Postgraduate Advice & Support

If you are struggling with your mental health and wellbeing, it’s important to remember that you are not alone. Please visit our health & wellbeing page relevant and useful for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Health & Wellbeing

Postgraduate students often arrive from overseas to study, which means you are likely to be less familiar with the British health system. When you arrive in London, it’s important to bear in mind the following:

• The National Health Service (NHS) is “free at the point of use”. This means that you do not have to pay a fee to visit the doctor (a local doctor is known as a “general practitioner”, or GP). If you needed a visa to study in the U.K., you will have already paid for your healthcare during your NHS application, via the NHS healthcare surcharge.
• Please note that international students from certain countries may be required to register with the police. Please check the immigration letter sent to you by the Home Office for further information. If you are unsure, please contact QMUL's Advice and Counselling Service.
• If you need a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP), please make sure you collect your BRP on time. Instructions regarding timeline and place for collection of BRP can be found on the immigration letter sent to you by the Home Office. If you are unsure, please contact QMUL's Advice and Counselling Service.
• You should register with your local GP’s surgery when you arrive. This means you’ll be set up in case you have any health issues in the future. You can register at the Health Centre on campus if you live in university accommodation or in the borough of Tower Hamlets, otherwise you can find a local GP where you live. To find a GP and for more information, please visit our health and wellbeing page.
• Do bear in mind that waiting times can be lengthy when trying to see your GP – and can take days or potentially weeks for an appointment. If you need urgent advice or care, you can ring 111 to speak to a nurse (who may be able to prescribe certain medications over the phone). You may also be able to ring your GP early in the morning for a same-day consultation (often over the phone).

Mental health issues can be particularly prevalent among postgraduate students. The first thing to know is that you’re not alone: many postgraduate students have gone through or are going through the same thing and there are support services available to you through the university and beyond.

If you are struggling with a pre-existing mental health condition or are finding things difficult, you can speak to your GP or use the following services specifically for students:

• QMUL's Advice and Counselling Service offer confidential appointments with experienced counsellors both face-to-face and online. (NB The counselling service does not offer long-term talk therapy, however.)
• If you need to talk to someone urgently. Nightline is an anonymous listening service run by students and for students, where you can talk to a trained volunteer or get more information. You can find details for Nightline here or call them on +44 2076 310 101.
• PhD Support Groups are run regularly by Researcher Development. These are forums for discussing any problems you might face in a safe and welcoming atmosphere with other PhD students. More details can be found here.

Postgraduate studies can often represent a significant step-up in terms of the pressures and expectations placed upon students compared to undergraduate level. For this reason, it’s a good idea to take regular breaks away from your studies or research if you can, including weekends and holidays. You don’t have to set yourself a fixed working timetable such as 9am-5pm Monday-Friday, but you might find this a useful way to separate time spent studying from your own, free time. You also need time to relax and forget about university life for a while! You may have caring responsibilities or part-time work which you need to factor into your week, so find the best schedule for yourself – there is no one-size-fits-all.

In some cases, though, this isn’t entirely within your control. We understand that being told to simply “take care of yourself” can be frustrating when there are factors beyond your control impacting your well-being. If you are finding yourself over-worked or are being pressured into working more than you should – or than is sustainable for your own health and well-being – then please make use of the resources above, or contact our advice service here. We can help with issues ranging from PhD supervision to bullying and harassment. Remember that we are here to represent your interests as a member and student.

As a postgraduate student, there are a number of institutions and contacts within the university who you will interact with – and receive emails from! – either on a regular basis or for specific reasons. It can often be confusing what role each plays and where to go if you have a specific question or issue you need to resolve.

Here at Queen Mary Students' Union, we offer an academic advice service which is an independent, free and confidential service open to all Queen Mary students. You can find out more by clicking the button below.

Academic Advice Service

For both Postgraduate Taught & Postgraduate Rsearch students

• Postgraduate Administrators: You should contact the admin team in your department, school or institute if you have specific questions related to postgraduate issues. There is usually (although not in every case) a postgraduate administrator who you can contact.
• Course or Subject Reps are representatives for your specific course (for PGT students) or for your subject area (for PGR researchers, as PGRs are often not part of a particular course as such). They are a student elected and appointed in line with QMSU processes to represent the views of their fellow students and bring any concerns to the attention of your School. There are also Reps for both PGT and PGR students in each faculty. You can find a full list of reps, including your own Course Rep, School Rep and how you can get involved here.

Course Reps

For Postgraduate Research students

• Directors of Graduate Studies are the point of contact for both PGT and PGR researchers in each School. They are usually a senior member of academic staff in your school and serve as the first point of contact for any issues within the school. You can find contact details for your DGS here.
• The Doctoral College oversee the recruitment and admission, training and development, academic progression and examination of Queen Mary’s PGR students. It also runs the induction events for new PhD students at the beginning of each academic year and organises training for PhD supervisors, as well as allocating research funding for conferences, fieldwork and other expenses through the Postgraduate Research Fund (PGRF).
• The Research Degrees Office is the administrative hub for PGR students, located on the second floor of the Graduate Centre on Queen Mary’s Mile End campus. This is where you’ll go when you register as a student for the first time and pick up your student card, and for other administrative issues.
• Researcher Development run training courses for Queen Mary’s research community, particularly for PhD students. This includes research methods skills, well-being initiatives for researchers and one-to-one advice for career and academic development. They also run regular PhD support groups.

Housing is one of the most important issues for postgraduate students. If you have any questions about housing, in the first instance, take a look at our housing advice page below. However, as a postgraduate student, you may encounter specific issues different from those which undergraduates come up against.

Housing Advice

Some postgraduate students, particularly those who do not need to be on campus regularly such as PGR students in the later stages of their PhD, may decide to move further away from the university, even outside of London.* This often applies to part-time students, those who have caring responsibilities or who already live outside London. It’s important to know that you’re not the only one in this situation if you do live outside London! Just make sure that it won’t negatively impact your studies or research first, particularly talking this over with your supervisor (if you are a PGR student) or course coordinator (if you are a PGT student) beforehand.

*If you are an international student, your visa may stipulate restrictions on where you live and how often you come to campus. Please contact QMUL's Advice and Counselling service if this may affect you.

As a postgraduate student, you are more likely to be living with others who may be in full-time employment than when you were an undergraduate. In London, many estate agents and landlords will have a preference for tenants in full-time employment. You may still require a UK-based guarantor if you cannot prove your income reaches a certain minimum threshold (calculated by estate agents based on the monthly rent of the property you are looking to rent) – see this page for more information.

In other cases, particularly if you are funded by either a research council or the university and therefore have a de facto guaranteed monthly income, you can negotiate with the estate agent and argue your case. In other words, you can argue that you should be treated as if you had a full-time job. Often, estate agents and landlords may not understand that a PGR student, in particular, will have a monthly income and in that sense is not the same sort of tenant as an undergraduate. You can ask your supervisor or a member of your department or school’s admin team to provide a reference for you, if one is needed, in the same way that a manager would provide one for a full-time employee.

If you are looking for a flat or house to rent, your first port of call will probably be a site such as zoopla.co.uk or rightmove.co.uk, although these are often better suited to those who wish to find an entire property. If you are looking for a room only, spareroom.co.uk is a good place to start. Another option is openrent.co.uk, which is another site where you are often able to rent directly from landlords rather than through letting agents.

If you are experiencing any issues with a landlord or estate agent and need legal advice regarding your rights and/or the landlord or estate agents’ responsibilities, the Queen Mary Legal Advice Centre may be able to help – see this page for more information.