Hello all,

This is my first post here but I am an occasional lurker and I think that the forum is a fantastic resource... I have a question which some ppl will hate me for asking!

I am currently a PhD student at a UK university and have just entered the second year of my funding. I am entertaining the possibility of taking on some light distance learning (a pgcert in philosophy at Birbeck to begin with) but there are a few things to consider.

Firstly, my university has a regulation preventing current research students registering for another qualification without prior approval. What is the likelihood that they would find out and what would likely be the consequences.

Secondly, I realise that many if not most of you here would advise against taking on too much alongside the PhD but I feel very strongly that I should pursue a BA part time to facilitate a sideways move into another discipline post doctorate. What I did my first degree in is anathema to me and dread spending a career lecturing in it (that is if I ever get that far!)...

Am I nuts?