I asked John about this a month or two ago, and meant to blog about it then, but didn’t get around to it. So at most I’m giving a general picture of the way things work and not the specifics because I’ve forgotten a few of them. [See update below.]
Durham has about 150 postgrads and I believe about 125 of those are PhD students. In the last couple of completed years, the department got about 75-100 applicants and about 2/3 are given acceptance letters.* However, some applying for PhD are accepted only in the MATR program, primarily I think because they don’t have a good thesis topic or possibly they haven’t done a significant piece of research. Then I believe about 1/2 to 1/3 of those accepted actually start the program. So this year I believe 12 full time and 14 part time PhD students started this year.
That works out to about 1 new student per supervisor, but I know some supervisors pick up two. But you may apply with someone and then get transfered to another supervisor depending on the direction your thesis topic takes when it gets more defined, or more likely your primary and secondary supervisors would swap roles.
* John did mention that the number of those applying has jumped significantly this year, so I assume that would obviously descrease the percentages accepted. And with the addition of F. Watson on faculty, I imagine that will also increase the competition in future years as well.
[Update May 2009, I spoke with Loren Stuckenbruck today and he said that the number of applications for 09-10 has steadily increased over the past two years (on top of the 2007 point where John Barclay told me we had a big jump) and therefore acceptance rates are dropping accordingly, though he didn’t provide any numbers. With a large jump from ~100 to ? in 2007, and steady increases since then my guess is that at most 1/3 are now accepted either to PhD or MA.]
Does anyone have info on the process at other schools?
Dunelm Road 
Tuesday, 17 April 2007 at 4:46 am
Thank for the info. Do you advice potential applicants to apply directly to do PhD program or to the MLitt? As you mentioned newly PhD admitted students are automatically assigned to the MLitt degree.
Thanks
Tuesday, 17 April 2007 at 6:36 am
If you want the PhD, you should apply directly to it. I’m not sure the issues it would cause, but I imagine it would be a paperwork nightmare to switch midstream. Plus, you’d be out of the running for the PhD funding.
Tuesday, 17 April 2007 at 7:06 am
Hmm, I didn’t know 1st year students start off in the M.Litt program. I wonder how many successfully transition from the M.Litt to the Ph.D.?
Are you telling your friends and family that you’re in the Ph.D. program, or that you’re in the M.Litt program, and you will then transfer into the Ph.D. program?
I hope your paper turned out well.
~Kevin
Tuesday, 17 April 2007 at 8:55 am
I suppose the vast majority make it past the upgrade process at the end of the first year, but I haven’t heard any numbers. The other aspect to this is that even though you get upgraded, it is ultimately the viva that determines the degree you receive. Some theses are not determined to not be up to snuff, and for that you get the ‘door prize’, which is just the MLitt. (If it’s bad enough, you get nothing.) Most people are given revisions to make and then you just resubmit.
Both formally and informally, we are called PhD students because that’s the track we’re on.
[UPDATE: As of 2008 in Durham, now all incoming students are put directly into the PhD program, so there is no MLitt start or upgrade process anymore.]
Tuesday, 17 April 2007 at 12:58 pm
Ben,
Thanks for the info, especially the specifics. It’s difficult, as you know, for some of us to decide whether it’s worth applying. You have helped tremendously in that department.
Dru
Monday, 25 February 2008 at 10:34 am
I will be moving to London in June. M.Div and M.A. in intercultural studies from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. I have been living in China/Thailand since 1996. I would like to write about the Sermon on the Mount. My thesis is that it is structured in a chiasmus that leads to a very practical exhortation and personal transformation, followed by an anticipated response to 3 main objections, each of which Jesus experienced and overcame in his temptation.
Question: I have been away from academic focused work for more than a decade. Any recommendations on where to pursue a PhD in London with this thesis? Any suggestions on how to begin shaping it up for a proposal?
Russell
Wednesday, 27 February 2008 at 10:32 pm
Russell,
There are several places in London, off the top of my head, that would be decent places to study: London School of Theology; Spurgeons College (Stephen Wright); King’s College (Richard Burridge). See here: https://dunelm.wordpress.com/phd-pointers/uk-nt-lecturers/
On shaping the proposal, since you’ve got a decent idea of what to do, I’d email the supervisors you are interested in and see what kind of feedback they give you. On the layout, here’s a little I’ve pulled together: https://dunelm.wordpress.com/phd-pointers/the-thesis-proposal/
Hope that helps. It’s always good to have a few more Baptists here in the UK.
Tuesday, 12 August 2008 at 9:00 pm
Hey Ben,
I found it shocking that 2/3rds of applications are accepted at Durham. Is this accurate or a typo? I know that in the states schools like Harvard, Yale, Duke, and others have maybe 5% of students accepted, mainly because they only allow one or two N.T. students per year. Is the acceptance rate higher because schools like Durham allow more students in? Also, are schools in England generally easier to get into? I thought it was the other way around?
thanks. I love your blog!
Josh
Wednesday, 13 August 2008 at 8:54 pm
Thanks for the response!
a few more questions:
1. Those accepted into the M.A. Do they apply for the Ph.D. but get put in the M.A.? Also, do they eventually get directed to the Ph.D. with progress? Or did the acceptance rate stats include those who applied to the masters?
2. When you say funding is scarce, how scarce? What percentage of Ph.D. students would you say get some form of financial aid?
3. Also, how is the cost of living?
4. Are there many opportunities to serve in ministry while doing the Ph.D.? I’m United Methodist and almost anywhere you go you can find some type of part/full time ministry work in the UMC.
Thanks a lot! Good luck with the new job.
Josh
Wednesday, 13 August 2008 at 7:35 pm
It is a big number, but as I’ve thought about it, it’s not as weird as it might seem.
1) There aren’t near the number of applicants for UK schools because funding is so sparse and few have the resources to swing ~$200k over three years for tuition and living expenses [see here for details: https://dunelm.wordpress.com/2007/01/28/financing-the-uk-phd/]. So my guess is that schools (other than Oxbridge) get 1/3 of the applications that an equivalent first-tier program in the States would.
2) A corrollary to #1 is that many that are accepted never show up because of the money issue.
3) As you mention, top schools only allow in 1 (or maybe 2) NT students per year, even with 4 or 5 NT faculty members. On the other hand, it’s pretty common for UK schools to accept 1 or 2 students/faculty member per year.
4) A decent number of those accepted only get into the MA program.
This is all influenced by a) UK lectures teach about a 1/2 of what US ones do, b) UK programs are more dependant on tuition (rather than endowment) than US, and c) programs are shorter so less of an overall commitment per student.
I’m sure there are plenty of other influences, but these are ones off the top of my head.
A benefit of the UK style is that you have much greater chance that other people will be working on similar genre as you. E.g., I’ve got 2 Pauline people that I see daily that I can bounce ideas off of that I would never have at an equivalent top-tier program in the US.
Thursday, 14 August 2008 at 6:48 pm
On your questions…
1. Yes, there are those that apply only for MA, but others that aren’t deemed ready for the PhD are accepted only for MA first. So yes, I believe the 2/3 does include that number but it is fairly small.
2. On funding, at Durham at least, I’d say it averages about 1 in 15 get significant funding, like full tuition (ORS) or tuition and stipend (DU Doctoral Fellowship). That’s of the 15 that actually get accepted and show up, so based on all those applying, competition probably makes that rate 1 in 30 or 1 in 45. Another small handfull get £1k-£4k. UK nationals can also get the equivalent of a DU DF from the Research Councils but I have no idea about that.
3. Cost of living in Durham is fairly reasonable. I would say it’s not really any different than Dallas, other than petrol and electronics/computers. Oxbridge and London are more expensive, but so are bigger cities in the States.
4. Churches on the whole run 90% on volunteer work. They just don’t have near the church attendance the US does. Now in larger cities, part time opportunites may be more accessible. For instance, we’re attending a Methodist church here. Of the local circuit, 3 congregations get near 100 or over, and the rest hover around 25 or less.
So it sounds a little bleak. It is tough to pile up a bunch of loans in seminary and then expect to come to the UK. One needs to figure out a significant source of funding for one or both places.