In 2015/16 Postgraduate Education Officer Sorana Vieru commissioned a survey into the experiences of postgraduate students who teach. Prior to becoming a full time officer Sorana was an hourly paid teacher in the Philosophy department, whilst studying for her PhD. She found that the experiences of postgraduates teachers varied considerably across faculties, with job descriptions, facilities and even pay varying across the institution. To gather further evidence to help her campaign for fair pay and working conditions Sorana collaborated with UCU to launch a survey of hourly paid teachers at the University of Bristol.

The survey found that half of postgraduate teachers carried out duties that they were not paid for, and half felt that their hourly paid teacher contracts did not allocate adequate time for preparation and assessment. 28% felt that provisions for training and professional development were 'fairly poor'. Postgraduate teachers in the Faculty of Arts reported a chronic lack of adequate office facilities to meet students. 

Below you can read a full report covering all the findings of the survey. If you have any questions about this research you can get in touch with our Research and Evaluation Coordinator Alice Phillips (alice.phillips@bristol.ac.uk). 

Read Report