I believe what you're referring to is this, taken from the University of York Computer Science PhD pages: "Please note also that all Research students embarkin

I believe what you're referring to is this, taken from the University of York Computer Science PhD pages: "Please note also that all Research students embarking on a PhD programme are initially enrolled provisionally for that qualification. It is the responsibility of the student’s Thesis Advisory Panel to recommend whether or not the student’s enrolment for the PhD should be confirmed (consideration & confirmation takes place within 2 years for full time students and four years for part time students). Confirmations are approved by the University's Standing Committee on Assessment. For more information please contact" Which, standing on it's own, sounds a bit frightening, but when read in context, you see that students are not left to their own devices or 2-4 years: http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/postgraduate/research-degrees/phd/ http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/postgraduate/research-degrees/phd/