Can you do a PhD part time while working full time?

Direct answer: The words "part time" never appear in Vietnam's current doctoral regulation. Circular 53/2026/TT-BGDĐT allows one formal mode of training with two ways to take part, and only the first way forbids full-time employment elsewhere. The second way sets a credit threshold of 30 credits in one academic year instead.

The Ministry of Education and Training issued the circular on 30 June 2026, and the Official Gazette printed it in issue 447 on 28 July 2026 (Ministry of Education and Training, 2026). Article 3, clause 2 says doctoral training is organised only in the formal mode, then lists route (a) and route (b). Route (a) asks for full-time study at the institution and adds the condition "không làm việc toàn thời gian tại cơ quan, tổ chức khác trong thời gian học tập", meaning no full-time work at another agency or organisation during the period of study. Route (b) asks for enough time at the institution under the approved whole-programme plan, "trong đó đăng ký đủ 30 tín chỉ trong một năm học", and attaches no employment condition.

The circular's full text has zero occurrences of "bán thời gian", the Vietnamese for part time. Both routes share one clock: Article 3, clause 3 sets 36 to 48 months, a floor of two thirds of that and a ceiling of 2.5 times it, so a 36-month programme has a 24-month floor and a 90-month ceiling, and a 48-month one a 120-month ceiling.

The circular applies to admission rounds announced from 1 January 2027, while Article 34 keeps candidates admitted under a notice issued before 30 June 2026 and enrolled before 1 January 2027 under Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDĐT. Check how long a PhD programme really runs too.

Direct answer: No shared definition exists. Each university sets its own threshold, often by credits per term, so the same candidate can be part time at one institution and full time at another. Published shares of part-time doctoral students range from 6 per cent in some United States counts to 63 per cent in the United Kingdom.

Gardner and Gopaul (2012, doi:10.28945/1561) interviewed 10 self-identified part-time doctoral students at one United States research university and studied how a Doctor of Philosophy is experienced part time, and they note that a student registering for fewer than nine credits per semester counts as part time at one institution while a different number applies elsewhere, and that the Survey of Earned Doctorates does not ask graduates about part-time enrolment at all. Their review reports estimates of 6 per cent, 10 per cent and 12 per cent for the United States, 38 to 47 per cent for Australia and up to 63 per cent for the United Kingdom (Gardner & Gopaul, 2012).

Those gaps change what counts as normal, so ask for the programme's own definition, not the national one.

Source: Gardner and Gopaul (2012), International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 7, 63-78, read 2026-10-31.

Direct answer: The stipend is pro-rated. UK Research and Innovation sets a minimum of £21,805 from 1 October 2026 for full-time students, up from £20,780, and £23,805 with London weighting. Its page says part-time students get a pro-rated amount, so a half-time registration roughly halves the payment.

UK Research and Innovation publishes the figures on its studentship page: £20,780 and £22,780 with London weighting for the period to September 2026, then £21,805 and £23,805 (UK Research and Innovation, 2026). Our own arithmetic, not a UKRI figure, turns £21,805 at half time into about £10,900 a year and £23,805 into about £11,900.

The arithmetic is a warning rather than an obstacle. Half the stipend does not halve rent, and a longer registration stretches the years in which costs accumulate. Someone who moves to part-time study in order to keep a salary is trading a smaller guaranteed income for a larger, less certain one over a longer period. That trade can be sensible, but it should be made with the numbers in front of you.

The same page adds a point applicants often miss: a funded student may be able to do a small amount of paid work even when studying full time, and that work is always separate from the studentship. If the aim is extra income rather than a slower pace, that smaller change may fit better. For more on who sets these amounts, read who decides PhD studentship funding.

Direct answer: You can ask, but nobody has to say yes. UKRI says a funded student can request a change in mode of study at any time and sets no limit on requests, while the university or provider keeps the decision. Raise it during the supervisor conversation, not after enrolment.

The funder's wording is exact: "If you want to change between part-time and full-time, you can request a change in mode of study at any time" (UK Research and Innovation, 2026, section "Changing mode of study"). The same section adds that the university "does not have to accept your request". The entitlement to ask belongs to the funder, while supervision capacity, laboratory access and examination timing belong to the institution.

That split explains why timing matters. A supervisor who has never taken a part-time candidate is not being obstructive by hesitating; the candidate is asking for something the department may never have managed. In Vietnam the circular's 120-month ceiling for a 48-month programme sits far beyond any realistic plan, so a request years in advance rarely collides with it.

Build the conversation into your wider application sequence. Our PhD application timeline, worked backwards shows where fit questions belong, and the guide on how to find a PhD supervisor shortlist covers who to ask. If you already hold a place, put the mode-of-study question in writing so the answer is on record.

Direct answer: On the calendar, yes: South African national records show part-time candidates take about 0.7 years longer. Measured in full-time-equivalent effort, the evidence points the other way, because part-time graduates in an Australian study finished with fewer equivalent years than their full-time peers.

Van Lill (2024, doi:10.20853/38-1-6268) analysed 3,551 doctoral records from 26 South African public universities for 2000 to 2021, across five disciplines, with a mean time to degree of 4.25 years. Mode of enrolment was the strongest predictor, and "part-time students take on average 0.7 years longer than full-time students" (Van Lill, 2024, p. 178).

Rodwell and Neumann (2007) examined 347 doctoral graduates of Macquarie University for 2000 to 2005, split into 169 mainly full-time and 178 mainly part-time candidates. In the full-time group, 80.5 per cent needed more than four full-time-equivalent years against 27.5 per cent of the part-time group, and 72.5 per cent of part-time graduates finished within four. The full-time median target was five equivalent years and the part-time median 3.25. The authors concluded that "part-time students work at slightly faster than half the speed of full-time students" (Rodwell & Neumann, 2007, results section), for graduates only.

Source: Van Lill (2024); Rodwell and Neumann (2007), read 2026-10-31.

Together these suggest a duration risk, not a capability risk. Part-time candidates spend fewer hours per year, so their calendar exposure to funding gaps and supervisor moves grows. Note that Rodwell and Neumann count only people who graduated.

If you are asking whether you can do a PhD part time while working full time and want to compare registration categories, our PhD application strategy service can help you compare programmes and prepare questions for supervisors. It does not carry grade targets or refunds tied to results, you write and decide for yourself, and you can ask to change your expert if the fit is wrong.

A typical first session covers three things: which registration category each shortlisted university actually offers, what that category does to funding and to the time limit, and which questions to put to a supervisor in writing before you accept a place. You keep the decision, you do the reading and writing yourself, and the expert's role is to point out the assumptions that rarely survive a conversation with a registry office. Bring the programme pages you are considering and your employer's rules on study leave.

• How long is a PhD programme: what the advertised duration actually measures
• Who decides PhD studentship funding: who holds the stipend decision
• Weekly time management system for students: a routine for protecting study hours

Gardner, S. K., & Gopaul, B. (2012). The part-time doctoral student experience. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 7, 63-78. https://doi.org/10.28945/1561

Ministry of Education and Training. (2026). Circular 53/2026/TT-BGDĐT on the regulation for graduate admissions and training. Công báo, issue 447, 28 July 2026. https://congbao.chinhphu.vn/van-ban/thong-tu-so-53-2026-tt-bgddt-470098/67203.htm

Rodwell, J., & Neumann, R. (2007). Predicting timely doctoral completions: An institutional case study of 2000-2005 doctoral graduates. Australasian Association for Institutional Research Forum. https://aair.org.au/app/webroot/media/pdf/AAIR%20Fora/Forum2007/Rodwell.pdf

UK Research and Innovation. (2026). Get a studentship to fund your doctorate. https://www.ukri.org/what-we-offer/developing-people-and-skills/find-studentships-and-doctoral-training/get-a-studentship-to-fund-your-doctorate/

Van Lill, M. H. (2024). A study of doctoral time-to-degree in selected disciplines at South African public universities. South African Journal of Higher Education, 38(1), 168-188. https://doi.org/10.20853/38-1-6268

This article is part of the MAAS Journal series for students. MAAS is an academic support partner: experts guide students through each stage of their own work, and we do not complete assessed work on a student's behalf.