Master's students are expected to be motivated and to take responsibility for their own studies. However, we recognise that juggling a professional career and/or family with your academic life can be challenging.

You can contact your programme team by telephone or email for academic or pastoral support. If you would like a face-to-face meeting, this can be arranged at any time. If you are travelling a long distance for modules, your programme team can arrange appointments on days when you are on campus.

It is recommended that you set aside a regular time slot in your week for off-campus study. If you find you are slipping behind and need support in a certain area, you should get in touch with your programme team as soon as possible.

Your programme administrator or teaching fellow will be your first point of contact, and will always ensure that your query is handled by the most appropriate teaching team member.

Support for research projects

You will be able to draw on plenty of support at Imperial as you complete your research project.

Your department will:

  • Ensure that you have an Imperial-based co-supervisor for your project so that you receive adequate support from the College
  • Provide advice on how to identify suitable projects and how to seek appropriate local support
  • Provide a monitoring framework to help you keep track of your research progress
  • Produce regular reports, so that if any problems arise you can quickly identify them and request advice

Make sure you inform yourself of any lead-in times necessary for appointments, for example with the Statistics Advisory Service, and whether there will be any costs involved in these services.

Some part-time students undertake their Master’s research project at their workplace. In these cases, you will need to identify a suitable project that can comfortably be conducted in this setting, and find an appropriate local supervisor to support you.

If your research project is likely to require ethics approval, this should be sought as early as possible in the planning process to ensure that a late or delayed approval does not jeopardise the timeline for your project.

The Centre for Academic English offers free courses and workshops on academic writing and communication.

Breaks in part-time study

Part-time Master’s students at Imperial usually enrol for either a two or three year period. If you enrol for a two-year Master’s programme but discover that you will be unable to complete within two years, you may request to be moved across to the three year programme. This is subject to the regulations governing the course you are studying, and depends on whether a three year option is available.

It is possible to take a one year Interruption of Study if major professional or personal difficulties arise. This allows you to return to the programme exactly one year later. Up to two years of interruption may be requested. When on interruption you do not have access to College facilities.

For more details, contact your course administrator.