After your viva

After your viva, you may be required to make corrections to your thesis and have these approved by your internal examiner before submitting the final version. 

Please see the Guide to the thesis submission process on the Research student guidance page of the For Students website for more information on the processes explained on this webpage.    

Referral and resubmission 

Please see the Referral and resubmission for research degrees page of the For Students website. 

Correcting your thesis 

If your examiners recommended that your research degree be awarded subject to editorial and presentational corrections, or minor deficiencies, the award cannot be confirmed until the internal examiner is satisfied that the required corrections have been carried out to a satisfactory standard. 

After successful examination you should begin to prepare the final version of your thesis by undertaking any corrections and returning these to your internal examiner within the following time period: 

  • for editorial & presentational corrections: four weeks from the date of the viva  
  • for minor deficiencies: 12 weeks from the date of the viva  

Individual pages of the thesis must be fully corrected, and it is not possible to simply provide an errata page. You are advised to consult with your supervisory team throughout this process. The internal examiner does not take a supervisory role during the correction period.  They may, however, provide clarification of the corrections required. If you are unclear about any of the minor deficiencies requiring correction you must seek clarification promptly, and at an early point in the correction period. You should consult with your supervisor in the first instance and, if appropriate, your supervisor may contact the internal examiner for further clarification. 

If you experience any problems completing and returning the corrections to your internal examiner by the relevant deadline, please talk to your Graduate School who can provide advice and support. If appropriate, you can apply for an extension to the corrections period via the Change Requests in GRAD. 

Approval of corrections 

You should submit your corrections to your internal examiner for checking, along with information outlining what corrections you have made. This could be in the form of tracked changes or as a separate list. Please check with your internal examiner what format they would prefer. 

Once the internal examiner has approved the corrections (possibly after consultation with the external examiner) they will confirm this, and your final thesis can be submitted to White Rose Etheses Online.

Submission of your final ethesis 

 Your thesis should be submitted to White Rose Etheses Online as soon as you have heard from your internal examiner; you should not wait to hear from Doctoral College Operations. Please see the Submitting your final ethesis page of the For Students website. 

Appealing your award 

Please see the The outcome of the viva page of the For Students website. 

Publication of Pass List 

Please see the Award of your research degree and graduation page of the For Students website. 

Losing IT access 

Your IT account (including access to email, eduroam, library systems, Minerva, m:drive, Office365 and more) will stop working 90 days after the date your name appears on the pass list. You will receive an email with the exact date this will happen. You should prepare for this by letting people know about your change of email address and discussing with your supervisor arrangements for deposit of any research data (which should be covered by your Data Management Plan).
More information about the pass list can be found on the Examination process overview page of the For Students website. 

Checklist for finishing 

The checklist below is intended to help you when you finish your research degree. Although not all points in the checklist may apply to you, please work through this list with your supervisor to ensure that you have checked all the important points for you and your degree. 

Facilities and administration 

  • Clearing workspace/storage/returning equipment  
  • Return keys/fobs  
  • Expenses/costs  
  • Clearing lab space  
  • Returning materials/chemicals/COSHH and lab records signed off/deposited  
  • Check student card expiry date   
  • Apply for alumni library card 

Supervisor and research arrangements 

  • Final meeting with supervisory team
  • Final presentation with research group / cohort

Professional Development  

  • Careers Centre consultation (available to alumni too) / mock interview
  • Discussion with supervisors about career opportunities
  • Identify referees
  • Professional training
  • Post-study work visa application

IT Services  

  • Archive email / redirect
  • Email address expiration/extension
  • Backing up records (meetings/references) from computer or network drives
  • GRAD archive
  • Inform IT that desktop PC can be wiped/reinstalled
  • Data/experiments log archived

Personal & Social  

  • Leaving university accommodation/moving out
  • Saying goodbye to colleagues (admin and academic) & fellow PGRs
  • Celebration
  • Exit interview & feedback/reflection (with DPGRS/supervisory team)
  • Arrange to change title with bank, etc.
  • Make sure your contact details are up to date with the Alumni service; this may be especially important for receiving information about graduation. You can update your contact preferences on the ‘my details’ section of the University of Leeds Alumni website

Graduation (July and December)   

  • Check the Graduation pages of the For Students website for details
  • Graduation dates usually published March/September
  • Register for graduation (usually opens in May/October) or in absentia – please get in touch with the Student Information Service if you don’t receive communication about registering for graduation when you expect to. 
  • Buy tickets for graduation for friends and family
  • Hire/buy gown for ceremony
  • Arrange photographs
  • Check school arrangements for graduation celebrations