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External examiner's report, workday student support.

Graduate students can find "how to" guides and support information on our Workday support page .

The external examiner's report is submitted directly to the Doctoral Exams team at Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. In cases where the external examiner recommends that a candidate proceed to Oral Defence, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies will normally distribute copies of the report to the graduate program advisor and all members of the examination committee one week prior to the Defence date. The entire content of the report is confidential and must not be discussed with the candidate prior to the Final Oral Defence. The external examiner's recommendations must be taken into account by the examination committee when providing an assessment of the dissertation during the Final Oral Defence.

Note: a written report and questions for the defence are required from the external examiner regardless of whether they are planning to participate in the Oral Defence.

The external examiner is asked to assess whether the dissertation meets the criteria for a successful dissertation, with reference to the expectations regarding the scope and structure of a doctoral dissertation at UBC and using the criteria outlined in the following documents:

  • For Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) examinations -  Instructions for Preparing the External Examiner's Report
  • For Doctor of Education (EdD) examinations - Guidelines for the Examination of the Ed.D. Dissertation
  • For Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Composition examinations - Instructions for the Preparation of the External Examiner's Report
  • For Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Performance examinations - Instructions for the Preparation of the External Examiner's Report

The external examiner is also asked to make an overall recommendation regarding whether or not the dissertation as written is ready for defence. If the external examiner's report recommends major revisions to the dissertation before the candidate proceeds to Defence, the Dean or Associate Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (usually after consulting with external examiner) will make the final decision about whether or not to proceed with the Final Oral Defence.

In order to allow time for the report to be distributed, the external examiner's report is due 10 days before the Defence. The Dean or Associate Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies reserve the right to postpone the Final Oral Defence if the external examiner's report is late.

External Examiner Recommends Major Revisions to the Dissertation

In cases where the external examiner recommends major revisions to the dissertation before proceeding to the Oral Defence, candidates are normally granted exactly one opportunity for major revision and re-examination. External review of the revised dissertation normally involves both the original external examiner and a new additional external examiner (who is not informed of the previous external exam).

The research supervisor and candidate will be notified by email as early as possible if the external examiner recommends major revisions to the dissertation and if the Dean or Associate Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies requires that the candidate address the report and make revisions to the dissertation before proceeding to the Final Oral Defence. A copy of the external examiner’s report will be provided at that time and should be used to guide the revisions. As part of the revision process, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies strongly recommends that the candidate compose a separate document, to be sent to the original external examiner only, outlining where and how the external examiner’s concerns have been addressed.

Once the revised dissertation has been approved by the supervisory committee, the candidate will be required to submit the dissertation and associated approval memos as outlined under Submitting for Examination . Candidates and research supervisors are asked to notify the Doctoral Exams office well in advance of the anticipated submission date so appropriate arrangements can be made with the external examiners.

If at least one of these two external examiners recommends that the examination should proceed, then the Final Oral Defence will take place.

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PhD thesis evaluation report sample | Download external examiner report sample

phd examiners report example

In this blog post, you will be able to download the PhD thesis evaluation report sample.

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PhD thesis evaluation report sample

ZZZZ UNIVERSITY, HIMACHAL PRADESH.

  Summary of Examiners Report

A summary in this format should accompany the examiner’s full report to the Research Committee. Criteria to be used as the basis of recommendations and advice on the format of your report are provided in separate guidelines. Written reports are required to be 1-2 pages in length. Reasons for recommendation 4 and 5 should stand scrutiny in an appeal process.

Name of Candidate:

Title of Thesis:

Recommendation:

Commendation:

If you believe it is merited, please tick one box only:

The candidate’s thesis will be considered as an example of outstanding work when either box is checked.

Place:                                                                            Signature of the Examiner

Format of PhD Thesis

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Examiners’ reports on theses: Feedback or assessment

Profile image of Elke Stracke

2011, Journal of English for Academic Purposes

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Doctoral thesis examination is the litmus test for doctoral quality. Of those candidates who reach examination, most are notified they have more work to do on their thesis. Receiving and responding to feedback are integral parts of a formal learning process that continues until the final thesis is submitted. However, little is known about what happens after examiner reports are received by an institution, how recommendations and feedback are filtered through institutional processes to influence thesis outcomes, or about the roles that candidates and supervisors play in determining and giving action to thesis revisions. This article reports the findings from a desktop review of institutional protocols and policies governing doctoral thesis examination in Australian universities. Given that the PhD Viva, or oral examination, is rare in Australian universities, the authors question whether current examination processes allow adequate opportunities for candidates to actively engage with...

Ansie Lessing

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This paper outlines the procedures used in the textual analysis of examiner reports for 101 PhD candidates across disciplines in one Australian University. The method involves the use of QSR software2. Three levels of findings are outlined. The first level is the coding categories that emerged out of reading the report text. There are five broad categories of codes that capture: the structure of the reports, the ways in which examiners communicate, the subject matter of the thesis, the characteristics of examiners' evaluative comment and their comments on their role and the examination process. The second level of findings concerns the frequency of different categories of comment and the prevalence of comment on the analysis and interpretation of the candidate's results. The third extends beyond the individual categories to what we can learn about the utilization of the report. One key finding is that the examiners took on specific roles: mentor-colleague, supervisor-instr...

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Evaluation of a Written Thesis

Examiners are asked to evaluate the thesis in myThesis, according to the criteria in the respective thesis examiner report for a Master's or Doctoral thesis. For an example of the criteria, please see the forms: see: Master's Examiner report form ; Doctoral Examiner report form (note these forms are now integrated in myThesis).

Examiners provide an overall judgment of 'passed' or ‘not passed’, in addition to a written report. For Master's students, this evaluation determines whether or not the thesis is ready for final submission, even if minor changes are recommended. For Doctoral candidates, this evaluation determines whether or not the candidate is ready to proceed to the oral defence.

If the thesis meets the general criteria for the degree sought, as well as those listed on the examiner's report form it should be evaluated as 'Passed', even if some changes are recommended.

If the overall judgement is 'Passed', examiners are asked to provide:

  • A report that includes any recommendations for minor revisions to the thesis (i.e., stylistic or editorial changes that can be completed in three weeks or less).
  • For doctoral theses, External Examiners who will not be at the oral defence must also provide a list of questions to be asked of the candidate at the oral defence.

An evaluation of 'Not Passed' should be given if:

  • the need for a new study, experimentation, or significant additional research or reformulation.
  • the need to address major problems with the presentation of the work. Stylistic or editorial changes are not normally considered to be major revisions, but if the quality of the presentation is so poor that extensive rewriting is required, the thesis should not be passed.
  • At least one of the Criteria for the Evaluation of the Thesis (see Master's Examiner report form ; Doctoral Examiner report form ) is judged as unsatisfactory.

Examiners are asked to identify required changes clearly in their reports. The supervisor or another designated person will ensure that the student corrects the thesis and that it appropriately reflects the examiners' suggestions for revisions prior to re-submission of the thesis.

The candidate will normally revise and re-submit the thesis for re-assessment, usually by the same examiner. If/when review of the revised thesis is required, the Thesis Unit will contact the initial examiner to determine their availability. In rare cases, a revised thesis may be sent to a new examiner if the first examiner is not available to re-examine the thesis. For more, please see Thesis examination failures.

If the revised thesis is again ‘not passed’, the student will be withdrawn from the University unless the decision is reversed through an appeal to the Hearing Committee (Bias, Error, or Misrepresentation ).

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 International License . Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, McGill University .

Department and University Information

Graduate and postdoctoral studies.

COMMENTS

  1. A Guide for Internal and External PhD Examiners

    Internal examiners are sometimes responsible for the organisation of the viva and arrangements for the external examiner's travel, accommodation and 'entertainment'. Reading and evaluating the thesis. Writing a pre-viva report on the thesis. Conducting the viva. Making a recommendation of award.

  2. PDF Instructions for Preparing the External Examiner's Report

    Instructions for Preparing the External Examiner's Report Thank you for the time and effort you will invest in reviewing this dissertation. At the University of British ... [email protected] . Revised: 2020-12-21 Page 3 of 3 We thank you for the time and wisdom you are contributing to this candidate's examination.

  3. PDF Examiner Report

    Examiner Report - Doctoral Thesis . Report Due Date: Name of Student: Degree/Unit: Thesis Title: As a thesis examiner, you will complete this form and attach a written report providing a detailed justification of your evaluation. The deadline to send this form and your written report to Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (email:

  4. PDF WRITING A FIRST YEAR REPORT

    Skim them to identify which of the elements in the Introduction model on page 9 are present in each one. Label the main parts B (Background to the Research), RES (the Research), and REP (the Report). Then see which of the more detailed labels (e.g. identifying a research 'gap' or aims) you can apply.

  5. Examiners' reports on theses: Feedback or assessment?

    abstract. Traditionally, examiners 'reports on theses at the doctoral and Masters level consist of two. components: firstly, summative assessment where a judgement is made about whether. the ...

  6. External Examiner's Report

    The external examiner's report is submitted directly to the Doctoral Exams team at Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. In cases where the external examiner recommends that a candidate proceed to Oral Defence, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies will normally distribute copies of the report to the graduate program advisor and all members of the examination committee one week prior to the Defence ...

  7. PhD thesis evaluation report sample

    PhD thesis evaluation report sample. ... Summary of Examiners Report. A summary in this format should accompany the examiner's full report to the Research Committee. Criteria to be used as the basis of recommendations and advice on the format of your report are provided in separate guidelines. Written reports are required to be 1-2 pages in ...

  8. PDF HDR examiners report form for PhD

    Higher Degrees by Research Examiner's Report Form for PhD. and section 4.4 of the HDR Examination Procedures. Examiners are asked to make specific comments and suggestions (minimum of one page), and an explicit recommendation should be made at Section C of this form. Please also complete Section D Merit of Thesis, of this form as it assists ...

  9. PDF EXTERNAL EXAMINER'S REPORT

    and word order - of which I have marked most of the examples of in the text of the dissertation (and can be easily corrected in a final edit). I will send my copy of the dissertation back to you as soon as the oral examination has been completed. Fourthly, I wish to question the choice of the author to treat the words "ethics" and "economics" as

  10. PHD Thesis Examiner Report Example

    Phd Thesis Examiner Report Example - Free download as PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free.

  11. PDF EXTERNAL EXAMINER'S REPORT

    significant, were small. Although average sleep efficiency was only reduced from 97% to 95% when the dysmenorrhoeic women were in pain, the effect size was large, indicating that this difference was consistent. even in this small sample. While 95% is still an excellent sleep efficiency, sleep was p.

  12. PHD Thesis Examiner Report Sample

    Phd Thesis Examiner Report Sample - Free download as PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. This document discusses the challenges of crafting a PhD thesis and provides solutions. It states that writing a PhD thesis is a daunting task that requires substantial time and effort. Students often struggle with structuring their research, presenting original ideas, and meeting ...

  13. PDF Notes for Examiners of PhD Theses

    Notes for Examiners of PhD Theses. Reference: Doctoral Regulations for PhD and other Doctorates with Theses 4.12.1 and Doctoral Procedures 10.0 . Thank you for agreeing to examine a Victoria University of Wellington PhD candidate's thesis. Here is some information on the doctoral examination process at Victoria University. For further information

  14. Investigating PhD thesis examination reports

    Terence Lovat. This paper outlines the procedures used in the textual analysis of examiner reports for 101 PhD candidates across disciplines in one Australian University. The method involves the use of QSR software2. Three levels of findings are outlined. The first level is the coding categories that emerged out of reading the report text.

  15. PDF Assessing a PhD thesis

    Dr Louise Johnson April 29, 2015. Background: Professor of Australian Studies but a Human Geographer well known for working in the areas of gender/women's studies, urban studies, suburban studies, Australian Studies, regional change and the cultural industries. I have published extensively in all of these areas.

  16. Examiners' reports on theses: Feedback or assessment

    Kumar, E. Stracke / Journal of English for Academic Purposes 10 (2011) 211-222 221 Appendix B. Excerpt from "The PHD examination process" from University NZ (New Zealand) Written Reports from Examiners Each of the examiners is requested to furnish a written report on the thesis together with an assessment of its five-point scale: a ...

  17. PDF Examiner Comment on Theses That Have Been Revised and ...

    This paper focuses on what examiners write in reports on theses that are returned to the candidate for major revision and resubmission. It compares examiner comment on six PhD theses, with particular emphasis on the nature of the initial examiner comment and then comment after resubmission. It also compares examiner comment on the six resubmissions

  18. PDF GUIDELINES FOR EXAMINERS THESIS ASSESSMENT REPORT

    Examiners are required to submit their recommendation and report (below) within 6-8 weeks to ensure the oral examination can take place in a reasonable timeframe and to allow the student 10 working days to review the reports and prepare for the oral exam. Please advise us if you have difficulties meeting this deadline.

  19. Evaluation of a Written Thesis

    Examiners are asked to evaluate the thesis in myThesis, according to the criteria in the respective thesis examiner report for a Master's or Doctoral thesis. For an example of the criteria, please see the forms: see: Master's Examiner report form; Doctoral Examiner report form (note these forms are now integrated in myThesis). Examiners provide an overall judgment of 'passed' or 'not passed ...

  20. PDF Ph.D. Thesis Evaluation Report

    the PhD thesis and determines often the success or failure of the whole PhD project. In the introductory part of this evaluation, I commended author´s choice of the topic. Unfortunately, I consider the definition of the goals and the scope of the thesis rather vague. I admit that the scope

  21. What examiners do: what thesis students should know

    A thesis examiner is an academic who reads the fin-ished thesis, and gives a report recommending a result. The aim of our review is to clarify what thesis examiners do as they examine a written thesis submitted for a research higher degree. In some countries, such as Australia, a thesis examination typically consists of two or three examiners ...

  22. What do examiners look for in a PhD thesis? Explicit and implicit

    Achieving a PhD degree is viewed by academic institutions as a major landmark of success and achievement. It gives recognition to researchers and provides entry into academia. A PhD degree is not awarded lightly and doctoral candidates undergo a rigorous examination process.

  23. Investigating PhD thesis examination reports

    The study of Australian PhD examination reported here draws on the written reports on 301 theses across all discipline areas. Text categories identified in the reports are linked to other data including the recommendation examiners give the thesis and the final report of the committee. The assessment discourse of examiners is explored in depth ...