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  1. Registry Services
  2. Research Degrees
  3. Research student information
  4. Thesis Submission and Examination
  5. Re-entering examination

Re-entering examination

This page contains information on how to re-enter for the examination for a research degree programme, following a referral outcome from the first viva.

How to submit your revised thesis for re-entering examination

This applies for PhD, MPhil, MD(Res) and EngD programmes.

This does NOT apply for ResM, DClin, DClinDent, DrPS and DPsych programmes.

 


If you are re-entering for the examination, following a referral, please submit the Examination-re-entry-form-RD04 [DOC 36KB] at least two weeks before the planned resubmission of the thesis.

The re-entry fee is £450. Payment is due at the point of re-entry for the second examination.

Please pay via QMUL E-Pay https://www.qmul.ac.uk/epay/

 


The Research Degrees Office (RDO) will write to the original examiners to inform them that you have re-entered for the examination and confirm that they are able to act.

You can, then, submit the electronic copy of your revised thesis to the RDO, on researchdegrees@qmul.ac.uk. You must also provide the completed .

Please note that bound copies of the thesis are NOT required.

Please copy all emails to your supervisor and school/institute research degrees manager.

 


The thesis must be submitted as a single combined document, preferably PDF. Appendices must not be submitted as separate documents. If you have any questions or need to submit additional material with your thesis, e.g. digital material, please contact researchdegrees@qmul.ac.uk.

You must not contact the examiners or the examination will be invalidated. The Research Degrees Office will send your thesis to the examiners.

If you do not wish your thesis to be available in the library and online, you will be able to do so at then of the examination, after the examiners approve your final thesis. The library online service will have this question for you to answer.

Whether to hold a second oral examination is within the examiners’ discretion. Your supervisor is responsible for arranging the viva and keeping you and the RDO informed of the arrangements. If you have any queries about the viva, please speak to your supervisor in the first instance. 

Presentation of the thesis

Please email a pdf of the re-submitted thesis to researchdegrees@qmul.ac.uk

Please see the presentation notes for further information: PGR-Thesis-Presentation-Notes [DOC 44KB]

Acknowledging support:
Students who have received financial support from external funding bodies such as Research Councils should acknowledge the support they have received according to the format stipulated by their funding body. The Research Councils require the following to be included in published research outputs:
This work was supported by the [name of funding body] [grant number xxxx]. 
Multiple grant numbers should be separated by comma and space. Where the research was supported by more than one agency, the different agencies should be separated by a semi-colon, with "and" before the final funder. For example: 
This work was supported by the [name of funding body] [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the [name of funding body] [grant number zzzz]; and the [name of funding body] [grant number aaaa].

Re-examination outcomes

After the viva, your examiners will inform the Research Degrees Office (RDO) of the outcome. They are required to do this within two weeks of the viva. They may inform you of the outcome of the examination at the end of the viva, but are not required to do so.
Possible outcomes for a PhD or EngD re-examination:

  1. Pass.
  2. Pass, subject to minor amendments, to be completed and checked by one or both examiners within six months.
  3. Pass, subject to major amendments, to be completed and checked by both examiners within nine months.
  4. Pass (downgrade) MPhil.
  5. Pass (downgrade) MPhil, subject to minor amendments, to be completed and checked by one or both examiners within three months.
  6. Fail outright: no re-entry permitted.

Possible outcomes for a MD(Res) re-examination:

  1. Pass.
  2. Pass, subject to minor amendments, to be completed and checked by one or both examiners within six months.
  3. Pass, subject to major amendments, to be completed and checked by both examiners within nine months.
  4. Fail outright: no re-entry permitted.

The RDO will write to you to formally notify you of the outcome of the examination and advise you of the post-viva procedure. The RDO will send you a copy of the examination outcome form, a copy of the examiners’ report on the examination, and a list of amendments required by the examiners, unless you have passed outright or have already been provided with a list of amendments. You are responsible for submitting the revised thesis to the examiner(s) responsible for checking your amendments by the date stipulated on the examination outcome form. 

Please ensure that you keep your personal details up-to-date in MySIS to ensure that you receive this correspondence.

Viva voce

Your supervisor is responsible for arranging the viva and keeping you and the Research Degrees Office informed of these arrangements. If you have any queries about the viva, please speak to your supervisor in the first instance.

Research degree oral examinations may be held remotely with all participants attending online or face-to-face on a Queen Mary campus, in line with health and safety and travel guidance in place on the day of the viva. All participants must agree the format of the viva. One examiner can attend remotely if the student and other examiner can attend in person together. The student’s supervisor is responsible for organising the viva and will contact the examiners to liaise with them about these arrangements. This is subject to change according to Government guidelines.

PGR Exam Guidance Notes [PDF 102KB]

You must NOT contact the examiners yourself. You or your supervisor must not send the thesis to the examiners.  Your examination may be declared invalid if you do. 
Please ensure that you or your supervisor(s) make it clear if your thesis needs to be printed and a hardcopy is to be dispatched to the examiner.  

 

Notes on the examination process:

  1. The Academic Regulations specify that the examination is held in private and it is not a public examination.
  2. All matters related to the examination is confidential. Examiners are not permitted to divulge the content of previously unpublished material, contained in the student’s thesis, until such time as the thesis is made available, or any restrictions on access to the thesis are removed.
  3. The viva may not be recorded.

 

Notes on reasonable adjustments for the examination:

  1. The educational needs provision of the Equality Act 2010 requires institutions to make reasonable adjustments for candidates with physical and special learning differences in their assessment.
  2. If students need to discuss any specific learning differences, please contact the QMUL Disability and Dyslexia Service.
  3. Candidates are asked to inform the Research Degrees Office (RDO), on researchdegrees@qmul.ac.uk, at the time of examination entry (or as soon as possible afterwards) if they require any special arrangements to be made.
  4. Examiners will be advised of any such arrangements with their appointment letters, or as soon as the RDO gets notified by the student, or by a healthcare professional, on the student’s behalf.
  5. Supervisors and students should not inform examiners of any special arrangements directly. It should be communicated formally by the RDO.
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