page_title: Doctorate
section_title: History of the UK doctorate
hierarchical_section_title: Doctorate / National variations / United Kingdom / History of the UK doctorate
caption_attribution_description: English: Ph.D. gown, Cambridge University
context_page_description: A doctorate or doctor's degree or doctoral degree, is an academic degree awarded by universities, derived from the ancient formalism licentia docendi. In most countries, it is a research degree that qualifies the holder to teach at university level in the degree's field, or to work in a specific profession. There are a number of doctoral degrees; the most common is the Doctor of Philosophy, which is awarded in many different fields, ranging from the humanities to scientific disciplines.
  In the United States and some other countries, there are also some types of technical or professional degrees that include doctor in their name and are, in some of those countries, classified as doctorates. Professional doctorates historically came about to meet the needs of practitioners in a variety of disciplines. However, the necessity of these degrees may vary greatly across disciplines, making their significance unclear.
  Many universities also award honorary doctorates to individuals deemed worthy of special recognition, either for scholarly work or for other contributions to the university or to society.
context_section_description: The doctorate has long existed in the UK as, originally, the second degree in divinity, law, medicine and music. But it was not until the late 19th century that the research doctorate, now known as the higher doctorate, was introduced. The first higher doctorate was the Doctor of Science at Durham University, introduced in 1882. This was soon followed by other universities, including the University of Cambridge establishing its ScD in the same year, the University of London transforming its DSc from an advanced study course to a research degree in 1885, and the University of Oxford establishing its Doctor of Letters (DLitt) in 1900.
  The PhD was adopted in the UK following a joint decision in 1917 by British universities, although it took much longer for it to become established. Oxford became the first university to institute the new degree, although naming it the DPhil. The PhD was often distinguished from the earlier higher doctorates by distinctive academic dress. At Cambridge, for example, PhDs wear a master's gown with scarlet facings rather than the full scarlet gown of the higher doctors, while the University of Wales gave PhDs crimson gowns rather than scarlet. Professional doctorates were introduced in Britain in the 1980s and 1990s. The earliest professional doctorates were in the social sciences, including the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), Doctor of Education (EdD) and Doctor of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy).
caption: Ph.D. Gown, University of Cambridge
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