Most Doctoral programmes require you to have two examiners. The internal examiner will be an academic from within your own university and probably from within your own department. Your supervisor cannot be your internal examiner. The external examiner will be from a different university and will be a senior academic with expertise in your research field.
It is your supervisor’s job to choose the two examiners and invite them to be examiners for your thesis. The examiners have to meet the university’s requirements as examiners in terms of experience and expertise, and will have to be approved by a committee of the university. However, many supervisors will discuss with their students who might be suitable as an examiner – and you may have the opportunity to indicate if there is anybody you feel would be particularly suitable, or even particularly unsuitable. The final choice, though, is your supervisor’s.
What do the examiners do?
First, they read your thesis. This may take them several weeks. From reading the thesis they will decide whether they feel at this stage the work meets the standard for a Doctorate, but they will also identify a range of questions they might want to ask you at the viva. These questions might be to test your knowledge, or they might be to clarify anything that is not clear in the thesis. They might want to find out more clearly your thoughts behind particular ideas or conclusions, or test whether your evidence matches the conclusions you have drawn. They will then write a report which describes their views of the written thesis.
The second stage is the viva. The two examiners will meet, usually on the day of the viva, and compare their initial reports. They will then reach a conclusion about how good they feel the thesis is, and the questions they want to ask you in the viva. This will include deciding who is going to ask which questions and in what order, and will lead to the viva itself (see below). After the viva they will make the final decision on their judgement, taking into account both the thesis and your discussions in the viva. They will then tell you the outcome and, if necessary, provide details on any further work that needs to be done.
Masters degrees
Studying for a taught degree looks at how you should prepare for assignments and examinations in a Masters programme. Most Masters programmes require students to pass the ‘taught’ part of the course before they can move on to the project or dissertation stage.
When the examinations and assessment for the taught course have been completed, usually in May or June of a one-year programme, an Examination Board will meet to consider the performance of each student. Those who have passed each of the taught units will be allowed to ‘proceed to the dissertation stage’ – in other words, they will be allowed to complete and submit their project or dissertation. In reality most will already have started work on their project at this time. Those who have not passed all their taught units will often be given a chance to retake the examination or resubmit an assignment for those units they have failed. The examinations will be in August or early September, and the deadline for any re-submitted assignments will be about the same time.
The dissertation will have to be submitted by a specified date, often at or close to the end of September. The work will then be marked by the supervisor and either ‘second marked’ or ‘double marked’ by another tutor. Second marking means that the second tutor knows what mark has been awarded by the first marker but reads the work to judge whether they agree with the mark given. Double marking means that the work is marked by a second marker without knowing the first mark awarded. The system used varies between universities and sometimes between programmes within the same university.
When the work has been marked a second time, if there is a disagreement between the two markers they will meet to discuss the mark and agree on a final mark to be awarded. If they cannot agree then a third marker may be asked to look at the work.
The final quality check is that a sample of the marked work is looked at by an external examiner. The ‘external’ is a senior academic working in the field but who works for a different university, and their role is to confirm whether the standards of the work are being judged correctly and consistently.
The final mark for the project or dissertation is then considered by an Examination Board, usually in October or November. The Board will agree the marks and decide who has passed and who has not, and whether any candidates should be awarded a distinction or merit, if the university has such categories.
Those who have not passed may be given an opportunity to resubmit their dissertation later in the year. In many universities students may pass ‘subject to minor corrections’. This means that the work is good enough to pass on its academic content but that there are minor changes needed, often corrections to spelling, grammar or layout. In this case you will be given a short period of time, perhaps two to four weeks, to make the minor changes, before resubmitting your work. Those who have passed the ‘taught’ part of the programme but who either do not submit or who fail the dissertation/project will usually be awarded a Postgraduate Diploma instead of a Masters degree.
Doctoral degrees
To be awarded a Doctorate you will be judged by the quality of the thesis that you submit for examination. The thesis will be read by two examiners, and you will then attend a viva with the examiners. Following the viva the examiners will decide whether your work has reached the standard for you to be awarded your Doctorate.
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The examiners