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Wonkhe SUs · The 2026 webinar box set

Won't someone think of the postgrads

What does the postgrad experience look like, and how can SUs effectively represent them?

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We map the postgraduate landscape – PGT, MRes, MPhil and PhD – and the bodies and decision-making structures that so often default to undergraduates. We cover the confusing funding systems, what's changing in supervision under UKRI's revised expectations, the two-jobs-one-stipend problem for PGRs who teach, reasonable adjustments and the viva, and the representation models that actually reach postgraduates. Please note: this session refers to a student who died by suicide. If you are affected, support is available any time from Samaritans (call 116 123, free).

What we cover

  • The postgraduate landscape – PGT, MRes, MPhil and PhD, and what each actually involves.
  • Decision-making and bodies – why structures default to undergraduates, and who postgrads "belong" to.
  • Funding – the confusing, restrictive loan systems and the cases that fall through the gaps.
  • Supervision – UKRI's mandatory supervisor CPD from October 2025, and the pastoral gaps it addresses.
  • PGRs that teach – two jobs on one stipend, ambiguous employment status, and what good looks like.
  • Reasonable adjustments and the viva – inconsistent practice, Abrahart, and the harmful "struggle is part of the doctorate" belief.
  • Power and the pastoral gap – the unequal supervisory relationship, compounded for international and funded students.
  • Representation – the Queen Mary model of going to PGRs rather than expecting them to come to the SU.
  • What the stats say – PTES and PRES satisfaction, the belonging and disability gaps, and international postgrads.
  • The PGR New Deal – the stipend rise, improved leave, and UKRI's revised statement of expectations.

Things to read

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