.

You may reject a Student’s request to change their mode of study. In considering requests for changes in mode of study, and in the treatment for Students with different modes, we remind you of your obligations under both consumer law and equality law. Consideration should be given to the extent to which accepting or refusing requests to different modes of study will impact the ability of the Student to complete their doctoral study within the Studentship.

In particular, Supervisors will wish to ensure that arrangements are made to incorporate any new research or research developments that are likely to emerge within the extended period of study. Requests to move a Student to a lower FTE in the final stages of their degree (for example, the final 6 months) should normally be rejected unless there are exceptional circumstances (for example, where it is necessary due to a Student’s health).

Offering less than 50% FTE

You may offer less than 50% FTE only where you judge that this is a reasonable adjustment for a disabled person. The judgement as to what is reasonable for an individual Student rests with the RO. As part of Your considerations you will need to be satisfied that the Student has a realistic prospect of completing their doctorate. For example, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) or Office for Students (OfS) requirements each have requirements that, for example, the student is able (at the end of the Studentship) to demonstrate deep knowledge and understanding of the field of study and originality of thought, either in the creation of new knowledge or in the novel application of existing knowledge.

If You are considering a request for a lower FTE for a disabled Student, you should first consider whether other support (such as leave) or other reasonable adjustments are more appropriate, whether instead of (or in combination with) the change to FTE. In general, other support or adjustments are expected to mitigate the need for a Student to move to a lower FTE.

Period of study

The period of study must reflect the percentage of time spent pursuing doctoral studies.

Part-time Students should be able to fully participate in the training and cohort development opportunities, where applicable, provided through the Training Grant.

In all cases, a Students’ Stipend and fee should only be drawn in line with the Student’s FTE, for example, a Student on 50% FTE would receive 50% of the Stipend and the RO 50% of the fee.

Place of tenure

Students are required to be resident in the UK for the majority of their studies.

The Student must live within a reasonable travel time of their RO or collaborative organisation to ensure that they are able to maintain regular contact with their department and their Supervisor. This is to ensure that the Student is not isolated and receives the full support, mentoring, training and access to facilities required to complete their research successfully and to a high standard.

The only exceptions to these requirements are to cover periods of absence that are an essential part of their study, for example:

• fieldwork
• study visits
• conference attendance
• a temporary reasonable adjustment for a disabled Student

Overseas study

There should be appropriate flexibility within the Training Grant to support periods of study overseas, subject to adhering to our due diligence guidance.

Placements

Students may undertake a placement or internship where this is either directly related to the Student’s training or provides valuable transferable skills, provided this is well justified and approved in advance by their Supervisor and RO.

The placement may be an integral part of the award, in which case a suspension or an extension of the Studentship is not required. In other cases, there may be a case for the award to be extended. However, if a placement is not directly part of their doctorate programme or the Student is receiving a payment for the placement, then the Studentship should be suspended.

Collaboration

We expect you to encourage doctoral Students to collaborate with partner organisations in the private, public and civil society sectors, to enhance their research training experience; these collaborations do not necessarily require the doctorate to be a fully collaborative award. All collaborations should be reported in the UKRI Studentship Data System.

Post-award decisions

You have the authority to make many decisions about post-award matters without the need to have them approved by us, unless specified otherwise in the awarding Council’s guidance.

Where you require additional clarification to make a decision on a post- award matter, appropriate registry or finance office staff should contact UKRI funding services directly.

We cannot handle enquiries from Students about post-award decisions. Students should be advised to direct all queries to the relevant authority at their research organisation.

Student eligibility

UKRI does not fund Students directly, but fund ROs through Training Grants for the provision of postgraduate study.

Eligibility criteria

To be classed as a home Student, candidates must meet the associated residency requirements of at least one of the following criteria. and the associated residency requirements. They must:

• be a UK national
• have settled status
• have pre-settled status
• have indefinite leave to remain or enter
• be an Irish national

Irish nationals eligibility is derived from the UK Ireland Common Travel Area Agreement.

There are limitations on the number of international Students funded by each Training Grant, as set out in the EU and international eligibility for UKRI Students from 2021.

UK nationals

The UK includes the United Kingdom and Islands (the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man). In terms of residency requirements for UK and Irish nationals, for courses starting from 1 August 2021, candidates will continue to be eligible for home fee status as long as:

• they were living in the EEA or Switzerland on 31 December 2020, and have lived in the EEA, Switzerland, the UK or Gibraltar for at least the last three years before starting a course in the UK
• they have lived continuously in the EEA, Switzerland, the UK or Gibraltar between 31 December 2020 and the start of the course
• the course starts before 1 January 2028

Eligibility on these grounds will only be available for courses starting up to seven years from the last day of the transition period (on 31 December 2027 at the latest).

Children of UK nationals will also be eligible for support on the same terms, even if they are not themselves UK nationals, as long as both the UK national and the child meet the conditions listed above.

EU Settlement Scheme

EU, EEA or Swiss citizens can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to continue living in the UK after 30 June 2021.

If successful, applicants will get either settled or pre-settled status. Those with pre-settled status will qualify as a home Student if they have three years’ residency immediately before the start of their course in one of the following:

• UK
• EEA
• Gibraltar
• Switzerland

Indefinite leave to remain (ILR) or indefinite leave to enter (ILE)

Candidates with ILR or ILE can continue to live in the UK without applying to the EU Settlement Scheme.

International Students

If a candidate does not meet the criteria above, they would be classed as an international Student.

It is the responsibility of the RO to determine eligibility using the guidance in this document and the Standard Conditions.

With the exception of European Students with pre-settled and settled status, all pre-existing rules around the status of a Student remain unchanged. This includes the status of refugees, and those with indefinite leave to remain or enter.

ROs should determine the status of a Student by reviewing the Education (Fees and Awards) (England) regulations 2007 in the usual way, noting that UKRI determine eligibility based on the first day of the Studentship, rather than the first day of the Academic Year. Only where you determine someone has international status do you need to consider the UKRI policy on international Student support.

See Annex B for the full eligibility guidelines.

Recruitment of candidates

ROs and Supervisors advertise, award and manage Studentships funded by us. You must ensure that international Students are made aware of which costs will be met by the UKRI contribution to the Studentship and which costs will need to be met from alternative sources of funding. You are also reminded of your obligations under consumer law to provide certain information to prospective Students.

You are responsible for checking Students’ eligibility against the relevant residency, academic, subject and scheme eligibility criteria, all queries from Students should be directed to the organisation hosting the Studentship. You must be able to provide evidence to support this decision if required.

The recruitment processes must be fair, open and transparent. Financial considerations must not be part of the recruitment decision. Heads of department, prospective Supervisors and potential Students who require advice on eligibility should contact the research organisation registrar’s office or the postgraduate admissions office (or equivalent). Final decisions on eligibility are made by you.

Qualification requirements

You can use your discretion in deciding whether candidates are suitable for research training, making reference to any Council-specific expectations. We have also published good practice principles in recruitment and training at doctoral level.

General

Useful sources of information on postgraduate study in the UK include:

• Study UK: the British Council’s website for international Students
• UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA): the website includes advice and illustrations of how the Fees and Awards regulations may apply to particular circumstances as well as some case law

TGC 6 Extensions and early submission

The Standard Conditions set out extensions for leave or absences, however you should also check your grant agreement for any Specific Conditions from your awarding Council, for example on extensions for placements or language training. See placements for further details.

For guidance on extensions that reflect a leave of absence, see ‘Extensions (leave of absence)’.

Early submission

In some cases, Students may submit their thesis or equivalent prior to the end of their award.

Where the Student continues to undertake study that is directly linked to their thesis or equivalent, it is permissible for the award to continue to the end of the quarter in which the thesis or equivalent is submitted.

For example, a Student who submits their thesis or equivalent on 31 January can retain the payment made for the 1 Jan to 31 March quarter, but their doctoral award would end on 31 March.

TGC 7 Monitoring

Changes to study and location changes to study

As their research plans are developed and refined, a Student may need to make some modifications to the original programme of research or project title. You should enter changes into the UKRI Studentship Data System as soon as possible.

A major change of topic or direction should only be approved in exceptional circumstances. ROs must not agree a change to a course or programme of study that falls outside the funding opportunity’s remit.

Transfer of Student or Training Grant

Where Students transfer from one RO to another, the receiving RO will be required to accept all the terms and conditions relating to the Studentship as it was offered to the Student, including its start date and duration, registration requirements and submission date.

Where there are multiple Students on the Training Grant, the respective RO will need to arrange any transfer of funding themselves. The Training Grant will remain with the original RO.

If a transferring Student is the only Student on a particular Training Grant, the entire Training Grant and any remaining funds must be transferred to the receiving RO. In this situation, both ROs should submit a request system your grant was awarded from to arrange for a transfer of the grant to the receiving RO. Information on changing a grant is available.

Graduate outcomes survey

We receive first-destination data on the employment of Students once they have been awarded their degrees from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Graduate Outcomes survey.

You should ensure that Students are made aware of the importance of completing the HESA questionnaire, which they will receive in due course. This information is vital for us to be able to report on the impact of our funding.

UKRI Studentship Data System

ROs must use the Studentship Data System to update information about their Students throughout the duration of the Training Grant. New records must be created within a month of the Student commencing their study. Amendments to records should be made in accordance with Council guidance and within a month of the change being formally agreed by the research organisation.

We expect ROs to update the Studentship Data System for their Students on an ongoing basis. This includes reflecting any change in status or Student circumstances, and to undertake an annual check by 31 October each year.

For any questions relating to the Studentship Data System, ROs should email: studentshipdataproject@ukri.org

Submission data

Councils collect submission data from ROs through the Studentship Data System to calculate the annual submission rates. If a Studentship is terminated before the end of the first year of doctoral funding, the Student will be excluded from the submission rate calculations.

Students who have been recorded as deceased on the Studentship Data System are omitted from calculations of submission rates.

Submission rates

We monitor submission rates and may apply sanctions, or consider introducing sanctions, in light of achieved submission rates. Refer to Council guidance for further details.

Termination of Studentship

You should ensure that the appropriate termination and grievance procedures have been followed, if relevant, before terminating a Studentship.

You are expected to take reasonable steps to recover monies that have already been paid to Students for the period following the date of leaving or termination. We will not supplement Training Grants, but the remaining Training Grant funds could be used to fund or part-fund another Student.

Termination details must be submitted via the Studentship Data System.

Suspension of the Studentship

There is an important difference between:

• suspending a Student
• suspending a Studentship

When suspending a Student, providers are likely to have their own regulations on whether a Student is considered to be actively studying or if the Student is suspended. Those regulations are normally different from Our Standard Conditions.

Our Standard Conditions cover whether funding for a Stipend and fee can be drawn from the UKRI grant. If they cannot, the Studentship must be suspended.

For example, a Student on medical leave might be suspended (as they are not actively studying) but their Studentship has not been suspended (as a Stipend and fee is still being drawn for them).

A Studentship can be suspended in some circumstances. Sympathetic consideration should be given to requests made by Students for abeyance due to personal or family reasons, with suspension of the Studentship limited to a maximum cumulative 12 months unless exceptional circumstances apply.

Where a suspension has been granted, the Studentship end dates and expected submission dates should be amended on the Studentship Data System to reflect periods of abeyance.

Disclosure and inspection

Refer to TGC 7.3 in the Standard Conditions.

TGC 8 Absence

Students funded by UKRI are entitled to take leave. We have categorised leave into four categories:

• annual
• family
• medical
• additional

You should check Our Standard Conditions for details.

Absence policy

You should also ensure that Students and members of staff are aware of what leave is available to Students and when leave could result in an extension to the Studentship, for example in a well-publicised policy on leave and extensions.

It may be beneficial to have a single policy across all UKRI Students as the provider. Such a policy can provide guidance to Students, Supervisors and individual project leads on when paid leave should be taken, if there are any evidence requirements, and when leave can or cannot contribute to an extension to the UKRI funded Studentship.

It may also cover any additional regulations or provision from the provider and options for the Student if they exhaust the provision for paid leave.

Use of leave

If a Student has a genuine need for leave for any of the specified reasons, then they should be encouraged to take it. However, leave must only be used for the specified reasons. In particular, a Student must not take leave and continue to study over that period.

Keeping records

You must keep records of what family, medical and additional leave Students take. If you extend a Studentship, you will be asked for this information. Appropriate recording may also help reduce the risk of discriminating against Students. We do not specify how leave should be recorded.

You can supplement our provision for leave with your own provision for paid leave (see TGC 8.0.3). If you do so, you may move the expected submission date recorded in the Studentship Data System beyond the Studentship end date.

Family leave

Under family leave, we offer a range of support that mirrors the statutory regime for employees.

However, there are some small differences. A Stipend and fee can continue to be drawn in some, but not all, circumstances, and the Studentship may be extended. ROs should check the Standard Conditions for details of what we will fund.

Family leave includes:

• maternity leave
• partner’s or paternity leave (for partners following the birth of a child)
• adoption leave
• neonatal care leave
• parental leave (no Stipend)
• death during the period of maternity

Broadly speaking, as our support mirrors the statutory schemes, we expect the provider will require a similar level of evidence from a Student as they would require of a staff member.

TGC 8.0.1 requires that you should take reasonable steps to ensure leave us used for its intended purpose. In the case of maternity leave (TGC 8.1.1), this means that the maternity leave should start no later than the date of the birth of the child.

For family leave, for the partner to be eligible for partner or paternity leave funded by UKRI, the partner or father must themselves be a UKRI funded Student.

Keeping in touch days

An RO may allow Students to return from maternity leave for single days to participate in activities related to their research project during their leave, akin to Keeping in Touch (KiT) days. A Stipend may be drawn from the grant at an appropriate rate for that date. This should be agreed with the Student in advance in a way that is clear, transparent and fair, for example, their normal annual Stipend divided by 260.

Provided the Student has no more than 10 such days the Studentship extension can disregard that the Student was studying that day. For example, a Student who takes 90 days’ leave and during that time returns for five days would normally receive a total extension of 95 days.

Shared parental leave scheme

We cannot offer participation in the statutory shared parental leave scheme, as the legislation for shared parental leave excludes people who are not employed, including most Students. A Student who wishes to take more leave can request unpaid parental leave. It may also be possible to suspend the Studentship.

Periods of family leave

There is no limit to the number of periods of family leave that can be taken during a Studentship. A period of family leave will result in an extension to the Studentship. Where this has no impact on the end date of the Training Grant within which the Studentship sits, you must amend the Student record but our approval is not required; where it means the Studentship will extend beyond the end date of the Training Grant, you need to raise a grant maintenance request with us so that we can help manage the grants concerned.

The RO should have a policy in place (for example, as part of its policy on leave) on how and when it will recover the value of maternity, ordinary paternity leave or adoption funding from Students who decide not to return to study after maternity, ordinary paternity or adoption leave.

Bereavement

Some Students will be affected by miscarriage, the death of the baby or the death of the mother or other parent. Any of these cases must be considered with the utmost sensitivity. The conditions on family leave, additional leave and medical leave should be read together and, in combination, should provide support for Students in all these circumstances.

If you have any questions you should contact us.

Medical leave

Within the Standard Conditions, a Stipend and fee can continue to be drawn from the grant during periods of medical leave. Extended periods of medical leave can result in an extension to the UKRI Studentship funding. See ‘Extensions (leave of absence)’.

The Standard Conditions state that medical leave should be used for any circumstances by which a Student is deemed unfit to study. It may also be used to provide leave to attend medical appointments where flexible study is not possible. Examples of leave that can be supported under medical leave are:

• sick leave (including both physical and mental health)
• pregnancy-related illness
• antenatal appointments
• fertility treatment: a Student experiencing fertility issues who has been medically advised that they require leave, including (but not limited to) undergoing fertility treatment
• disability-related illness (including chronic illness)
• disability-related appointments (including for chronic illness) for example diagnosis, therapy or treatment
• gender reassignment: a Student undertaking gender reassignment who has been medically advised that they require leave

It is worth noting that some of the above might be managed through flexible study. For example, most Students will not use medical leave at all for antenatal appointments. However, there may be Students who have a medical need for a large number of appointments where it is appropriate to manage through medical leave.

Minor illnesses and long term conditions

Medical leave can be used for minor illnesses (some examples include colds, stomach bugs, short periods of flu). Such illnesses may contribute to the overall limit of funded time a Student can take off but will not contribute to an extension to the Studentship.

Students with chronic or long-term conditions may need to take numerous, shorter periods of medical leave. For example, a Student may require leave where each individual block of leave is no more than two days, but the cumulative total over the course of the Studentship is a number of months. Provided the relevant conditions on extensions are met, the Student should receive an extension to their Studentship for the medical leave taken as a result of that chronic condition.

Making sure leave is necessary and reasonable

TGC 8.2.3 requires that you are satisfied that the period of medical leave is necessary and reasonable. Having a provider-level policy on leave and extensions is likely to help you meet this requirement. The evidence requirements should be proportionate, so a Student needing one or two days which does not result in an extension is unlikely to need to provide any additional evidence. In contrast, a Student who requires a longer period resulting in an extension will require some evidence, which might be a certificate, letter or equivalent provided by a medical professional. Or, alternatively, if the provider has another process whereby it determines that the Student required medical leave, this is also acceptable.

We are broadly happy to accept your judgement on what the appropriate level of evidence is provided you are mindful of the ECHR guidance on disability, and the Disabled Student Commitments’ recommendations on minimising requests to share information about a Student’s disability. Our intent is to give You flexibility to support Students in a range of circumstances, including where medical evidence is not readily available or appropriate to request.

Limits on medical leave

Medical leave is limited to 28 weeks within a rolling 12-month period. For example, a Student (whether part-time or full-time) who starts medical leave on 1 January for 28 weeks would not be able to take any further UKRI-funded medical leave until 1 January the following year. If a Student is not fit to return to study after exhausting their medical leave, the Studentship could be suspended until the Student is fit.

A Student should not return from a suspended Studentship to medical leave. Instead, the Studentship should only resume once the Student is fit to resume study (using a phased return to study if appropriate).

You can place further regulations on how Students access medical leave. For example, a provider may require further limits to medical leave in the first years of the Studentship to ensure the Student can still take medical leave in later years. If you do, you would need to ensure you are compliant with your other obligations, including consumer and equality law.

Annual leave

A reasonable paid holiday period, a minimum of 30 days to a maximum of eight weeks per year to include public holidays, is recommended and should be allowed for by Supervisors.

Students undertaking work in collaboration with non-academic partners are expected to consider their obligations to those partners in planning leave.

We do not require you to record annual leave, but you should be mindful of the impact of failing to take time away from study on Students’ welfare. Supervisors should be supportive of Students taking appropriate amounts of time away from study.

Studentships are not extended for periods taken as annual leave.

Additional leave

Within the Standard Conditions, additional leave is a period where the Student is not studying but Stipend and fee can continue to be drawn from the grant for them. Additional leave may be provided to cover specific instances where a Student may be required to be absent from study that are not covered by other types of leave. These include:

• special leave (including bereavement and pregnancy loss)
• baby loss (including stillbirth and neonatal death)
• carer’s leave
• additional disability leave associated with delayed adjustments
• health and safety
• public duties
• regulation leave

ROs should check the Standard Conditions for details of what we will fund. Students may need to check with their ROs to see if any additional support is available to them.

Special leave

Special leave, as set out in the Standard Conditions, can be used for a range of issues which could include:

• compassionate leave
• serious illness or injury of the Student’s dependant
• dealing with domestic emergency (such as flooding)

The condition states that it is typically restricted to five days pro rata, though at your discretion you can allow 10 days.

In certain circumstances you must provide 10 days pro rata special leave. These include in the event of a death of a parent, close relative or child of the Student, or in the event of pregnancy loss (including where the Student is the mother, partner, who was expecting the baby through surrogacy).

It may be that, having exhausted special leave, a Student is not ready to return to study. You may consider whether other leave is appropriate in such circumstances, for example use of annual leave or, if the Student is unable to return because of their physical or mental health, use of medical leave. A phased return to study (for example, using annual leave) might also assist the Student, or the provider can provide further paid leave at its own expense, in line with TGC 8.0.3.

The Standard Conditions on additional leave include additional information in the event of baby loss. The conditions on baby loss mean that a Student should receive the equivalent (in terms of time off and extension) of taking both special leave and family leave.

Additional leave for disability or health and safety

It is permissible for a Student to use additional leave if they cannot study for a period due to either of the following:

• reasonable adjustments have not been put in place for a disabled Student (TGC 8.2.A.5)
• mitigations have not been put in place for health and safety (TGC 8.2.A.6)

We expect that both of these leave types will be used rarely. While the Studentship can be extended, this may still have a cost to the Student and on the whole it is preferable that you work with the Student on what study they can continue to undertake while the respective adjustments or mitigations are put in place.

Notwithstanding whether the leave is used, you are reminded to observe your legal obligations, for example, failure to provide a reasonable adjustment to a disabled Student is considered by European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to be discrimination.

Additional leave (regulation leave)

Your institution may have a policy that allows Students leave that is not included in our Standard Conditions. If you make this available to Students funded by us, you have either of the following options. You may:

• provide additional leave at your (or a Third Party’s) expense. See TGC 8.0.3
• draw funding for a Stipend and fee from the UKRI grant only if you have explicit written permission to do so, which may form part of your specific grant conditions. See TGC 8.2.A.8

Leave agreed with us under TGC 8.2.A.8. is called regulation leave.

Requests to allow regulation leave to be funded from our grants will be considered on an organisation-by-organisation basis. The facility is designed to support organisations that have their own policies or regulations. Requests to support individual Students on a case-by-case basis will be rejected.

Jury service

A Stipend should be paid to a Student while they are on jury service.

Return to study, including phased return

Students should still receive some support while on a prolonged period of leave. For example, they should have access to key facilities as required, such as:

• student services
• disability services
• email
• the ability to return (and, if appropriate, arrange to borrow) materials from libraries
• access to campus (where applicable)

A Student must not study while on leave, and it is unlikely to be necessary that they retain access to technical facilities. Availability of fees and Stipends is governed elsewhere in the Standard Conditions.

You are reminded of your obligations under equality law if the Student’s leave is related to a protected characteristic.

Phased return to study

Students returning from an absence may require a phased return to their studies. A phased return should be arranged in a four-week block, which is then reviewed (and if appropriate extended for a further four weeks) toward the end of that period.

In effect, a phased return to study is an agreement between the Student and their provider that the Student will study a certain number of hours each week, with the aim of returning them to their normal mode of study. The amount of time not studying is recorded as leave. Any eligible leave type might be used, for example a Student who has been on 24 weeks of medical leave has an outstanding allocation of four weeks of medical leave.

There is no requirement that the leave be taken as whole days. The leave type must be appropriate, for example, it is highly unlikely to be acceptable for a Student returning from medical leave to use additional leave for a phased return.

The Student must receive their usual Stipend for the period of phased return (that is, a phased return is not a change to the Student’s mode of study).

Phased return: use of leave and extensions

Where permissible under the conditions on leave and extensions, the Studentship can be extended for the combined period of leave used to facilitate the phased return. For example, if a Student uses ten days of medical leave over four weeks for a phased return, You are able to extend the Studentship by those ten days.

Phased return: use of annual leave

In the event that a Student has had a long absence and has no appropriate allocation of medical, additional or family leave, consideration should be given to using annual leave to support the phased return.

Where no formal record of annual leave exists, we are content for you to assume that the Student would have accrued annual leave over the period of paid leave. For example, a full-time Student who normally has 40 days annual leave had been on medical leave for 28 weeks could have accrued 23 days annual leave over that period. The 23 days would be sufficient for the Student to take four days leave in the first week, three days in the second week, two days in the third week and one day in the fourth week (ten days of leave in total), and to consider a second period of phased return, if necessary, afterwards. Consistent with our conditions on annual leave, no extension would be given for this.

Annual leave can be accrued while a Student is on medical, family or additional leave, but more annual leave should not be accrued while the UKRI Studentship is suspended. For example, if the Student in the earlier example had their Studentship suspended for a further 12 months after their medical leave ended, they would still only have accrued 23 days of annual leave.

Returning to a different mode of study

If a Student cannot return to their normal mode of study once options for a phased return have been exhausted, it is likely to be appropriate to consider changing the Student’s mode of study or other appropriate options.

Extensions (leave of absence)

In considering extensions to the UKRI-funded Studentship period due to a leave of absence, you will need to consider all of the following:

• whether the absence is permissible and eligible for an extension (see TGCs 8.0 to 8.3)
• whether the extension is permissible (see TGC 6)
• absence costs (see TGC 8.4)

You can extend for any amount of family leave (which includes, for example, maternity leave) permitted under TGC 8.1.

You may also extend for periods of eligible medical and additional leave which, combined, are over a period of one week. You must do so if the combined total is over one month.

Minimum extension

The minimum extension you are willing to give for a Studentship is likely to be determined at an RO or provider-level, but consideration should be given to approving extensions for periods of less than one month where this encourages Students to take shorter periods of leave, rather than leaving health conditions to worsen.

Maximum extension

The maximum extension for a Studentship of the combined medical leave and additional leave is one calendar year. For example, a Student who had 52 weeks’ medical leave and 2 weeks’ additional leave would be limited to an extension of 52 weeks. The maximum extension should therefore be made clear to Students at appropriate times.

Eligible medical leave

The phrase “eligible medical leave” is used because, on the whole, you should not extend the Studentship for common short-term illnesses, such as colds, short periods of flu or stomach bugs, as all Students will sustain some of these at some point and it is impractical to extend all Studentships. Instead, the Student’s research project should be planned on the basis that all Students are likely to sustain some minor illness for short periods.

However, our Standard Conditions give grant holders a degree of flexibility. For Students where the medical leave occurs at a crucial period of study, it may be necessary to provide an extension that is slightly longer than the absence itself would determine. Whether this is necessary is likely to be influenced by a range of factors, including whether there is sufficient time in the Studentship to adjust the research project to mitigate the research lost during the absence.

Long-term or chronic conditions

For some Students with long-term or chronic conditions, it may not always be possible to determine what absence is due to a common short-term illness and what is related to, or exacerbated by, their chronic condition. For this reason, our Standard Conditions give you flexibility to work with the Student to ensure that they have an appropriate amount of time to complete their studies and not be put at a substantial disadvantage compared to other Students.

The extension to the funded period should be granted at the end of the period of absence or when the absence meets your threshold for an extension, in order to give the Student certainty and support financial planning. However, if this was not possible at the time, it is permissible for it to be granted at any point during the UKRI Studentship.

Absence costs

Some Students will require leave which results in an extension. You are expected to make proportionate provision for this wherever possible in your financial planning. We recognise that it is easier to make provision for Training Grants for a larger number of Students over several years than for very few Students over a shorter amount of time.

It may be necessary to transfer funds between fund headings (see TGC 4.10).

We expect you to prioritise Student welfare. You must not use financial grounds to refuse a Student leave that they genuinely require and are entitled to under Our Standard Conditions.

If there is no flexibility within the grant cash limit, then we will consider options to support the Student. This may include additional funding or moving the Studentship to an alternative grant that allows them to continue at the same organisation.

TGC 9 Financial reporting

When completing the Final Expenditure Statement (FES), all costs must reflect the actual expenditure incurred.

If there are exceptional reasons that will prevent submission of the Expenditure Statement by the due date, a request may be made to change the Training Grant. This must be submitted before the due date passes.

If an annual statement has been issued, the RO must confirm by returning the statement that:

• expenditure has been incurred in accordance with the grant conditions
• grants showing as ‘current’ are continuing

No further payments will be made until the annual statement has been received and accepted by us.

Supplementary Expenditure Statement (SES)

Where an RO has identified an error with their original FES, they can submit a request for a Supplementary Expenditure Statement (SES).

Requests for a SES must be made via the appropriate funding system within 60 days of when the reconciliation payment has been paid. If the research organisation fails to submit their grant maintenance request within this 60-day deadline, the request will be rejected.

All ineligible expenditure which has been identified on a grant must be returned, including errors where too much funding has been claimed, regardless of the length of time that has passed since the error occurred.

TGC 10 Sanctions

Refer to TGC 10 in the Standard Conditions.

TGC 11 Exploitation, impact and acknowledgement of ownership of intellectual property

In individual cases, we reserve the right to:

• retain ownership of intellectual assets, including intellectual property (this includes assigning it to a Third Party under an exploitation agreement)
• arrange for intellectual property to be exploited for the national benefit and that of the RO involved

Should this right be exercised, further details may be set out in an additional grant condition if the intellectual property or asset is foreseen before the grant is awarded.

Collaboration agreements

Where the research is associated with more than one RO or other project partners, the basis of collaboration between the organisations (including ownership of intellectual property and rights to exploitation) is expected to be set out in a formal collaboration agreement in a way that is proportionate to and appropriately reflects the exact nature of the collaboration.

It is the responsibility of the RO to put such an agreement in place. The expectation is that collaboration agreements (CA) are in place within six months of the grant start date. Where a project may be at risk without a formal CA in place before the project begins, additional grant Specific Conditions for the individual award will specify it that a CA must be in place either before the project begins or within a specified timeframe.

A signed CA can be requested by UKRI Funding Assurance at any point in time after six months of the grant start date.

Complaints and co-funded Studentships

Where appropriate, collaboration agreements should consider how complaints from Students should be handled. The Office of the Independent Adjudicator’s Good Practice Framework has a section on delivering learning opportunities with others. It is a requirement that all Students are able to access an ombudsman service.

Extensions for co-funded Studentships

Where a Student is co-funded, the collaboration or co-funding agreement should also contain arrangements for funding if the Studentship needs to be extended, for example, due to leave. This is a requirement for new agreements coming into effect from 1 October 2026.

Exploitation

Every reasonable effort should be made to ensure that intellectual assets obtained in the course of the research, whether protected by intellectual property rights or not, are used to the benefit of society and the economy. Research outcomes should be disseminated to both research and more widespread audiences, for example to inform potential users and beneficiaries of the research.

Arrangements for collaboration or exploitation must not prevent the future progression of research and the dissemination of research results in accordance with academic custom and practice. A temporary delay in publication of research findings is acceptable in order to allow commercial and collaborative arrangements to be established.

Acknowledgement and recognition

There should be suitable recognition and reward to all parties who undertake activities that deliver benefit through the application of research outcomes. The RO must ensure that all those associated with the research are aware of, and accept, these arrangements.

Research publications must acknowledge funding received from UKRI Councils. This includes, but is not limited to, research articles published in journals, conference proceedings and publication platforms, and monographs, book chapters and edited collections (including versions of outputs deposited within institutional or subject repositories).

In the case of doctoral theses funded by the Councils, metadata describing the thesis should be lodged in the institution’s repository as soon as possible after award, and a full text version should be available within a maximum of 12 months following award. It is expected that metadata in institutional repositories will be compatible with the metadata core set recommended by the ETHOS e-theses online service.

When the thesis is lodged, you should ensure that the sponsor name and the name of the funding Council or Councils are included in thesis repositories, for example ‘Arts and Humanities Research Council’.

Publication costs

If use of UKRI Open Access Block Grant funding is not possible, then the flexibility within the Training Grant should be used to cover open access publishing costs for research articles that are in scope of the UKRI open access policy.

TGC 12 Disclaimer

Refer to TGC 12 in the Standard Conditions.

TGC 13 Status

For clarity, all sub-contracts that sit under a UKRI grant must be subject to the exact same terms and conditions of the UKRI grant. This includes jurisdiction and applicable law, meaning that any changes to the UKRI grant resulting from a change in government policies will also apply to any sub-contracts.

Annex A: Definitions

Academic Year

For the purposes of Training Grants, the Academic Year is from 1 October to 30 September of the following year.

Council

Any of the bodies listed at the start of the Standard Conditions.

Fees

The funds required by a university for a Student to register for a higher degree.

Fees Only Award

The term used for a Studentship that excludes funds for a Stipend.

Funding Assurance Programme (FAP)

A programme of visits and office-based tests by UKRI to seek assurance that grant funds are used for the purpose for which they are given. This ensures that grants are managed in accordance with the terms and conditions under which they are awarded.

Offer Acceptance

A document to be completed and returned by the RO either accepting or declining the Training Grant.

Official Start Date

The official start date of the Training Grant, as set out in the Start Confirmation.

Research Organisation (RO)

The organisation to which the Grant is awarded and which takes responsibility for the management of the Project and accountability for funds provided.

Specific Terms and Conditions of Training Grant (or “Specific Conditions”)

The specific conditions of Training Grant required in addition to the Standard Terms and Conditions of Training Grant on a Training Grant by an individual Council of UKRI.

Standard Terms and Conditions of Training Grant (or “Standard Conditions”)

The Standard Conditions of Training Grant.

Start Confirmation

A document to be completed and returned to UKRI by the Research Organisation, confirming the Official Start Date on which the Training Grant commences.

Statement of Expectations

A statement setting out expectations for funders, research organisations (including Supervisors), collaborators and Students.

Stipend

The funds awarded by the Research Organisation to Students to cover their maintenance while undertaking postgraduate training leading to the award of a postgraduate degree.

Student or Students

The term used to identify postgraduates who are funded through the Training Grant.

Studentship

The term used for the funding award made by a Research Organisation to a Student for the purpose of undertaking postgraduate training leading to the award of a postgraduate degree.

Studentship Data System

Our web-based data collection system, which Research Organisations use to return details of the Students and Student research projects funded from the Training Grant. The Studentship Data System superseded the Joint electronic Submission system (Je-S) student functionality in 2025.

Supervisor

An individual with formal responsibility for providing support and guidance to a Student during their Studentship.

Third Party

Any person or organisation to which the award-holding RO passes on any of the Training Grant funds awarded by the Council.

Training Grant

A grant providing funds for the training of Students where the training leads to the award of a recognised postgraduate qualification.

Training Grant Offer Letter or Offer Letter or Training Grant Agreement

An official document setting out specific details of the Training Grant, including the start and end date, Training Grant value and any Specific Conditions of the Training Grant as required by the relevant Council. Previously this was referred to as an “Offer Letter”.

Training Grant Period

The duration of time between the Training Grant start and end date.

Training Grant Holder

The Research Organisation to which the Training Grant is awarded, and which takes responsibility for the management of the Training Grant and accountability for funds provided. The Project Lead will be hosted by the Lead Organisation.

Annex B: International eligibility criteria for UKRI-funded Studentships

This guidance is for Students recruited to start from the 2021 to 2022 Academic Year.

To be classed as a home Student, candidates must meet at least one of the following criteria and the associated residency requirements. They must:

• be a UK national
• have settled status
• have pre-settled status
• have indefinite leave to remain or enter
• be an Irish national

Irish nationals

Irish nationals eligibility is derived from the UK-Ireland Common Travel Area Agreement.

UK nationals

The UK includes the United Kingdom and Islands (the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man). In terms of residency requirements for UK and Irish nationals, for courses starting from 1 August 2021, candidates will continue to be eligible for home fee status as long as:

• they were living in the EEA or Switzerland on 31 December 2020, and have lived in the EEA, Switzerland, the UK or Gibraltar for at least the last three years before starting a course in the UK
• have lived continuously in the EEA, Switzerland, the UK or Gibraltar between 31 December 2020 and the start of the course
• the course starts before 1 January 2028

Eligibility on these grounds will only be available for courses starting up to seven years from the last day of the transition period (on 31 December 2027 at the latest).

Children of UK nationals will also be eligible for support on the same terms, even if they are not themselves UK nationals, as long as both the UK national and the child meet the previous conditions. Find more information on access to higher education for UK nationals in the EEA and Switzerland.

EU Settlement Scheme

EU, EEA or Swiss citizens can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to continue living in the UK after 30 June 2021. If successful, applicants will get either settled or pre-settled status.

Settled status

Applicants will usually get settled status if they either:

• started living in the UK by 31 December 2020
• lived in the UK for a continuous five-year period (known as ‘continuous residence’)

Five years’ continuous residence means that for five years in a row they have been in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for at least six months in any 12-month period. The exceptions are:

• one period of up to 12 months for an important reason (for example, childbirth, serious illness, study, vocational training or an overseas work posting)
• compulsory military service of any length
• time spent abroad as a Crown servant, or as the family member of a Crown servant
• time spent abroad in the armed forces, or as the family member of someone in the armed forces

If they have settled status, they can spend up to five years in a row outside the UK without losing that status. If they are a Swiss citizen, they and their family members can spend up to four years in a row outside the UK without losing their settled status.

Pre-settled status

If they do not have five years’ continuous residence when they apply, they will usually get pre-settled status. They must have started living in the UK by 31 December 2020.

Those with pre-settled status will qualify as a home Student if they have three years’ residency in the UK, EEA, Gibraltar or Switzerland immediately before the start of their course.

It is then possible to apply to change this to settled status once they have got five years’ continuous residence. They must do this before the pre-settled status expires. They can stay in the UK for a further five years from the date they get pre-settled status.

If they have pre-settled status, they can spend up to two years in a row outside the UK without losing their status. They will need to maintain their continuous residence if they want to qualify for settled status.

Indefinite leave to remain (ILR) or indefinite leave to enter (ILE)

Indefinite leave to remain (ILR) or indefinite leave to enter (ILE) are types of immigration status.

It is possible to continue to live in the UK without applying to the EU Settlement Scheme if the Student has indefinite leave to enter or remain in the UK. However, if they choose to apply (and meet all the other conditions), they will get ‘indefinite leave to remain under the EU Settlement Scheme’ (also known as settled status).

They can spend up to two years in a row outside the UK without losing their indefinite leave to enter or remain status.

Those with ILR or ILE status will qualify as a home Student if they have three years’ residency in the UK, EEA, Gibraltar, or Switzerland immediately before the start of their course.

International Students

If a candidate does not meet the previous criteria, they would be classed as an international Student.

Temporary absence

A UK national may have spent an extended period living outside the UK, either for study or employment and still be eligible for home fee status. Candidates in these circumstances are required to show that they have maintained a relevant connection with their home country and therefore claim that the absence was temporary. ‘Temporary’ does not depend solely on the length of absence.

If a candidate has been prevented from returning to the UK prior to the start of the course due to the Covid-19 pandemic, then this can be considered as a temporary absence and the three-year residency immediately before the start of their course rule will not be impacted.

Candidates in these circumstances are required to show that they have maintained a relevant connection with the UK during their absence.

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