Thesis Writing for University Students in the United Kingdom

Universities within the United Kingdom (UK) follow a set pattern of guidelines and rules for students to adhere to when writing their thesis.  

A‘Thesis’ is a more common term for a research paper associated with PhD and doctoral studies at the highest education level.  Whereas the term ‘Dissertation’ is more commonly used to describe an undergraduate (B.A, Bsc, B.Ed) research paper or a Masters Level (M.A., Msc., etc.) research paper. 

The main differences between a dissertation and a thesis are the word count and the level of time that needs to be allocated to research.   So when a student writes a dissertation at undergraduate level he/she will be expected to complete between 8000-10000 words.   For a masters dissertation it can be anywhere between 15000-20000 words.   Whereas a PhD thesis has to be between 60000-100000 words.  There are exceptions to this word count, in the fields of science and maths, where they can often be half of the expected word count levels mentioned above.

Dissertation writing is an important aspect to general fields of research within the UK and the rest of the world.   As it not only helps to identify new areas to study but also carries forward research of previously published research.   The research that is generated from both dissertation writing and thesis writing serves a purpose in the fields of health, science, social science

In other countries such as Europe and the USA, universities follow different patterns for dissertation writing.    The particular style of the Dissertation is dependent on the academic referencing style that is adopted.  In the United Kingdom, Dissertation Writing is normally carried out using the Harvard Referencing Style.   Harvard Referencing is an easy to use, simple to learn and there is plenty of useful advice out there if you get stuck.  The most common characteristic of the Harvard Referencing within Dissertation Writing is that it uses an ‘author: date’ approach.   

When you begin research for your dissertation, you should record all the details of the information that you collect during your research activities.    The reason for this is that you will need to provide, accurate and up to date references in your completed dissertation at a later point.

The other characteristics of the Harvard Referencing system in dissertation writing are that the study must follow a defined set of principles such as the correct font size and style (normally the body of the text must be 12 point), double line spacing must be employed, margins are to the left, page numbers must be consecutive, a certain number of copies of your dissertation must be printed (sometimes only on university approved paper), the study volume must not exceed 300 pages, the title page must be set out in accordance to university’s dissertation office.   In addition to the above, the table of contents, list of tables, list of figures, references, appendices and bibliography within your dissertation or thesis must follow the exact requirements of your University in the United Kingdom (UK).

If you are in doubt in anyway of how to write your dissertation, you should always refer to your university handbook, often produced by the dissertation office of the University that you are attending.