Resubmit your research degree after a referral

If the examiners recommend referral for resubmission, you will be required to revise the thesis, which may entail further research or any other activity required by the examiners and then resubmit this to the University for re-examination. You may be required to attend a second viva. 

Notes for guidance 

Alongside the report on the examination, the examiners are required to prepare ‘notes for guidance’ which outline the changes which are required. This document will set out the sections or aspects of the thesis which need improvement and information about what work is required so you can revise the thesis for resubmission to meet the standard required for the award.  

You will not receive your notes for guidance directly from your examiners after your viva. The notes for guidance must be submitted with the examiners’ report to Doctoral College Operations (DCO) for scrutiny by the Graduate Board’s Progression and Examinations Group. The examiners’ report and notes for guidance will be issued to you by DCO after approval by the Group with information describing how to resubmit for re-examination. DCO aim to send your approved report and notes for guidance within six weeks of receipt of the report and notes for guidance. This will be uploaded to GRAD and a notification sent to your University email address.  If, for any reason, it is not possible to meet this timescale, you will be kept informed.

Supervision and support during the referral period

Supervisors are asked to provide up to six supervision meetings a year during the referral period. The nature and timing of supervisions will vary depending on the stage of the resubmission, and the extent and nature of the work required for resubmission. It is your responsibility to organise the meetings. We recommend that meetings are held at regular intervals until resubmission and include at least: 

• An early meeting (or equivalent), normally within one month of receipt of the examiners’ report and notes for guidance; and 
• A meeting (or equivalent) around the mid-point of the referral period (eg around nine to 12 month point for doctoral PGRs) if the thesis has not been resubmitted. 

Supervision meetings should be recorded in GRAD and may take place in a variety of forms (for example in face-to-face meetings when the PGR is in the UK or by other means such as video conferencing where appropriate). During the referral period, supervision may take the form of reading and commenting on draft chapters of the thesis prior to resubmission.  Please make sure you give your work to your supervisor for comment within a reasonable timescale.

PGRs are strongly recommended not to resubmit against their supervisor’s advice. However, you are solely responsible for the decision to resubmit their work for resubmission.

If there are any concerns with your academic progress towards resubmission, then your school or supervisor may instigate the PGR Progress Support Procedure. 

The support services across the University will remain available to you during the referral period. This includes support you may be receiving from Disability Support Services, and other support that is available to you from the University Student Counselling and Wellbeing Service. You also have access to wellbeing and self-help resources.

If you are considering an appeal, we would strongly encourage you to seek independent advice and support from the LUU Student Advice Centre or email the team at advice@luu.leeds.ac.uk. 

PGRs holding a student visa

If you hold a current Student Visa and wish to remain in the UK during the referral period, DCO will ask your school if there is an academic need for you to study at the University. The University can only continue to sponsor you during the referral period if there is a genuine academic need for you to remain in the UK during the referral period to use University facilities. You should be studying full-time in the UK, and supervision meetings are expected to take place on campus/in person. The normal attendance monitoring arrangements apply (a minimum of ten supervision meetings a year, with gaps of no more than eight weeks), with meetings recorded and progress monitored as set out in the Attendance and engagement monitoring policy. 

If you do not need to use University facilities in person or could re-draft your thesis from outside the UK, then the University cannot continue to sponsor during the referral period.

If you have an active CAS and don’t need to remain in the UK, your sponsorship will be withdrawn. You will be notified of this once your referral has been confirmed, and you should email the Student visa advice team at studentvisaadvice@leeds.ac.uk.

Role of the examiners during the referral period

Normally, the same team of examiners will act for the resubmission, except in exceptional circumstances. The roles of examiner and supervisor must be transparently separated during the period between the first examination and the resubmission and the examiners must maintain independence from the work before it is resubmitted. For this reason, the examiners must not take a supervisory role during the referral period. You must not send your thesis to the examiners for comment before resubmission. However, they may be required to provide clarification of the Notes for Guidance. You should consult with your supervisor in the first instance where clarification of the Notes for Guidance is required. The supervisor may then, if appropriate, contact the internal examiner. 

Registration during the referral period

During the referral period, you will remain registered with the University with an under examination (UE) status. No academic fees will be charged for this period of registration (although a resubmission fee is charged when the thesis is resubmitted).  You do not need to complete online registration during this time. You will be classed as registered whilst referred, awaiting re-examination, and will be provided with a student ID card so that you can access library and computing facilities during the referral period. Further information is available on our website.  For information on Council Tax during this period, please see our Council Tax exemption page. Further advice is also available from the Student Advice Centre of Leeds University Union (LUU).

Proof-reading support

The PGR Proof-Reading Policy and Guidance explains in detail what work you can have proof-read and what support is permitted from a third-party proofreader. 

Examination entry

A minimum of three months before the thesis is resubmitted for examination, you must enter for re-examination by completing the examination entry process. Normally the same team of examiners will act for the resubmission, except in exceptional circumstances.  

• You will have a ‘task’ in GRAD to complete the examination entry workflow again for your resubmission 
• The workflow will be automatically populated with the information from your first submission eg your thesis title, ethical review and publication information. You can check this and amend (if necessary) for your resubmission 
• When you submit the workflow, it will move to your supervisor so they can confirm the examiners for your resubmitted thesis. 
• You can track the process of the workflow via the status box in GRAD 

Resubmission timeline

The referral period begins from the date the report and notes for guidance are issued following approval by the Progression and Examinations Group, and the deadline will be included in the GRAD notification from DCO. This is the maximum time limit for resubmission and you may resubmit at any point in the referral period, once the amendments have been made and your thesis is ready for resubmission. Failure to resubmit your thesis for examination by this deadline may lead to you being required to withdraw from your studies.

If circumstances arise which may prevent you from resubmitting your thesis by your resubmission deadline you must talk to your Graduate School as soon as possible. See Taking time out from your research  for advice on suspensions and extensions as well as the Policy on suspensions and extensions to the correction/referral period on Postgraduate research policies and procedures. 

Format for submission

Your thesis should be resubmitted via GRAD as a PDF. Your resubmission must not be sent directly to your examiners. The format requirements for a resubmitted thesis are the same as for a first submission, as sent out in the Guide to the thesis examination process.

The title page of your thesis should be updated to include the month and year of resubmission for examination.

Response to the notes for guidance: You must submit, alongside your resubmitted thesis, a summary of how your revised thesis has responded to changes listed by your examiners in the Notes for Guidance. This will assist the examiners when considering your resubmitted thesis. There is no set format for this document and you may present this in a format which best reflects the changes you have made. Sufficient detail, with examples, should be included to clearly show how and where you have responded to the examiners’ concerns. If the examiners require a specific format for the response they may do so in the notes for guidance; in which case you should follow the guidance given. 

Resubmission fee 

Once your resubmitted thesis is sent for examination the appropriate re-examination fee will be charged. Student Finance (Fees) will contact you about this. The fee is subject to an increase each academic year and you should contact Student Finance (Fees) at the appropriate time for details of the fee levels beyond the current year.

How the examination works

The resubmitted thesis is subject to the same process as the first examination, with both the internal and external examiners required to examine the resubmitted thesis. The examiners may hold a second viva if they deem it appropriate. Your examiners will confirm if a second viva is needed after they have considered your resubmitted thesis.

Examiners cannot recommend that the resubmission be failed or awarded a lower degree (ie award an MPhil on a PhD resubmission) without holding a second viva.   

If a second oral examination is required, the procedure follows the first examination, with the internal examiner responsible for making the arrangements. Please refer to the Guide to the thesis examination process for more detailed advice. An independent chair will be appointed in cases where a second viva is required. 

If a second oral examination is not required, the internal examiner is asked to take steps to inform you (and your Supervisor(s)) of the recommendation the examiners are sending forward. The internal examiner will also let you know of any corrections that require amendment.

Outcomes following examination of resubmission

Please refer to the Understanding viva outcomes page for more detailed advice on each outcome and the steps required. A second referral is not possible. 

Appealing

See Understand viva outcomes for more information about appealing the outcome of your viva.