[3] She undertook postgraduate study at the University of Exeter and graduated with a Master of Arts (MA) degree in 1980.
[4] Gillingham specialises in the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Psalms, and Jewish history from the Israelites to the Second Temple.
[7] In November 2014, she was awarded a Title of Distinction as Professor of the Hebrew Bible in the Faculty of Theology and Religion.
[3][8][9] She retired in 2019 and was granted the title of professor emeritus in the Faculty of Theology and Religion and became a senior research fellow at Worcester College.
The work submitted for the degree has to "constitute an original contribution to the advancement of theological knowledge of such substance and distinction as to give the candidate an authoritative status in this branch of learning".