Examination outcomes and reports
An overview of the potential recommendations concerning the award or non-award of a doctoral degree.
After the oral examination, the examiners must complete a report that is sent to Research, Partnerships and Innovation for faculty approval. This is a joint report, to which the preliminary reports completed by each examiner prior to the examination must also be appended. If the examiners are unable to agree on a recommendation, a third examiner, external to the University, is normally appointed. Research, Partnerships and Innovation must be informed immediately so that arrangements for this can be made.
Examiners must clearly indicate on the report form their recommendation concerning the award or non-award of the degree. The recommendations open to the examiners following first submission and oral examination are set out on the joint report form, as follows:
- that the degree be awarded without the need for any corrections to the thesis
- that the degree be awarded once specified minor corrections have been completed to the satisfaction of the examiners
- that the degree be awarded once specified major corrections have been completed to the satisfaction of the examiners
- that the degree be not now awarded, but that the candidate be allowed to undergo a further oral examination without modification of the form or content of the thesis
- that the degree be not now awarded, but that the candidate be allowed to submit a revised thesis after such modification of form or content as the examiners may prescribe, with/without oral re-examination
- that the degree be not awarded
In addition, examiners for the degree of PhD may also make either of the following recommendations:
- that the degree of PhD be not awarded, but that the degree of Master of Philosophy (MPhil) be awarded (subject only to the necessary changes to the cover page of the thesis or very minor changes to content, as specified by the examiner)
- that the degree of PhD be not awarded, but that the candidate be allowed to submit a revised thesis for the degree of MPhil after such modification of form or content as the examiners may prescribe, with/without oral re-examination
Recommendations for resubmissions and for other degrees may vary and are specified in the Guidance Notes for Examiners and on the appropriate examiners’ joint report form. Recommendations other than those specified for a particular degree are not permitted.
Students may be entitled to appeal against the outcome of their viva examination, but only if they have appropriate grounds for appeal. Appeals on the grounds of academic judgement are not permitted. For further details see Academic Appeals.
Once completed and signed, the joint report form should be returned to Research, Partnerships and Innovation within two weeks of the date of the oral examination. Where minor or major corrections are required, the separate minor/major corrections sheet should be detached and retained until the corrections have been completed to the examiners' satisfaction. One of the examiners will be required to approve the corrections once they have been completed. This is normally undertaken by the internal examiner. The examiner should then sign and date the separate minor or major corrections sheet and return it immediately to Research, Partnerships and Innovation.
Pass with minor corrections
This option may be chosen where the examiners are satisfied that the thesis meets the requirements for the award of the degree, but where there are minor weaknesses or editorial errors that must be rectified before they can recommend the award of the degree. The thesis is generally acceptable and the candidate should not be expected to undertake any further research or substantive analysis. The nature and extent of the required corrections must be genuinely minor in nature, e.g. omissions and improvements to the argument that do not alter the results/conclusions of the thesis.
The candidate should be able to reasonably complete the corrections within a period of three calendar months from the date they receive notification of the corrections from the examiners.
The candidate cannot fail the degree if this outcome is selected, but they will be withdrawn if they fail to complete the corrections to the examiners’ satisfaction within the time limit.
Where minor corrections are required, it is the examiners' responsibility to provide the student with details of the required changes as soon as possible following the viva.
The examiners should also advise the student of the three-month timescale for completion of the corrections. Students who are undertaking minor corrections to their thesis will have their time limit extended by three months and can request that their UCard is extended by SSiD in line with the new time limit on their student record.
Exceptionally, the time-limit for completion of minor corrections may be extended by the faculty for a further period; however, lengthy, or repeated extensions are unlikely to be approved, as three months should be adequate time to complete minor corrections. Students who need to request an extension should complete the Time Limit Extension form available from Research, Partnerships and Innovation and, if the extension is granted, will be required to pay the standard extension fee for the duration of the extension period.
Examiners must confirm that they are satisfied with the corrections undertaken by the student before the degree can be awarded. If not, they may ask the student to undertake further work to bring the thesis up to the required standard, which may require an extension to the time limit. If a student is still unable to complete the required corrections to the examiners' satisfaction, and their time limit has passed, then they may be withdrawn.
When the student has completed the required minor corrections, they should send a copy of the revised thesis directly to the examiner who is going to check the corrections (normally this is the internal examiner). It is acceptable for the candidate to email a copy of the thesis directly to the examiner for checking. This is the only circumstance where it is acceptable for candidates to send a copy of the thesis directly to the examiners.
Once the thesis corrections have been approved by the examiner, students must provide a final electronic Library copy of their thesis - see the section on final library copies.
Pass with major corrections
This option may be chosen where the examiners are satisfied that the thesis will merit the award of the degree for which it has been submitted but does not yet satisfy the requirements for the award and contains deficiencies that are more significant than editorial or presentational corrections and that will take more than three months to address, but are not enough to require resubmission of the thesis.
The candidate should not be required to undertake any further original/substantive research, but may undertake further analysis of existing data.
The candidate should be able to reasonably complete the corrections within a period of six months from the date they receive notification of the corrections from the examiners.
The candidate cannot fail the degree if this outcome is selected, but they will be withdrawn if they fail to complete the corrections to the examiners' satisfaction within the time limit.
Where major corrections are required, it is the examiners; responsibility to provide the candidate with the details of the required corrections as soon as possible following the viva.
The examiners should also advise the student of the six-month timescale for completion of the corrections. Students who are undertaking minor corrections to their thesis will have their time limit extended by six months and can request that their UCard is extended by SSiD in line with the new time limit on their student record.
Exceptionally, the time limit for completion of major corrections may be extended by the faculty for a further period; however, lengthy or repeated extensions are unlikely to be approved, as six months should be adequate time to complete major corrections. Students who need to request an extension should complete the Time Limit Extension form available from Research, Partnerships and Innovation and, if the extension is granted, will be required to pay the standard extension fee for the duration of the extension period.
Examiners must confirm that they are satisfied with the corrections undertaken by the student before the degree can be awarded. If not, they may ask the student to undertake further work to bring the thesis up to the required standard, which may require an extension to the time limit. If a student is still unable to complete the required corrections to the examiners' satisfaction, and their time limit has passed, then they may be withdrawn.
When the student has completed the required major corrections, they should send a copy of the revised thesis directly to the examiner who is going to check the corrections (normally this is the internal examiner). It is acceptable for the candidate to email a copy of the thesis directly to the examiner for checking. This is the only circumstance where it is acceptable for candidates to send a copy of the thesis directly to the examiners.
Once the thesis corrections have been approved by the examiner, students must provide a final electronic Library copy of their thesis - see the section on final library copy.
Resubmission of a thesis
This option may be chosen where the examiners do not feel able to recommend the award of the degree for which the thesis has been submitted at this time. The thesis requires substantial revisions to its content and/or presentation and may also require further research (primary research or analysis) to be undertaken in order to meet the criteria for the degree. For example, sections may need to be rewritten, new material such as further research, data or calculations may need to be introduced, or corrections to arguments may need to be made. These revisions may affect the results/conclusions of the thesis.
The candidate is granted a year to resubmit their thesis and the potential outcomes from a resubmission are - pass, pass with corrections (minor or major), award of a lower qualification, or fail. The candidate can be withdrawn if they fail to complete the corrections to the examiners’ satisfaction within the one-year time limit.
Resubmission entails a full re-examination of the revised thesis by both examiners, and may also require the candidate to attend another viva if the examiners require it. As such, the candidate is charged a resubmission fee.
A further viva is essential if the candidate’s performance in their first viva was poor, or if there are wider concerns about whether the candidate’s knowledge and understanding of the subject are of the standard expected for the award of the degree. Examiners should also consider whether an oral re-examination would help the candidate to justify the additions or alterations that are to be made to the thesis. Where the examiners’ original recommendation specifies that a further oral examination is required, this should take place, regardless of the outcome of the examiners’ preliminary assessment of the resubmitted thesis.
Where the examiners' recommendation is for a full resubmission, the joint report should contain detailed advice to the student on the required corrections and improvements and must indicate whether the resubmission is with or without a further oral examination. The joint and preliminary reports should be completed and returned to Research, Partnerships and Innovation within two weeks of the date of the oral examination.
Research, Partnerships and Innovation will formally notify the student of the requirement to resubmit by letter and will also send the student a copy of the examiners’ report containing the details of the corrections.
Students required to resubmit their thesis will have their time limit amended to 12 months from the date of formal notification from Research, Partnerships and Innovation and can request that their UCard is extended by SSiD in line with the new time limit on their student record.
A resubmission fee is charged for all resubmissions. For 2024-25 this will be £365 for a resubmission without oral examination and £440 for resubmission with oral examination.
Exceptionally, the time limit for resubmission may be extended by the faculty for a further period; however, lengthy or repeated extensions are unlikely to be approved, as twelve months should be adequate time to resubmit. Students who need to request an extension should complete the Time Limit Extension form available from Research, Partnerships and Innovation and, if the extension is granted, will be required to pay the standard extension fee for the duration of the extension period.
At the end of the resubmission period, the revised thesis must be resubmitted directly to Research, Partnerships and Innovation, following the same procedures as apply to a first submission (see Submitting your thesis). The resubmitted thesis should also be uploaded to Turnitin at the same time. The resubmitted thesis must not be sent to either of the examiners prior to formal resubmission.
Research, Partnerships and Innovation can only accept a resubmitted thesis once the student has been formally notified in writing of the examiners' decision on the first submission.
For resubmissions, the cover page should be changed to show the date of the resubmission only, however it is not necessary for the thesis to state 'Resubmission'. It is recommended that a detailed list of the corrections that have been made following the first submission is included with the resubmitted thesis.
If a resubmission with a further oral re-examination is required, this should normally take place within 10 weeks of receipt of the thesis by the examiners.
If a resubmission without a further oral examination is required, the examiners should aim to complete the re-examination of the thesis within approximately 6-8 weeks of their receipt of the revised thesis.
The same reporting requirements apply to resubmissions as to first submissions, i.e. the examiners must each complete an independent written preliminary report and a joint report. There are fewer recommendations available to the examiners following a resubmission and, crucially, there is no option for a student to make a further resubmission at this stage. Consequently, the examiners must be confident that the thesis meets the criteria for the award of the degree, or will do so after a period of minor or major corrections, in order to recommend the award of the degree.
Following the viva, the examiners' report forms should be returned to Research, Partnerships and Innovation within two weeks of the date of oral examination (or the date of re-examination in the case of a resubmission without oral). If additional minor or major corrections are required, the examiners should retain the minor/major corrections sheet and return it to Research, Partnerships and Innovation once all corrections have been satisfactorily completed.
Following completion of the resubmission and re-examination, students must provide a final electronic Library copy of their thesis - see the section on final library copy.