My status is PhD (Probationary). What does this mean?

If your faculty decides that you should start straight away on your research degree, your offer email will show either PhD (Probationary) or Certificate of Postgraduate Study (in the first instance). If you accept such an offer, you will start with a probationary year. At the end of the probationary year, you will undertake a registration exercise to decide whether you should continue as a registered research student and for which course you should be registered (PhD, MSc, MLitt or MPhil). Registration exercises are different in each faculty or department, but always involve a rigorous assessment of your suitability for research and the viability of your project.

Further details will be provided by your faculty or department. If you are successful in this assessment, your registration will normally be backdated to the date on which you began your research.