How Hard is a PhD?

A PhD is the highest level of academic qualification there is. It requires intense dedication and a large amount of advanced research to complete. Successfully completing a PhD can be a long and difficult process that requires years of intensive research, writing and rigorous assessment. It’s no surprise that only around 1% of people aged 25–64 who have been to university have completed a doctorate.

While it’s easy to understand that the degree is difficult, many prospective students don’t fully understand what’s actually hard about the PhD or why. Is it the research that makes it hard? Is it the time that you have to commit? Well, it depends on you. What some might find straightforward about a PhD (notice I didn't say easy), others will find much more difficult.

In this guide, I'll take you through the main obstacles students struggle with and why they occur.

Contrary to what many people think, the biggest risk to achieving a PhD is dropping out, not failure. You might hear that around 50% of people leave PhD study before completion. This number comes from a 2013 study in the US, where doctoral study is typically longer, sometimes reaching up to ten years.

Research in the UK has produced more optimistic numbers. A study of 26,000 PhD candidates across 14 universities found that only 16.2% of students dropped out, and 3.3% failed.

Overall, how hard it is to successfully complete a PhD degree depends on a number of factors including your project, institution, background, financial situation and even the state of research in your field. You’re also far more likely to drop out due to personal circumstances or changes in motivation than fail. A large factor determining whether you’ll achieve a PhD or not is commitment.

The PhD is difficult because it’s a lengthy process that involves completing and writing up an advanced research project that must sustain rigorous peer review from academic experts. By the end, you will need to demonstrate that you’re a world-leading expert on your topic.

Here are some of the key obstacles many doctoral students struggle with:

• Maintaining motivation: Completing a PhD takes at least three years, often more. While your supervisor is there for support, you’re the person accountable for your progress. This is a significant length of time to stay motivated.
• Time pressure: While three years may seem like a long time, this includes conducting a thorough literature review, completing a research project with viable outcomes and writing everything up in a thesis. Handing in on time will often take precedence over perfectionism.
• Returning to university: Many PhD students come from employment and so need to readapt to the demands of academic education again. It can take time to find your feet with the different work style.
• Adaptability: Research will almost never go as planned. Processes can take longer than expected and results may not be as predicted. Throughout the degree you will experience many highs and lows so it’s important to take setbacks in your stride and adapt where necessary.
• Self-doubt: Your supervisor should regularly offer critical feedback on your work. Over the years this can instil doubt about your abilities as a researcher. As constructive review is an important part of the process, it’s important to learn how to handle and implement feedback effectively.

One of the key concerns many prospective and current students have is how difficult the viva will be. The viva is the final oral assessment where a student defends their research to a panel of academic examiners. Generally, how difficult the viva will be depends on the quality of the thesis you submit. It will also depend on how well you prepare and the examiners you’re assigned. Any negative comments are reflective of the work you submitted not you as a researcher. There are many reasons a thesis may receive criticism and not all of them will be in your control.

As mentioned at the beginning of this guide, very few people fail the PhD. So, while the viva can be difficult and intimidating it’s also highly unlikely to have a negative outcome.

Overall, a PhD is a long and often challenging learning process. While there are many obstacles to overcome you will have gained and refined invaluable skills and experience by the end.

If you’ve made it this far in the guide, congratulations – you’ve already demonstrated the kind of stamina required for a PhD. That’s half the battle. (Okay, maybe a quarter. A sixth? Don’t quote me.)

Here are a few insights from me:

• 1. Perfection is the enemy of submission.
  You will never write the perfect thesis. No one has. If you aim for perfection, you’ll be writing until the heat death of the universe. Focus on "good enough to pass" – which, thankfully, is a lower bar than many perfectionist minds are willing to accept. Lower it anyway.
• 2. Treat motivation like a flaky friend – don’t rely on it.
  Motivation will ghost you around year two, probably when your research hits its first existential crisis. That’s normal. Structure and routine are far more dependable companions. Schedule your work like it's a job – because it is, albeit one that pays in vague promises and imposter syndrome.
• 3. Feedback isn’t personal, even when it feels deeply, deeply personal.
  You will, at some point, receive a comment so brutally phrased you’ll consider printing it on a mug. Don’t. Internalise what’s useful and ignore the tone. Academia isn’t known for its soft touch, but it is (usually) trying to help.
• 4. Embrace failure – it’s part of the research process.
  Something will go wrong. An experiment will fail. An entire theoretical framework might crumble under scrutiny. You’ll live. Pivot, reframe, and carry on. Academia rewards those who can fail gracefully and reappear with a fresh draft.
• 5. The viva sounds scarier than it is.
  It’s not a public execution. It's a conversation with people who have read your thesis (and who, crucially, are not out to destroy you). Prepare, breathe, and remember: they don’t want to fail you. They’d rather be at lunch too.

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