Admissions and doctoral access

This impact report documents the Research Design for Social Impact Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme delivered by Design for Social Impact Lab (DFSI Lab) between 2023 and 2025, in partnership with the University of East London (UEL) and the University of Bristol. 

This legacy pack from the Shine Scholars Programme at the University of Surrey — one of the 13 Research England-funded projects focused on racial equity and access to postgraduate education — provides a concise summary of the SBS programme, distilling key findings from the overall evaluation into digestible one-page briefs on the programme delivery, stakeholder engagement, knowledges management, lessons learned, and dissemination. 

The toolkit, created by the Close the Gap Research England-funded project, outlines a step-by-step guide to drive meaningful and sustainable change in doctoral admissions towards greater racial and ethnic equity. 

This resource, developed by Transitions and Transformations: The Black Researcher’s Journey — one of the 13 Research England-funded projects focused on racial equity and access to postgraduate education — and Vitae, aims to support postgraduate taught students to support thinking about development of their research skills. 

Dr Katy Sian at The University of York has produced this helpful guide on conducting and implementing anti-racist research practices, as part of the University’s enhancing research culture funding.

In this blog, Professor Paul Wakeling and Dr Bukola Oyinloye (University of York) set out the challenges to racial equity in UK doctoral admissions. They argue that how and who we select for entry to PhD degrees is a critical part of achieving a more racially just and successful research sector and outline what the Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education (YCEDE) is doing to address this.

The following is the script of a keynote lecture given by UKCGE’s Chair, Dr Rebekah Smith McGloin, as part of The Bob Burgess Memorial Lecture series. It took place on Friday July 4th 2025 at the ARC, University of Glasgow.

This publication, authored by colleagues at The University of Leeds, outlines their institution’s journey to improving postgraduate diversity across the university, starting with the conception of YCEDE through to discussing what can/​should happen after the project has ended. While much of this reflection focuses on Leeds, colleagues at other institutions will undoubtedly find the discussions and reflections universally valuable/​relevant.

This report addresses doctoral selection processes was developed by Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education (YCEDE), one of the 13 Research England-funded projects focused on racial equity and widening access to postgraduate education.

This report was published as a result of interviews undertaken with applicants to one of Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education’s scholarship schemes.