Hello

I'm starting a PhD in September (psychology) and am doing this part-time around my other commitments. I work full-time, have a family and am working towards another competency based assessment.

Has anyone experience of juggling a FT job alongside a part-time PhD? How many hours does the PhD take each week? I'm considering compacting the day job in 4 longer days to give me time for the PhD. Work are helping me with my PhD and I will be able to use some of my time to carry out data collection etc.

Any comments gratefully appreciated especially from people who've managed this .... or not!

I know many people who have successfully completed part-time PhDs alongside full-time jobs. It is perfectly possible, and very normal within my field (humanities).

I was completing a part-time PhD alongside severely disabling neurological illness. I wasn't working, but I had no more than 10 good hours at the start of the PhD for my PhD, and closer to 5 good hours a week in the last few hours. And I got through. I was doing my PhD in 1 hour chunks in the evenings through the week, adding up to no more than 5 hours total a week. It's doable.

You need to be very disciplined though, and need to find a routine that works for you. It's essential to have a timetable that you can stick to from the start: no hoping that there will be more time later, and leaving things until another time when things might be better. You need to make good steady progress from the start. I always say to people a PhD is a marathon not a sprint, and that's even more the case with a part-time PhD.

I think you need to ask your supervisor how many hours they expect you to work, then you can agree on a time that you can work within. And it will help if there are other students in your department (current or former) who have studied part-time. That will set a precedent, time-wise.

Good luck!

Hi there, im in the same situation sort of. Except ill be doing my masters then PhD part time in Criminology.

I had an interview/discussion last week with my future uni department tutors and they made it clear that it is possible but you do it part time but you have to be organised, diciplined and prepared from the start.

You need to understand your study and be expected to give up all those little things we do now to relax! eg. holidays should be avoided, use the time for your study, evenings spare time, be reallistic that your time needs to be dedicated to the study.

They suggested having a timetable at the start for each week, slotting in employed and other commitments. That said, I dont have a family (just the bf!) but i will be whilst doing my studies and they still said plenty of students manage. Its the key to your committment and how you keep yourself organised and diciplined throughout.

They also mentioned to do as much prior study before the course starts as possible.

So id say, dont panic, get a plan, and go for it!!!

Id like to keep in touch and see how you get on, so PM me if you like.

Tasha