Should You Quit Your PhD? How to Tell If It’s the Right Decision

Quitting a PhD. Where to begin? It’s normal to think about quitting at least once during a PhD. But when is it worth giving the question of ‘should I quit my PhD’ serious consideration?

Quitting a PhD is a legitimate decision that around half of all doctoral students consider at some point. UK attrition rates are notoriously hard to pin down because the official statistics agencies don’t publish complete PhD completion data by mode of study, but the available evidence suggests rates of 25 to 50 per cent depending on discipline and institution. There is no universal right answer, but there are honest ways to think through whether staying or going serves your long-term interests.

There wasn’t a day that went by during my PhD when I didn’t think about quitting at least once. I’d ask myself why I was putting myself through the roller coaster, and whether I had made a mistake. Some days I came very close. I get it.

It’s comforting, or perhaps a little worrying, to know that these feelings are largely normal. For many PhD students, working to push past that inner voice is part of the challenge of completing a PhD. For others, listening to that voice is the right call.

I’ve now spoken to hundreds of PhD students who were thinking about leaving. Some stayed and finished. Some stayed and shouldn’t have. Some left and felt nothing but relief. Some left and quietly regretted it for years. The one thing they all had in common is that nobody had given them a calm, honest space to think about the question without feeling judged.

That’s what this article is for.

PhDs are hard, there’s no escaping that, and at times stressful, but they shouldn’t be unbearable, at least not for any continued length of time. There’s a danger that we tell students to ‘suck it up’ and in the process normalise suffering and genuine feelings of dissatisfaction. For many, quitting a PhD is the wrong decision. For others, sucking it up is the worst possible advice you could give them.

You are not alone, and the numbers prove it

Before we go any further, here’s the thing about the data. The UK does not publish a clean, public figure for PhD non-completion. In April 2024, the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) released a report titled Dropouts or stopouts or comebackers or potential completers, in which the authors explicitly called out the fact that doctoral completion rates by mode of study are missing from HESA’s standard reporting. The system that produces PhD attrition does not even count it properly. That tells you something.

What we do know is this. Levecque et al. (2017), in a study of more than three thousand Belgian PhD students published in Research Policy, found that PhD researchers were more than twice as likely to experience a common psychiatric disorder than the highly-educated general population. Nature’s most recent global PhD survey found that 36 per cent of respondents had sought help for anxiety or depression caused by their studies. The Postgraduate Research Experience Survey, run across UK institutions by Advance HE, has now made wellbeing one of its core themes precisely because the sector knows there is a problem.

If you are sitting at your desk right now wondering whether you are weak for thinking about leaving, please read the previous paragraph again. You are looking at one of the largest, best-evidenced patterns in higher education. It is not you. It is the conditions under which doctoral research takes place.

That doesn’t make the decision any easier. But it should take some of the shame out of thinking about it.

Common Reasons for Quitting a PhD

Unsurprisingly, there’s a lot of academic research on this topic. In an extensive review of the literature, Sverdlik, Hall, McAlpine and Hubbard (2018) grouped the factors that influence the decision into those external to the student and those internal.

External factors

Supervision

The most influential force in the doctoral experience is the supervisory relationship. When it is open, supportive and communicative, students feel more successful and more satisfied. Compatibility, whether in research interests or working style, matters too. When these are missing, and when the supervisory relationship itself becomes a source of stress and anxiety, it is not uncommon for students to feel a great deal of dissatisfaction. The kind of support your supervisor and department should be providing is often the very thing that’s been withdrawn.

Departmental structures and organisation

From the students we speak to, particularly those in our writing group, we know how important it is to feel connected and to feel as though you’re part of something bigger. Departments have a huge role to play in addressing this need, and when this kind of support and integration is missing it can damage your sense of belonging and your morale.

There are two dimensions at play. Formally, departments can do a lot to integrate and socialise students through funding opportunities, sharing information, teaching opportunities, and clear communication. Informally, there’s much they can do to make you feel welcome by socialising you into the departmental culture and treating you as a valuable member of the department.

Where there’s a mismatch between you and your department, whether informal or formal, it can be very easy to feel isolated and the decision to leave the programme starts to feel inevitable. The pandemic didn’t help. From our experience working with students since then, things often never returned to the way they were before. There’s more time alone, more time on Zoom, less time in the department and less time interacting in the real world with peers. The ability to feel part of something bigger and to be supported by department structures is now more strained as a result.

Financial pressures

Whether or not funding is available has a huge impact on your overall sense of wellbeing, and can be a major driver in the decision to leave. The years spent on a PhD are years that could have been spent in industry starting a career and getting paid accordingly. As the years go by, a fear of missing out kicks in, and you start to question your financial sense in choosing this path. I certainly did. My stipend was around £12,000 per year, far less than I could have earned elsewhere, and well below minimum wage given the hours. I was grateful, but I was also fully aware of the opportunity cost.

For many students though, the issue isn’t what they could be earning elsewhere. It’s the more immediate problem of not having enough money in the first place. Academia is an elite institution, with too few students from working class and marginalised backgrounds. When me and other PhD students complained of having no money, what most of us middle-class kids really meant was ‘not having as much as we’d like’.

For many on our programme and many elsewhere, not having enough money means just that. It means holding down one or more part-time jobs and missing out on conferences, events, and other things crucial to professional and personal wellbeing. The 2025 HEPI/Advance HE Student Academic Experience Survey found that 68 per cent of full-time students now do paid work during term, a twelve-point jump on the previous year. That’s the undergraduate figure, but the cost-of-living pressure on doctoral researchers is, if anything, sharper. For some students, the decision to drop out is purely financial, or born of the exhaustion of staying afloat.

Another factor is what happens after you graduate. For many disciplines and in many countries, the academic job market is poor, with little promise of job security or salaries to match the expertise you have. Where there are limited job options or poor salary prospects, the decision to leave starts to feel less like quitting and more like rational planning.

Internal factors

Motivation

A common reason for quitting a PhD is a lack of motivation. The unstructured nature of PhD work, and the fact that you have to self-regulate and self-manage, means motivation can be very difficult to conjure up.

There’s a close relationship between the other factors above and this one. Motivation might wane where there’s a poor supervisor relationship, or once you realise the job prospects are bleak. But it can also be influenced by why you decided to do a PhD in the first place. We can broadly split a student’s motivations into two camps: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic reasons are passion for the subject. Extrinsic reasons are things like boosting your CV. Students who pursue a PhD for intrinsic reasons are more likely to stick with it and feel satisfied along the way.

Self-worth and efficacy

At the heart of many PhD students’ struggles is a sense of not being ‘worthy’ of a PhD, or not having what it takes. Pushing back on this self-deprecation is a big part of what we try to do here, because such self-critique is more often than not based on a faulty assessment of your own abilities. When you think you’re worthless, the cost of quitting drops significantly, and you can end up making a decision that has more to do with imposter syndrome than with your actual circumstances.

Personal and social lives

PhDs require a huge amount of physical and emotional energy. The often extensive demands of doctoral work mean that health, wellbeing and social lives can go out of the window. It is when we fail to look after our wellbeing and maintain a holistic personal life beyond the PhD that we experience burnout, depression and low morale. And when those things rear their heads, you’re far more likely to want to leave.

There’s no getting away from the fact that the PhD will demand a huge amount of your time. But there’s no need to feel guilty about taking time away from it and focusing on your own health and your personal life instead. Work-life balance is the strongest predictor of psychological distress in PhD students.

Should I Stay or Leave? Key Factors to Consider

Factor	Reasons to Stay	Reasons to Leave
Motivation	Still curious about the research question	Lost interest in the topic entirely
Supervisor	Relationship is fixable or changeable	Toxic, and institutional support has failed
Mental Health	Stress is situational, not chronic	PhD is causing lasting harm to wellbeing
Career	PhD is required for your target career	Your career path doesn’t need a PhD
Progress	Behind schedule but recoverable	Fundamentally stuck with no path forward
Finances	Funded, or manageable debt	Unsustainable financial pressure
Isolation	Lonely but can build community	Persistent isolation despite efforts

Assessing Your Situation

The research above looks at why students have dropped out, but what it doesn’t look at is whether dropping out was the ‘right’ decision. I use the word ‘right’ here cautiously. There is no right or wrong reason for dropping out. Rather, there is just ‘a’ decision to drop out. What we might think about instead is whether the struggles and strains are on the normal, to-be-expected end of the PhD spectrum, or whether life really is miserable and you really are better off leaving.

But how can you know which end of the spectrum you’re on?

It’s entirely normal in a PhD to feel like you’re not making any progress and to feel completely out of your depth. Research is an exercise in failing, over and over again. To work out what the correct path is, you need to go down all the wrong paths, find the dead ends, and retrace your steps. Eventually you reach the end, perhaps without ever noticing when you finally got onto the right path.

This trial-and-error approach, informed by an intelligent reading of the literature and your data, is, counterintuitively, how we make progress in research. We throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. What’s more, you’ve never really done any of this stuff before. You’re in at the deepest end, learning on the job and continually making mistakes.

It can be easy to see these mistakes as your failure, as something innate to your perceived lack of ability. But they’re not. Failure is progress, after all. And the work is hard. And isolating. If a PhD was easy, everyone would have one.

All this is to suggest that perhaps you shouldn’t quit a PhD if you feel like an imposter, or you feel like you’re making too many mistakes and haven’t got what it takes. Or if you find the work too hard (everyone does, and it gets easier).

But perhaps you should quit a PhD if you’ve traded your health, particularly your mental health, to stay on the path. Or if the more you go down this path, the more you lose interest in the subject, or the more you see that the career that lies ahead isn’t for you.

Consequences of Quitting a PhD

As much as it’s a personal decision, there are real-world consequences. This step will have ramifications for your career, your sense of self, and possibly even your social circle. Before deciding to leave your programme, it’s worth knowing what you’re really signing up for.

Professional implications

Choosing to step away from a PhD can feel like veering off an established career path. Within academia, the finished thesis is the route to a research or teaching position. But outside the academic walls, the reality is different. Many industries and sectors deeply value the skills you’ve acquired during your PhD: in-depth research capabilities, critical thinking, and competent project management. Even without the final thesis, and no matter how far through you end up, you come armed with a set of skills that can be valuable in a wide range of roles.

Personal growth

Whatever you decide about the PhD itself, the experience offers real lessons about who you are. You’ll have learned about the environments in which you flourish, the challenges you willingly take on, and the kinds of work you value. Deciding whether to continue or step back isn’t just about the degree. It’s an extended exercise in self-awareness. Whether you stay or leave, those insights will guide many of your future choices.

Financial considerations

The financial side of leaving a PhD is complicated. You need to be aware of any existing funding agreements, scholarships, and possible repayment obligations. Beyond that, think about the financial reality of moving into a new field. The first phase might come with financial challenges, especially if you’re retraining or shifting sectors, but many industries will value the skills you bring from your PhD experience. Balancing the immediate concerns with the longer-term picture can help you make an informed decision.

Social impacts

Making the decision is deeply personal, but its effects touch the people around you. You might find yourself on the receiving end of a wide range of reactions from peers, mentors, family, and friends. While some will stand firmly by your side, others might struggle to understand. During such times, it’s worth leaning on a supportive network. Surrounding yourself with people who respect your choices, even if they don’t fully understand them, can make this transition smoother. But above all, remember it is your choice alone to make, and you don’t need to justify it to anyone.

The Emotional Weight of Considering Quitting

Quitting your PhD is not a simple binary decision, and the weight of it is not just academic but emotional, affecting not just your work, but your sense of self and your future.

A key part of the challenge is that it can feel as though your entire education has led to you doing a PhD. That your entire identity is wrapped up in being an academic and being smart, and the PhD is the final piece of the puzzle, so tantalisingly close that it seems worth risking everything for. This is largely nonsense. You will still be smart if you leave. You will still have all the skills and experience you’ve gained in your education so far, and plenty of non-academic employers would love to hire you for them.

Quitting a PhD should therefore be seen as a positive. It’s you taking control over your wellbeing and changing something that wasn’t working. It’s you taking a risk, putting yourself first, and refusing to put up with something that you know isn’t good for you.

But you’re still likely to go through an emotional rollercoaster in the run-up to and the aftermath of leaving your programme.

Guilt and shame

It’s natural to grapple with feelings of guilt and shame when thinking about leaving a PhD. Societal norms, combined with personal expectations, can paint a picture in which deviating from the path feels like a defeat. The weight of the world and your own aspirations can press heavily, making you feel like you’re not measuring up or that you’re letting yourself and others down. The idea of quitting is often shrouded in taboo, made worse by the sunk cost fallacy: the notion that you’ve already invested so much time, energy and money that turning back feels wasteful. But your journey is unique, and measuring yourself against societal standards or past investments may not reflect what’s best for your present or future wellbeing.

Relief

Thinking about stepping away from the PhD might initially be fraught with hesitation and doubt. But as you sit with the thought, you might find a real sense of relief washing over you. That emotional response can be telling. If merely considering a different path brings such a strong feeling of relief, it might be a sign that redirecting could indeed be the right choice for your wellbeing and future. Listening to that inner emotional compass matters when you’re trying to make a decision that resonates with what you need.

Fear of the unknown

Stepping into an uncertain future, especially when it deviates from a long-held plan, can be daunting. The questions swirl: what opportunities await without the doctoral degree? How will the professional world perceive you? The ambiguity of not knowing can sometimes overshadow the very reasons that led you to consider a different path. But every significant life decision comes with its share of uncertainty. Sitting with that uncertainty, rather than fearing it, can open doors you hadn’t previously imagined.

Validation

Starting a PhD is often a decision driven by passion, curiosity and aspirations. But as the work progresses, you might find a growing disconnect between the academic path and your evolving personal and professional goals. Recognising this misalignment isn’t a sign of failure but an act of self-validation. Understanding that the path you once felt was perfect might no longer be the right fit is a sign of self-awareness, not weakness. By acknowledging it, you give yourself permission to seek out paths that resonate more with your current goals.

Alternatives to Quitting a PhD

Quitting is not your only option, even when it feels like it. Whether it’s a leave of absence, talking to mental health professionals, or even shifting your research focus, there are ways to make your PhD more bearable. You don’t have to face the task of single-handedly revolutionising your field. It’s an apprenticeship into academia, not a Nobel Prize race.

Considering a leave of absence

Before any final decision, remember that many institutions allow you to take a break. A leave of absence might give you the breathing room you need, time to step back, recharge, and reassess with a clearer mind. That pause can be the most useful thing you do. It gives you space to work out whether your struggles are temporary setbacks or signs of a deeper misalignment.

Reassessing supervisory and project dynamics

If the heart of your unease comes from challenges with your supervisor or the nature of your research project, there’s a possible remedy. Consider asking about a switch in supervision or even a pivot in your research direction. Sometimes, reshuffling these foundational pieces can rekindle your interest and your sense of progress.

Weighing the part-time PhD option

The rigours of a full-time PhD can be overwhelming, especially if you’re juggling other life responsibilities. Some universities offer a part-time PhD track. This can be a balanced middle ground, letting you continue your academic work at a more manageable pace while also engaging with the rest of your life.

Turning to counselling or therapy

The emotional and mental strains of a PhD can be heavy. Engaging in counselling or therapy can give you a space to articulate and process your feelings. A professional can offer insights, coping strategies, and tools to manage stress, potentially equipping you to handle the challenges of doctoral work in a more sustainable way.

What to Do If You Decide to Stop

If, after all that reflection, you decide that leaving is the right thing, here’s what comes next. None of this is a checklist. It’s a set of things to think about as you move into the next phase.

Telling your supervisor

This is the conversation most students dread. In my view, it’s almost always less painful than you expect. Most supervisors have had this conversation before. Many of them will already have noticed something is wrong. A few will react badly. Most will not.

A few things help. Tell them in person or on a video call rather than by email if you can, but write the email if that’s what you can manage. You don’t owe them a complete explanation of your reasons. ‘I’ve thought about this carefully and I’ve decided not to continue with the PhD’ is enough. You can offer more if you want to, but you don’t have to. If the relationship has been difficult, consider asking your director of postgraduate research or your faculty’s research office to be present, or to manage the conversation for you. You’re allowed to ask for that.

Whatever you do, don’t apologise for the decision. You’re not letting your supervisor down. You’re making a decision about your life.

The academic-or-career framing is a trap

There’s a habit in PhD circles of treating leaving as a binary: you stay in academia or you go ‘into industry’. The reality is messier and much more interesting. People who leave PhDs go on to do research in government, in policy, in NGOs, in think tanks, in publishing, in teaching, in tech, in science communication, in the civil service, in healthcare, in start-ups, in advocacy, and in dozens of fields nobody at your university has even thought about. Plenty of them stay close to research without ever going back to a university department. Others walk away entirely and never look back. Both are fine.

Vitae’s ‘What Do Researchers Do?’ reports trace the destinations of doctoral graduates across every sector of the economy. People who leave before the thesis is finished show up in almost all the same places. Your CV will not have the three letters in front of your name, but the thinking that earned them is yours to keep.

What people do next

From the students we’ve worked with who left, the most common pattern is: a few weeks of decompression, sometimes longer, where they don’t try to do anything productive at all. Then a slow return to work, usually in something connected to but not identical to their old field. Some retrain. Some start consultancies. Some take a job they would never have considered when they were a PhD student and discover they love it. A few, after a couple of years away, find themselves wanting to come back and do a different doctorate, in a different department, with a different supervisor, on a different topic. That’s allowed. The system is more porous than it likes to pretend.

Permission to stop

This isn’t a story about giving up. It’s a story about choosing yourself. Leaving a PhD because it is making you ill, because the relationship with your supervisor has broken down, because the work no longer means anything to you, or because the life you want is somewhere else, is a legitimate, considered, adult decision. It is not a failure. It is not a waste. It is not the end of your intellectual life.

You are allowed to stop.

Steps to Take If You Decide to Quit Your PhD

If you’ve decided that leaving is the best course of action, there are official routes and less formal pathways out of your PhD. Exit degrees, other academic pursuits, or a pivot into a different sector could all be next steps.

Engaging with your supervisor and department

Your decision affects not just you but the academic ecosystem around you. Open dialogue with your supervisor and department is worth having. These conversations offer clarity, ensure all parties understand the reasons behind your choice, and can sometimes open doors to alternative solutions you hadn’t considered.

Understanding the withdrawal process

Deciding to leave is more than just an emotional choice. There’s an administrative side to it. Familiarise yourself with the withdrawal process at your institution. Be clear on any obligations, possible repercussions, and financial considerations associated with your decision. If your university offers an exit award (typically an MPhil or MRes for PhD students who have completed enough work), ask about it. Many students don’t realise this is on the table.

Using career counselling

Your skills and experience are valuable and transferable. Career counselling can help you identify those strengths and find your way into job markets, ensuring you’re well-positioned for roles outside academia that suit your interests.

Maintaining academic and professional connections

Leaving a PhD programme doesn’t mean cutting ties with the academic world. The relationships, networks and bonds you’ve built can continue to serve you well in many ways. Keep these connections going. They can be sources of references, collaborations, or even job opportunities.

Wholeheartedly embracing your decision

Whatever your choice, it’s grounded in your wellbeing and your aspirations. It’s an act of courage and self-awareness. Move forward with confidence, knowing you’re aligned with a path that resonates with your current and future goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is quitting a PhD a failure?

No. Around half of all doctoral students seriously consider quitting at some point. Many students who leave go on to have successful careers in research-adjacent fields, in industry, in policy, in teaching, and in many other areas. Leaving a PhD because the conditions are damaging your health, because the work no longer interests you, or because the career it leads to is not the one you want, is a considered adult decision. It is not a failure.

How common is quitting a PhD?

The UK does not publish complete PhD non-completion statistics by mode of study. The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) flagged this gap in its 2024 non-continuation report. The available evidence suggests UK PhD attrition rates of around 25 to 50 per cent depending on discipline and institution. In the US, around half of doctoral students leave before finishing. Whichever way you cut it, the answer is: very common.

Will quitting my PhD ruin my career?

Not necessarily. Many successful professionals left PhD programmes. The skills you develop during a PhD, including research, analysis, writing, critical thinking and project management, are valuable regardless of whether you finish. According to Vitae’s ‘What Do Researchers Do?’ reports, PhD-trained professionals work across every sector of the economy. What matters is how you frame the experience, not whether you completed the degree.

How do I tell my supervisor I want to quit?

Tell them in person or on a video call where possible, but use email if that’s what you can manage. You don’t owe them a complete explanation of your reasons. A short, clear statement is enough: ‘I’ve thought about this carefully and I’ve decided not to continue with the PhD.’ If the relationship has been difficult, ask your director of postgraduate research or your faculty research office to be present, or to manage the conversation for you. You are allowed to ask for that kind of support.

Can I return to a PhD after quitting?

Yes. The system is more porous than it likes to pretend. Some students leave one PhD and, after a few years away, start a different one in a different department, on a different topic, sometimes at a different institution. Others come back to academia in a different capacity, as research staff, teaching staff, or in research-adjacent roles. Leaving now does not lock the door behind you.

How do I know if I should quit my PhD?

Ask yourself three questions. (1) Have I lost interest in the research itself, or am I struggling with a specific, fixable problem like supervisor conflict or isolation? (2) Is the PhD required for the career I want? (3) Is the PhD damaging my health or wellbeing in ways that are not temporary? If the answers all point towards leaving, it may be the right decision. If the problems are specific and addressable, consider solving them first.

References and further reading

• HEPI (2024) Dropouts or stopouts or comebackers or potential completers? Non-continuation of students in the UK. Available at: hepi.ac.uk.
• HEPI/Advance HE (2025) Student Academic Experience Survey 2025. Available at: hepi.ac.uk.
• Levecque, K. et al. (2017) ‘Work organization and mental health problems in PhD students’, Research Policy, 46(4), pp. 868–879. DOI: 10.1038/nbt.3766.
• Nature (2024) ‘Harsh criticism and unreasonable expectations worsen PhD students’ mental health’. Available at: nature.com.
• Sverdlik, A., Hall, N. C., McAlpine, L. and Hubbard, K. (2018) ‘The PhD experience: A review of the factors influencing doctoral students’ completion, achievement, and wellbeing’. Available at: informingscience.org.
• Vitae (2024) What Do Researchers Do? Available at: vitae.ac.uk.
• Advance HE, Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES). Available at: advance-he.ac.uk.

Conclusion: Quitting a PhD

Choosing to quit your PhD is an intensely personal decision and it comes with its own complexities. Like the day-to-day PhD challenges, it’s worth being realistic about what you can and cannot do. If you decide to leave, know that the decision should be made with care, with proper consideration of both your present circumstances and your future. But know that only you can make it, and being able to make it in good faith depends on whether you can fully understand the feelings you have about your PhD and the relationship you have with the work. Is what you’re feeling a normal part of the process, or a cause for concern? It is my hope that this article has helped you to answer that question for yourself a little more clearly.