i failed my bachelor thesis

Academic Writing: How I almost failed my bachelor’s thesis

von Anonymous | Freitag, November 23, 2018 | Learn , Writing effectively | 1 Kommentar

A book, it reads "How to pass exams", Overcoming Procrastination

A guest post by an anonymous student

I am a procrastinator. I do not know if it is because I work best under pressure or if I am simply used to working well under pressure, the ultimate result stays the same. This is an example of doing things the wrong way. The great thing about writing a thesis is that you have plenty of time and that there are set rules for everything . Three months is more than enough to write a bachelor’s thesis, especially when you consider that 25-30 pages is only a few pages longer than a regular term paper. If you write a little bit every day and talk to your examiner about your progress regularly, you are on the right track to getting a result you can be satisfied with.

I never talked to my examiner after signing up for my thesis, which was my first mistake. I had a title and a general idea but I was lacking both structure and a plan. While that was not a big problem initially – due to the fair amount of time allotted to writing the thesis – it quickly became one because time has the habit of flying, whether you work or not. This mistake could have easily been remedied. Had I made an appointment with my examiner at any time during this process, he certainly would have been able to help me, even if it was just by holding me accountable to a schedule. My piece of advice is: Make appointments with your examiner straight away so that you have soft deadlines by which a set amount of work has to be achieved. This would have saved my life.

When most of my allotted time had run out, I began to panic and I finally felt enough pressure to start doing something . I was lucky enough to have some experience with writing term papers. Before I could write anything, it was necessary to look at the literature at hand. Everyone works differently, and I like to collect quotes from sources which I believe to be relevant to my topic. So not only do I highlight relevant parts within the texts I read, I also create a document which simply serves as a collection of potentially useful quotes. Had I started this process at a reasonable time, I would not have had to deal with having to write my entire thesis in just a week. While I had laid the groundwork with the theory from secondary sources and a detailed analysis of my primary sources, none of this had been turned into a structured and cohesive paper.

At this point I ran into the problem that my initial ideas about the topic of the thesis were so vague, and the topic so big, that I did not know where to start. While that is a common problem that can be dealt with by discussing the question with your examiner, who will likely help you and advise you to look at one specific aspect that is worth analysing, I did not feel like I could approach my examiner and ask such a question with only days before the deadline.

In the end I pulled several all-nighters, culminating in a 27-hour writing session that lasted until the morning of the day of the deadline. I did not have time to proof-read most of what I had written. And even if I had somehow managed to do that, I do not believe I would have had the mental capacity to spot mistakes in that state. I had the thesis printed, handed it in and somehow, miraculously, I passed. Unsurprisingly, I did not receive the best grade and I am sure that I could have achieved a very good result, had I had an actual strategy to writing my thesis.

Long story short: Don’t be me.

Start early
Hold yourself accountable, set mini-deadlines during the process with your examiner – or even just a friend who will tell you off for procrastinating
Look at the relevant literature and figure out, with assistance if required, what specific aspect(s) you will look at in your paper
Write a little bit every day
When you finish your paper with time to spare, put it aside for a day or two, then reread, edit and finally have a friend proof-read it

I got lucky this time but I do not want to experience this again. Had I not written tons of papers before, there is no chance I would have been able to pass. That and a great portion of luck put me this position: Now I can tell you how not to approach writing a paper.

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Many thanks to the anonymous author who shared their learning experiences here! Watch this space for an upcoming post on time management, both for specific assignments and throughout your studies!

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Practical Research Guidance

"The publications and resources helped me get a first-class degree." – Joanna Dunlop, MBA.

Failed your thesis? What next?

Your results have just been released. Hopefully you have been successful in your studies and are enjoying celebrating your achievement. Unfortunately, maybe the news you receive is not so positive. You get the unwelcome message that you have ‘failed’ your thesis or dissertation. Despite your undoubted disappointment, this should not stop you from continuing to study, completing your programme and obtaining your qualification. Simply pause and ask yourself: ‘what can I do next?’

First, and foremost, it is worth noting that failing a thesis or dissertation is not uncommon. After all, for most of your degree, many of of your assessments were short, directed tasks, which accounted for relatively small credits towards your overall qualification. When it comes to your thesis, or dissertation, however, you are often left to work alone, for a long period of time. During this time, you are using a process that is relatively new to you, and which comprises a large proportion of the credits you need to complete your programme.

Take note of the proverb put forward by Thomas H. Palmer in his Teacher’s Manual . ‘Tis a lesson you should heed: Try, try, try again. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again’. Unless your college’s rules say otherwise, it is usual for students to have an opportunity to submit a revised thesis or dissertation, and/or do another viva voce (oral examination). You should most certainly ‘try again’!

Review your result

When ‘trying again’, you need to verify exactly what your result means. One student we worked with contacted us in a panic. They said they had ‘failed’ their dissertation. When we looked at their transcript, it simply said the mark was ‘withheld’ (some institutions use other wording, such as ‘pending’). This did not mean that they had failed, but, rather, there was a delay in publishing their result. This can happen if, for instance, the Examination Board did not have all the information they needed, such as requiring further evidence in support of the thesis. In such cases, you will be requested to furnish additional information within a specified (usually short) timeframe before you can obtain your overall result. Occasionally, if an Examination Board is not able to agree a mark/score on the available evidence, students can be offered a viva voce examination (an oral defence of their work).

Another common result given is ‘failed, entitled to resubmit’. This indicates that you have not passed your thesis, but can resubmit all, or part of your assessment work, for further consideration by the examiners. The results for such resubmissions are typically ‘capped’. This means that if you are successful in your resubmission, you will only be awarded the lowest available pass grade. Nonetheless, it is well worthwhile resubmitting, so you can complete your programme of studies and rightfully earn your degree.

Try again. Do better

Another proverb, this time from Samuel Beckett . ‘Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better’.

Assuming your overall result is a ‘fail, entitled to resubmit’ you should view this as your opportunity to ‘do better’. To help, we recommend you seek feedback on your performance. It is important to do this immediately, as information on why students fail is not normally retained by institutions for too long after the official results are published.

In some cases, the Examinations Board provides feedback in the form of a written performance profile, or report, which identifies areas where marks have been gained or lost. Performance profiles vary in the amount of detail they offer, as the content is decided by the Examination Board, who, in turn, are advised by the institute’s general assessment regulations. You will, however, receive a score/mark on each component, or part, of the thesis. You may find minor differences between your overall, examinable, score and the component-level scores on your performance profile. This can occur when the Examination Board checks and revises borderline scores and amends the overall score, accordingly. In this situation, you can be confident that your awarded score/mark is correct.

Even if you do not receive written feedback, you may be able to approach your supervisor and/or examiner(s) to request some. Most are usually willing to offer verbal observations, but will rarely give written comments, as this might cut across decisions made by the Board. Again, you should try to do this quickly, as those who are most likely to be able assist you (such as your supervisor, internal examiner, or external examiner) may be moving on to the next cohort of students. It is important to seek not just feedback, but feed-forward. In other words, to discuss with your supervisor and/or examiner how you can improve your research study, document structure and/or presentation format, when you resubmit.

Other supports

In addition, you should establish what other supports may be available to help you resubmit your work. In some colleges, your supervisor remains in place until your second submission is complete. Whereas, in other institutions, you are automatically appointed an alternative supervisor to assist with resubmission. Even if no supervision is provided, you may have access to a counsellor or mentor to help you. Regardless of what is (or is not) available, it is always worthwhile checking. The more guidance you can obtain, at this stage, the better. If no support is forthcoming from your college, seek help from other students who have passed their thesis. Find out, who, in your class, was awarded a first/distinction. Would they share a copy of their thesis with you? Could you ask for their advice on how to improve yours?

Check the rules for resubmission

Make sure you know the rules for resubmission. You need to find out when, where, and in what format, you can resubmit. Questions you may need to pose are:

When should resubmission happen? This could vary from a couple of days, to up to six months after the original submission date. If you are not ready to rework your thesis or dissertation straight away, you may be able to postpone to the next opportunity for resubmission. This could, however, be as much as twelve months away. If you are ready, confirm who is responsible for registering you for your resubmission. In some institutions, this is done automatically by the faculty; in others, you will be responsible for your own registration.

What will your institution allow you to revise? Sometimes, it is only the presentation elements of your thesis document that can be changed (such as, structure, layout, typeface, and so on). Whereas in other cases, you are permitted a total rewrite of your study. This may occur, for example, when the content is of an appropriate standard, but it contains errors related to spellings, grammar, citing and referencing. Some institutions will only allow you to alter components for which you have a fail mark (such as, if your findings are poorly written up, you may be invited to revise that chapter/section only). Others may direct you to refine, or amend, a specific section (for example, your abstract).

The viva voce

In cases where you are invited to a viva voce, or a second presentation, it is usually because the research itself is passable, but the Examinations Board wants added assurances. For example, that you carried out the work yourself, or that you fully understood the research process you followed. This may mean that you will have to prepare for an in-depth, audio-visual presentation, and/or, participate in an oral questions and answer session. If your research is genuinely yours, and you understood what you did, this should not phase you. Make sure that you prepare in advance and practice, practice, practice. It would be helpful to have a copy of your thesis document ready, with key information marked up, so that you can refer to them easily.

If all else fails?

One final proverb comes to mind here. ‘If at first you don’t succeed; try, try again; then give up, and go and do something else instead’ (anon.).

If you are not eligible for a resubmission, or if they are not available for your thesis, you should check to see if you can gain credit for the research by retaking the whole module. That is, by doing new research and submitting that in place of your original thesis, or take another module, like a taught module, instead.

Finally. most institutions have an appeals mechanism, and this is the ultimate course of action you can take. With a thesis, or dissertation, it is rare to have the result of an Examinations Board overturned. The Appeals Board, however, may offer an alternative way of obtaining credit to complete your qualification, for example, by obtaining credits on another module.

How to Avoid Failing Your Ph.D. Dissertation

By Daniel Sokol

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I am a barrister in London who specializes in helping doctoral students who have failed their Ph.D.s. Few people will have had the dubious privilege of seeing as many unsuccessful Ph.D. dissertations and reading as many scathing reports by examination committees. Here are common reasons why students who submit their Ph.D.s fail, with advice on how to avoid such pitfalls. The lessons apply to the United States and the United Kingdom.

Lack of critical reflection. Probably the most common reason for failing a Ph.D. dissertation is a lack of critical analysis. A typical observation of the examination committee is, “The thesis is generally descriptive and a more analytical approach is required.”

For doctoral work, students must engage critically with the subject matter, not just set out what other scholars have said or done. If not, the thesis will not be original. It will not add anything of substance to the field and will fail.

Doctoral students should adopt a reflexive approach to their work. Why have I chosen this methodology? What are the flaws or limitations of this or that author’s argument? Can I make interesting comparisons between this and something else? Those who struggle with this aspect should ask their supervisors for advice on how to inject some analytic sophistication to their thesis.

Lack of coherence. Other common observations are of the type: “The argument running through the thesis needs to be more coherent” or “The thesis is poorly organized and put together without any apparent logic.”

The thesis should be seen as one coherent whole. It cannot be a series of self-contained chapters stitched together haphazardly. Students should spend considerable time at the outset of their dissertation thinking about structure, both at the macro level of the entire thesis and the micro level of the chapter. It is a good idea to look at other Ph.D. theses and monographs to get a sense of what constitutes a logical structure.

Poor presentation. The majority of failed Ph.D. dissertations are sloppily presented. They contain typos, grammatical mistakes, referencing errors and inconsistencies in presentation. Looking at some committee reports randomly, I note the following comments:

“The thesis is poorly written.”
“That previous section is long, badly written and lacks structure.”
“The author cannot formulate his thoughts or explain his reasons. It is very hard to understand a good part of the thesis.”
“Ensure that the standard of written English is consistent with the standard expected of a Ph.D. thesis.”
“The language used is simplistic and does not reflect the standard of writing expected at Ph.D. level.”

For committee members, who are paid a fixed and pitiful sum to examine the work, few things are as off-putting as a poorly written dissertation. Errors of language slow the reading speed and can frustrate or irritate committee members. At worst, they can lead them to miss or misinterpret an argument.

Students should consider using a professional proofreader to read the thesis, if permitted by the university’s regulations. But that still is no guarantee of an error-free thesis. Even after the proofreader has returned the manuscript, students should read and reread the work in its entirety.

When I was completing my Ph.D., I read my dissertation so often that the mere sight of it made me nauseous. Each time, I would spot a typo or tweak a sentence, removing a superfluous word or clarifying an ambiguous passage. My meticulous approach was rewarded when one committee member said in the oral examination that it was the best-written dissertation he had ever read. This was nothing to do with skill or an innate writing ability but tedious, repetitive revision.

Failure to make required changes. It is rare for students to fail to obtain their Ph.D. outright at the oral examination. Usually, the student is granted an opportunity to resubmit their dissertation after making corrections.

Students often submit their revised thesis together with a document explaining how they implemented the committee’s recommendations. And they often believe, wrongly, that this document is proof that they have incorporated the requisite changes and that they should be awarded a Ph.D.

In fact, the committee may feel that the changes do not go far enough or that they reveal further misunderstandings or deficiencies. Here are some real observations by dissertation committees:

“The added discussion section is confusing. The only thing that has improved is the attempt to provide a little more analysis of the experimental data.”
“The author has tried to address the issues identified by the committee, but there is little improvement in the thesis.”

In short, students who fail their Ph.D. dissertations make changes that are superficial or misconceived. Some revised theses end up worse than the original submission.

Students must incorporate changes in the way that the committee members had in mind. If what is required is unclear, students can usually seek clarification through their supervisors.

In the nine years I have spent helping Ph.D. students with their appeals, I have found that whatever the subject matter of the thesis, the above criticisms appear time and time again in committee reports. They are signs of a poor Ph.D.

Wise students should ask themselves these questions prior to submission of the dissertation:

Is the work sufficiently critical/analytical, or is it mainly descriptive?
Is it coherent and well structured?
Does the thesis look good and read well?
If a resubmission, have I made the changes that the examination committee had in mind?

Once students are satisfied that the answer to each question is yes, they should ask their supervisors the same questions.

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11 quick fixes to get your thesis back on track

(Last updated: 21 December 2023)

Since 2006, Oxbridge Essays has been the UK’s leading paid essay-writing and dissertation service

We have helped 10,000s of undergraduate, Masters and PhD students to maximise their grades in essays, dissertations, model-exam answers, applications and other materials. If you would like a free chat about your project with one of our UK staff, then please just reach out on one of the methods below.

Struggles with a dissertation can begin at any phase in the process. From the earliest points in which you are just trying to generate a viable idea, to the end where there might be time-table or advisor issues.

If you feel like you're struggling, you are not alone.

For as much as the situation might feel unique to you, the truth of the matter is that it's not. You are one of hundreds of thousands of students who will have endured, and eventually triumphed, over a centuries-old process.

So, rest assured that any struggles or difficulties are completely and totally normal, and not likely to be insurmountable. Your goal to ace your thesis is certainly achievable.

There is one book that you should have on your shelf and should have read. Umberto Eco’s 'How to Write a Thesis' (MIT Press, 2015) , was originally published in the late 70’s for his Italian students, and most of his analysis and advice rings true today.

It is, in essence, a guide on how to be productive and produce a large body of research writing, and it contains lots of really sound and useful advice.

"Help! I've only just started my dissertation and already I'm stuck."

For as weighty and profound as the final product might appear to be, the essence of a dissertation is quite simple: it is an answer to a question.

Dissertation writers often stumble over the same block. They try to find an answer without first asking themselves what question they are actually answering.

One of the greatest advances in physics was a result of a question so simple, it is almost child-like: ‘what would light look like if I ran alongside it?’. For those of you interested, have a read about Einstein’s thought experiment on chasing a light beam .

For many, a problem arises with a dissertation because after becoming accustomed, over several years of earlier education, to ‘spitting back’ and regurgitating information, you suddenly and largely – if not entirely – feel expected to say something original.

Try flipping your thesis statement on its head and see it as a question; what is a thesis statement but a question that has been turned into a declaration?

So just to recap, the first step in the early stages of your dissertation really should be identifying a research question.

In fact, for some advisors this is the first thing they want to see. Not, ‘what do you want to talk about?’ or, ‘what is your thesis statement?’ but, ‘what is your research question? What are you trying to answer?’.

What to do if you don't know where to start

One of the easiest ways to get started is by simply reading .

A professor we know often recommended this as a simple way of getting ideas flowing. He would have his students read about a dozen of the most recent articles pertaining to a particular topic.

Not broad topics, mind you, like twelve recent articles on Shakespeare or globalisation, but more focused, like ‘Shakespeare and travel’ or ‘globalisation and education’.

What is particularly useful about reading in this way is that most articles are part of some thread of academic discussion, and so will mention and account for previous research in some way.

By reading such articles, you’ll gain an idea of what has been and is being discussed in your area of interest and what the critical issues are. Usually, after just a handful of articles, some rough ideas and focus start to emerge.

What to do if you don’t have anything to say

Maybe you have found a general idea, that ‘question’, but you are still left without something to talk about. At this point, you just don’t have the data, or the material, to work up a dissertation. The answer is quite simple: you need to do research .

Have you ever considered what research is? Why the ‘re-‘? Why isn’t it just called ‘search’? This step requires you to look over and over and over again, for patterns, themes, arguments… You are looking at other people’s work to see what they have wrong and right, which will allow for plenty of discussion.

Follow your instincts

Not to make the process sound overly mystical, but at this point in your academic career there should be a gut response to what you read.

A noteworthy idea or a passage should make your academic antennae sit up and pay attention, without you necessarily even knowing why. Perhaps you are simply struck by the notion that what you just read was interesting, for some reason. This ‘reason’ is what we mean by ‘instincts’.

In fact, studies have shown that you can be right up to 90% of the time when trusting your gut .

We know many, many academics and the process is very much the same for them – something for some reason or other just catches their attention. As you go through your research – your reading, reading, and reading – you should always note these things that draw your eye.

Write (don't type) everything down

Now seems like a great time to tell you that here at Oxbridge Essays HQ, we are HUGE fans of the index card.

We’re not joking when we say that a few books or printed articles and a half-stack of index cards for jotting down notes and ideas is all you need to get going.

Index cards are easier to sort and move around than a notebook, and easier to lay out than a computer screen. In fact, outside of research and materials-gathering for which internet access is vital, for the first stages of your dissertation writing the humble index card might be all you need. After you’ve created a good-sized stack of index cards, a pattern (though maybe not the pattern) should start to develop.

And for the sake of all that is holy and dear, write everything down ! Do not trust your memory with even the smallest detail because there is little worse than spending hours trying to remember where you saw something that could have been helpful, and never finding it.

"Argh! I'm mid-way through my dissertation and suddenly, I've run out of steam."

There is a famous phrase; you probably know it: ‘Never a day without a line’.

You should never go a day without writing something, or rewriting something.

If the notion of working every day on your dissertation fills you with dread, consider this: a dissertation, as we just suggested; is merely a form of work. In life, there are few good reasons to not go to work, and so should there be few that mean you do not work on your dissertation.

Try using methods like The Pomodoro Technique to help you work more productively.

Some days will always be better than others, and some days you will feel more or less enthusiastic. But don’t trick yourself into thinking that your ‘feeling’ towards your work on any particular day may make what you produce better or worse.

Ultimately, the quality of your work should stem from the good habits that you have cultivated. Make working on your dissertation every day one of your good habits.

What to do if you feel like you've reached a dead end

This may not be what you want to hear, but even if you are struggling, you should work every day including weekends.

And try not to book any holidays that will mean you’ll be away from your computer – or tempted to be – whilst you’re doing your dissertation. It’s likely there will be at least one time when you’ll be forced to take time off (illness, for example, or a family bereavement), so if you work every day, it’ll help you stay on track should anything like this come up.

And work begets work . It’s far easier to pick up where you last left off if you only left off yesterday. But trying to do so when you haven’t worked for a week, or even a few days, can be a hard task.

Some people do complain of writer’s block, but this just doesn’t fly with us. First, you aren’t writing Ulysses . Second, and more important, there is always something to do. Have you read everything in your field? Updated your bibliography? Read over your notes?

Granted, sometimes you can get stuck. There may be times when paragraphs or sections just do not cooperate. This is not uncommon and it can take days or weeks to figure out what the problem is.

It can help, when you come to a dead-end in this way, to think about two things: is it necessary and, if so, is it right? If it’s neither necessary or right, it can and probably should be deleted.

You’ll have to get used to, particularly in the early stages of your dissertation, binning sections of work that just don’t fit or do your dissertation justice. Don’t be afraid to be ruthless; just quietly move the offending passage into a scraps file (do not delete it entirely) and move on. Maybe it will make more sense later.

If it helps, one academic who contributed to this blog post had, for their 100,000-word dissertation, a file of 40,000 useless scraps.

What to do if you are falling behind

Not to finger wag, but if you had planned well and worked every day, this statement should never be one you relate to.

But, sadly, sometimes it happens. Time can be remarkably fragile and unexpected life events can ruin what probably looked good and doable on paper. Setbacks do not mean you failed, nor do they mean you will fail. It might mean, however, that you have to take a different approach.

Any time you have a serious issue that jeopardises your ability to complete your thesis, the first place to go is your advisor to discuss options. There are also mentoring services on many campuses.

If you have fallen behind, you need to honestly assess how bad the situation is. Is this something that can be resolved by, say, putting in a few extra hours each day? Adding a half-day on the weekends? Neither of these situations are uncommon. Or will you perhaps require an extension? If the amount of time is serious enough to warrant taking it to an administrative level, be honest and frank with both yourself and the person you speak to.

"If you have fallen behind, you need to honestly assess how bad the situation is. Be honest and frank with both yourself and the person you speak to."

One of the most practical ways to avoid falling behind is not to let some of the smaller things get away from you. Reading, note-taking, data collection and bibliography building can all be tedious tasks left for another day.

But sitting down to read thousands of pages in one marathon go is unproductive. The best advice is still ‘read a little, write a little, every single day’.

The math favours you here. Reading a single article or a few chapters every day builds a nice familiarity with your field over the course of a year. And writing 500-1000 words every day yields enough content for two to three dissertations.

In fact, it has been shown that professional academics who write just that many words each day are more productive than colleagues who attempt marathon (and sometimes panicky and stressful) sessions.

"I'm so close to finishing my dissertation, but I'm having last-minute worries."

What to do if you think your idea is terrible.

If you work on something long enough, doubts are going to start creeping in. The further in you are, the less of an objective view you will be able to take on your work.

Some perspective can be helpful here.

There are two fairly common rules of thumb for dissertations and theses among academics. The first is that you are finished when your work is more right than wrong. The second is that it does not have to be perfect, but it does have to be finished.

You can waste time obsessing about how awful your idea is, or you can just finish the bloody thing. Examiners commonly disagree on the quality of your work, its merit and its value, and make suggestions for improvement. This will happen no matter how brilliant your idea might be.

It also helps to keep in mind that you are very unlikely to write anything with which examiners do not disagree.

What to do if your idea is no longer viable

This is the stuff of nightmares for dissertation writers. You spend oodles of time and effort coming up with a brilliant idea. Your advisor and/or committee are supportive and excited for you. You are certain that nothing of what you are talking about has been essayed by anyone else.

And yet, there is a lurking terror. A terror that you are going to be scooped and find research that is exactly like what you are doing. We speak from experience here, and we know people who have had this happen.

The scenario usually plays out in one of two ways.

More often than not you'll find that you and your new nemesis have taken two completely different approaches. This is actually great news for you. Now you have a discussion that you can incorporate into your work. You have something in which you can find and comment on positive aspects as well as shortcomings.

In the less likely event that you have, in fact, rewritten the work of another researcher then you will need to account for that work and perhaps try to develop another line of approach.

The most important point to bear in mind is that the vast majority of academic work exists in dialogue with other works. So it is often a good thing that someone else is researching the same problem you are. Indeed, you might even consider reaching out and contacting that person just to hone your ideas or solicit feedback. In general, if you do this politely and professionally, you will be warmly received.

What to do if you don’t have enough words

Everyone writes differently. Some people are amazingly concise writers. They can elegantly shoehorn into a single sentence what balloons into a paragraph for another. Most dissertation requirements have a set range.

Notably, some advisors can adjust that and add or subtract. The aforementioned academic who contributed to this blog post – his doctoral supervisor tacked on 20,000 words just because he felt it was necessary. The academic still disagrees with it to this day.

Our point is that the word limit is not arbitrarily set. It is generally agreed that this is the amount of words required to discuss a topic fully. Thus, if you're short of words then unfortunately you haven't discussed your topic as fully as you should have.

If this is the case, you need to look for where your gaps have settled in. The best way to do this will be to solicit outside readers – two or three, one of whom should be your supervisor .

But you don’t want to drop a stack of papers in front of someone and say, ‘can you read this and tell me what to do?’. The better approach will be to assemble a very thorough outline of 3-5 pages that shows the structure and ask if they will look this over. We can assure you, the response will be much more positive and their response time markedly shorter.

Another approach to increasing word count is to generate an indirectly related discussion and add it as an appendix.

What to do if you have too many words

Congratulations! You are probably in the minority, but cutting words is often much easier than finding them.

Still, the acceptable range rule stands for an excess of words just as it does for too few.

If you find yourself in this position, then quite likely you have academic bloat . It’s quite a common trap for dissertation writers as they develop what they perceive to be an academic style and tone in their writing.

But before you simply jettison whole sections of your thesis to bring the word count down, we would especially recommend, for later stage thesis and dissertation writing, a wonderful little book by Richard Lanham called 'Revising Prose' (Pearson, 2006).

When it was first introduced it was a welcome sensation. It’s a short and clear-cut guide to cutting the bloat and bull out of academic writing and making your prose more precise and refined at the sentence and paragraph level. This might sound overly simplistic but don’t sniff at the notion – the book is a potent little text and we wish it were read by every dissertation and thesis writer.

What to do if your supervisor isn’t helpful

This is a problem that can actually present itself at any stage of the dissertation or thesis writing process. It can be one of the most frustrating matters with which you might have to contend.

One thing that you must understand is that the university wants and needs to see you complete your project.

That is not to say that they’ll be pleased with shoddy work. But the more graduates, the more vital the department appears, and the more funding they can request and be allocated.

So there is a vested interest in your success, even if there are points at which it doesn’t feel this way. At some universities, one of the ways in which these conflicts are avoided is through a general contract of expectations. This is done at the outset and lays out the basics of the working relationship (when and how often you will meet, for instance). Hopefully you will have formally or informally handled this early and can identify where a fault might lay.

It can also help to arrange at the outset for a co-supervisor. This person can be invaluable. Often a co-supervisor will practically take over a project, especially if the co-supervisor is young and eager to build credibility and experience as a supervisor (the best sort, really).

Read more about how to make your relationship with your dissertation supervisor productive, rewarding, and enjoyable.

If you have an unproductive working relationship with your supervisor, consider seriously the nature and expectations of it from both sides.

Not to shift the fault to you, but sometimes supervisees can have unrealistic expectations of their supervisor. The truth is that very few supervisors have the time or inclination to pal around with their supervisees, drinking cognac into the wee hours and talking about high enlightened matters.

The reality is that the better and more capable students are often regarded to be the ones who come in, write their projects, and move on. Supervisors have other obligations (e.g. teaching, their own research, other students writing projects). They expect supervisees to be able to work independently and not need too much hand-holding.

There is, nevertheless, tremendous anxiety that surrounds one’s relationship with their supervisor. This is largely due to the extremely imbalanced power relationship. Your supervisor is, after all, someone on whom you will depend for letters, vetting, and generally someone on whom you will rely professionally.

It is not a relationship you want to sour. But you should also consider that the relationship has to be professional and nothing should be taken personally. Think about what you need from your advisor, not what you want . If your professional needs are not being met than you should consider mediation, provided you have discussed these needs with your advisor and they remain unmet.

A final thought...

Throughout the months or years that you are preparing your dissertation or thesis you should keep in mind two helpful words: don’t panic.

It is extremely unlikely that anything you are experiencing hasn’t been experienced by someone else. Or that it presents an obstacle with which your supervisors or the university is unfamiliar.

There are few obstacles that are insurmountable, so try to remember this if you ever feel panic rising. Remember to keep your advisor in the loop and deal with any problems that arise promptly; don’t let them fester.

Also, the more prepared you are to begin with the easier it will be to deal with problems and frustrations down the road.

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What Happens if You Fail Your Dissertation?

In University by Think Student Editor February 9, 2023 Leave a Comment

A dissertation module is one of the key things that defines the step up from secondary school to university. It’s one of the biggest pieces of writing you’ll do for your degree, in terms of research and word count. It’s no mistake to think that a lot rests on a good dissertation. However, it’s always good to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. You’ve probably already asked the question – what actually happens if you do fail?

If you fail your dissertation for the first time at any degree level, you will be allowed one resubmission, which is usually capped at the pass mark. However, if you fail your dissertation resubmission, there are different consequences. If you fail your undergraduate dissertation, you can still graduate as long as you have enough credits, although this may be with an ordinary degree. However, if you fail your master’s dissertation or PhD thesis resubmission, you will not be allowed to graduate.

The topic of failure is quite daunting for most students. Not to worry! This article is here to help you understand failure criteria for a dissertation, and what happens in the event of failure.

Table of Contents

Is it possible to fail your dissertation?

Like with modules of your university course, unfortunately it is very much possible to fail your dissertation . Although this sounds daunting, don’t worry too much! Dissertations are not designed for you to fail.

The grading systems for university modules and dissertations are very similar . Across most universities, the pass mark for a dissertation is 40% or 50%. For example, check out this guide by Royal Holloway University, London to learn more about their dissertation grading.

This means that while it is certainly possible to fail your dissertation, it is unlikely that you actually will . However, in the event that you do fail your dissertation for whatever reason, don’t panic. Your university will usually let you resit your dissertation .

Keep in mind you’ll only be able to resit your dissertation once , so try your hardest to achieve the grade you want. For all the details you’ll need about a dissertation, I’d definitely recommend reading this Think Student article.

In summary, while it is possible to fail a dissertation (just like any other university module), a dissertation only requires a pass mark of 40%. Although a dissertation is different to a module, it is still pretty difficult to fail.

In the event you do fail your dissertation, don’t be too hard on yourself . Keep reading further to find out what happens if you fail your resit dissertation.

How bad does a dissertation need to be to fail?

To understand how “bad” a dissertation has to be to fail, you need to know what examiners are looking for.

Your university will have published the marking criteria for dissertations . These will normally feature comments on the key areas to earn marks in. As an example, check out the University of Edinburgh’s dissertation criteria here .

Therefore, if you failed your dissertation, it isn’t necessarily because you’re “bad at researching and writing”. To fail, it has to be the case that you didn’t meet the criteria to achieve a passing mark. It’s important to keep your confidence, so that you can do better when you resit.

If you haven’t written your dissertation yet, I’d definitely recommend looking through your university’s marking criteria. Similarly , your tutor will want to help you as much as possible, so you can ask them for advice if you’re really struggling .

If you’re seeking advice on how to write a dissertation, you should check out this Think Student article.

Can you graduate without passing your dissertation?

For an undergraduate degree, you can still graduate as long as you have enough credits to pass the other modules .

However , if your degree is a BSc or BA with Honours, if you fail your dissertation and the resit dissertation, you will graduate with an ordinary degree . You can read more about what an ordinary degree is in this Think Student article.

If you fail your first dissertation attempt, but pass your resit undergraduate dissertation, you will still pass with whatever class of degree you earned.

However, the rule is slightly different for master’s dissertations and a PhD thesis. These rules also depend on the university you attend .

At all universities, you are allowed one resit of coursework (dissertation is a form of coursework, as it is not a timed exam), even for a master’s degree and a PhD. However, if you fail your resit dissertation for your master’s degree, you cannot be awarded a master’s degree.

In the case of a PhD, you will not be able to graduate with a failed resit thesis . I’ll explain this in more detail later in the article, so keep reading!

What happens if you fail your master’s dissertation?

Failing your master’s dissertation for the first time isn’t ideal, but it isn’t the end of the world. You’re allowed a resit, which if you pass, means you can still graduate with a master’s degree.

However, a failure is a lot more serious if you fail your dissertation a second time . Failing a resit dissertation at master’s degree-level means you cannot graduate with a master’s degree.

This doesn’t mean you can’t be awarded anything at all for your effort. For example, the this page by the University of Nottingham states that if your dissertation is not passable but still “adequate”, you may still be awarded a diploma .

What happens if you fail your PhD thesis?

Like with an undergraduate or master’s degree, you’re allowed to resubmit your thesis once only . Given that you pass the resubmission, you’ll still be on track to graduate with a PhD.

Failing a PhD thesis resubmission means you cannot graduate. The pass mark for a PhD thesis is usually around 60 , such as at the University of Cambridge, which you can learn more about on their website, here .

In most cases, a PhD thesis will account for around 50% of the degree . Looking at it this way, it makes sense that if you failed half of your degree, you wouldn’t be able to graduate. A PhD is a research-based degree, and the thesis proves you have good research skills.

If you’d like to know more about how a PhD is graded, I’d recommend this Think Student article.

How often do students fail their dissertation?

As I established earlier, it’s pretty hard to fail your undergraduate dissertation module . It’s also quite hard to fail a master’s dissertation or a PhD thesis given the pass mark.

According to this article by The Healthy Journal, up to 50% of PhD students will not finish their thesis or graduate . This statistic sounds quite extreme, but keep in mind that not many people choose to complete a PhD because of the amount of time and money it takes.

If you really are concerned about failing your dissertation, speak to your tutor . They will have been in your position and will know how to help. Don’t struggle on your own!

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I failed my thesis.

By Adelaide9216 April 24, 2019 in Research

Adelaide9216

Just learned the news today. I am still in shock. I did not expect to fail, even if I knew my thesis was not perfect. I was expecting a pass with revisions. Even my supervisor was not worried for me (she told me so yesterday). I just need emotional support right now. I need not to let my emotions get to me. I have won a major scholarship for my doctoral studies starting in September, so I need to resubmit by August. Otherwise, I am screwed. If I fail a second time, I won't graduate which means that my admission and scholarship offers will be revoked from me.

NeilM , YuccaQ , nęm0 and 1 other

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Apr 25 2019

TwirlingBlades

I am so sorry, Adelaide. I remember one of your first posts about your thesis idea. Feel free to PM me. Sending you good thoughts.

Thanks. My supervisor believes the thesis examiner was too severe. Unfortunately, she will be evaluating the second version of my thesis. This is totally unexpected. Just to give you an idea, my department had nominated me for a convocation award this term...However, I know my thesis was not perfect. But there are a lot of changes I will make just to "make her happy" her at this point since she has the final word.

So I made a chart with all of the comments she made on my work (at least, the comments appear somewhat easy to apply and are clear and precise) and I will address each comment one by one. If she fails me after this, I bring her to the Dean.

I also made myself a calendar of each section that I need to rectify week by week until August. I also contacted my prospective university for doctoral students to have clarification about the moment I need to show that I passed my thesis. They say I need to submit my final transcript by the end of August, and a proof of my master's degree by the end of December. I can still save my case but I asked for clarification about those deadlines.

I'm also happy that I am self-confident enough that I don't see this failure as a failure of who I am in terms of intelligence and ability. I know this is also a matter of the fact that I have received very little guidance on the part of my supervisor throughout my master's degree. This is the second time that something backfires in my master's degree, and both times, she never warned me, prepared me or anticipated it. But I won't tell her that because I know she loves me a lot, and probably feels very guilty already. I'm sure that out of all of her students, she surely did not expect me to fail. She knows me, my work ethic, and the fact that I am a hard and dedicated student. But my family was very upset when they learned I had failed because I spent the last year complaining to them about how I felt like I did not have as much feedback as I wanted to. I almost had to defend her. I had to clarify with my family that my supervisor does not have bad intentions towards me. She definetly wants me to succeed. But I think she was overly confident in my ability to do this and did not offer me enough guidance.

NeilM , PokePsych , thetardis and 2 others

I asked my supervisor if another professor in the département could also take a look on my thesis before sending it off to examination. She agreed. But between you and me, I think she loves me so much that she doesn’t see clear when it comes to my work. I have a feeling that she overestimated my ability to do this, hence why I received little guidance despite me asking for feedback.

I'm really sorry to hear about the situation. I will say that I am impressed with how you've already pulled together a plan and are not being too hard on yourself. It is unfortunate that you did not have the guidance you needed. It's great that you have a good relationship with your advisor, but I think it was wise to ask about having another set of eyes on your work. You have clear feedback and it seems you have good odds at pulling through. I wish you the best of luck.

staxdo_21 and Adelaide9216

5 minutes ago, Meraki said: I'm really sorry to hear about the situation. I will say that I am impressed with how you've already pulled together a plan and are not being too hard on yourself. It is unfortunate that you did not have the guidance you needed. It's great that you have a good relationship with your advisor, but I think it was wise to ask about having another set of eyes on your work. You have clear feedback and it seems you have good odds at pulling through. I wish you the best of luck.

Hope.for.the.best

On 4/25/2019 at 5:47 PM, Adelaide9216 said: I'm also happy that I am self-confident enough that I don't see this failure as a failure of who I am in terms of intelligence and ability. I know this is also a matter of the fact that I have received very little guidance on the part of my supervisor throughout my master's degree. This is the second time that something backfires in my master's degree, and both times, she never warned me, prepared me or anticipated it. But I won't tell her that because I know she loves me a lot, and probably feels very guilty already. I'm sure that out of all of her students, she surely did not expect me to fail. She knows me, my work ethic, and the fact that I am a hard and dedicated student. But my family was very upset when they learned I had failed because I spent the last year complaining to them about how I felt like I did not have as much feedback as I wanted to. I almost had to defend her. I had to clarify with my family that my supervisor does not have bad intentions towards me. She definetly wants me to succeed. But I think she was overly confident in my ability to do this and did not offer me enough guidance.

I am sorry to hear that your thesis was failed, but I am also glad that you are persisting and working hard to try again. Unfortunately, failure happens all the time in research. I got a paper that was rejected twice before it got published. Guess what? Everyone in my department thought the work was great.

I know your advisor is nice to work with and she wants you all the best. However, I am concerned about her lack of guidance and overestimation of your ability to do research, as you indicated. If it is a communication problem, then find ways to improve it. It would be difficult for her to offer guidance if she is not aware that you are struggling. This is easy to solve. If it is an issue of expertise and experience, then it is a red flag. An advisor should be able to identify obvious flaws in your research and warn you about that. Ideally, they should work with you to sort them out.

There are strict examiners out there, but a thesis that receives a fail must have some serious issues. Are you going to stay with the same advisor for your PhD? If so, then you need to consider carefully. I am not saying that you should not choose her, but you need to ensure that all the issues leading to the fail of your master thesis are resolved. Otherwise, you risk working very hard on your PhD only to receive a fail again in the end. Having been with toxic advisors, I reckon the importance of having an advisor that "loves" you, but they also need to be able to help you succeed.

My apology if I sounded too harsh. I was just trying to offer some objective thoughts. I am by no means saying that your advisor is bad. Feel free to PM me and chat =]

Adelaide9216 , staxdo_21 , thetardis and 1 other

I don’t have the same advisor for my PhD.

I am sorry that you're in pain right now. I hope that you're able to navigate the tangled path that awaits.

2 hours ago, Hope.for.the.best said: There are strict examiners out there, but a thesis that receives a fail must have some serious issues.

@Adelaide9216 , I very strongly recommend that you do your best to put aside your understandable sense of disappointment and your other feelings when you read through the comments. The exercise should be more than just doing what you need to do to satisfy a stern critic.

I urge you to assume good faith on that individual's part. I recommend that you step away from thoughts about going to the dean if she doesn't do what you want her to do. Yes, it may come to that, but if you approach the revisions with that option in mind, your emotions may get in the way for an opportunity for intellectual and personal growth.

I suggest that you look at this unfortunate outcome as a temporary set back and an opportunity for professional and intellectual growth in addition to how you feel about it personally.

I recommend that you develop a plan of action with a time table. What follows are very broad brush /YMMV recommendations.

I suggest that the first item on the list should be to put your thesis and the comments aside for at least one entire week so you can spend time working with your feelings.
Then, reread a clean copy of your thesis in one long sitting.
There will be points that resonate, others that you can take or leave, and some that are likely nitpicking.
This conversation could be attended by your advisor or not, as you see fit. (I would recommend doing it alone.) I would recommend that the conversation involve more listening on your part than talking.
(The desire to debate will be almost overwhelming, but please try to put that aside.)
After this conversation, take a break of a day or two.
Then, revisit the list of recommended changes and, point by point, develop a matrix of what has to be changed, what might be changed, and (if necessary) where you're going to hold your ground.
The objective of these check-ins is to make sure that everyone is on the same page IRT what you're going to do and (if necessary) what you're not going to do.
Concurrently, do what you can to assemble a couple of red teams who will take one and only one look at all or parts of the revised thesis with a critical eye and very sharp blue pencils (if possible.)
Throughout, you will need to find a healthy balance of paying attention to how you feel while not letting those feelings overwhelm the process. To paraphrase, the woman rides the horse, not the other way around.
bibliophile222 , gillis_55 , Adelaide9216 and 5 others

Thank you everyone for your responses. Sorry for the lack of responses, I am working on the edits since yesterday. I have made a table of all the changes I need to make and I will address all of them, including where she mentioned "this part is good, but could have been better" I want her to see that I went above and beyond...

This is hard.

I work on this everyday. Yesterday was the first day I took a day off ever since I learned I have failed. It's really hard emotionally, I feel anxious very often, but at least, I'm into action mode. Thanks everyone and I really appreciate those of you who PM'd me to check on me. It means a lot to me. I emailed my department and they said they will do everything to make sure I pass (even if I don't exactly know what that means).

Everyone is confident that I can succeed (family, friends, colleagues, supervisor, department) but I am still doubtful due to what happened. I'm just scared of that reviewer. Even the best parts I have done in my thesis (according to her) did not get a great mark. She is very severe and has high expectations...I don't think she wants to fail me, and I always believed she had good faith. But she does have very high expectations, and I was told that she is expecting stuff that are not required for a master's thesis (but that I still will do due to the fact that she will evaluate the second version of my thesis).

If I fail again, even if I'd bring it to the Dean, I'd still lose Vanier and my PhD admission. So I have decided that ff I fail again, I think it'll just mean that doctoral studies weren't meant for me and that my road is elsewhere, which I am ready to accept. I have a lot of willpower and drive, but in the end, life has the last word. I did everything I could to pass, I don't think I am to blame for what happened. There are a lot of external factors to this situation that were against me. Sometimes, it just isn't meant to happen. I will do everything to pass, but I'm ready to accept failure and to leave academia if this isn't for me.

ResilientDreams

18 hours ago, Adelaide9216 said: But she does have very high expectations, and I was told that she is expecting stuff that are not required for a master's thesis (but that I still will do due to the fact that she will evaluate the second version of my thesis).

If you're so inclined, I recommend that you take a look at her master's thesis/report, her doctoral dissertation, and also recent theses that she supervised (with most of your effort spent on this last task). You may be able to get additional insight IRT her expectations. Ideally, the patterns are clear and consistent.

ResilientDreams , Adelaide9216 , MarineBluePsy and 1 other

2 hours ago, Sigaba said: If you're so inclined, I recommend that you take a look at her master's thesis/report, her doctoral dissertation, and also recent theses that she supervised (with most of your effort spent on this last task). You may be able to get additional insight IRT her expectations. Ideally, the patterns are clear and consistent.

Good advice! Thanks!

There's a free colloquium happening this week that is directly related to my PhD research subject. My friend organized it. There will be elected officials, and other very important people for my research project. It's a huge event. I have taken days off from work to attend. But I am hesitating to attend because it won't be useful to attend an event for my PhD studies if I can't pass my master's thesis. So I am thinking of taking those days off to work on my thesis instead. Plus, there will be a lot of people that I know at this event and I don't necessarily want everyone to ask me about how my thesis evaluation went.

MarineBluePsy

@Adelaide9216 I have also had a rough time in my program and have been horribly unsupported in my research training, but have never regretted attending colloquiums that are relevant to my area of interest. By doing so my motivation is renewed and I often chat with others about ways to improve my work or expand on ideas I have.

1 hour ago, Adelaide9216 said: Wow, Vanier public announcement is next week. I thought it'd be later in the summer. Everyone is going to congratulate me and I don't even know if I am actually going to be a PhD student next September.

My thesis advisor apologized to me today. She said I should not have failed and she entirely understands the pressure I am feeling right now.

15 hours ago, Adelaide9216 said: My thesis advisor apologized to me today. She said I should not have failed and she entirely understands the pressure I am feeling right now.

I’m glad she apologized. What does she think of the comments (why does she think you should have passed)?

She has told me that she does not agree 100% with the evaluation made by the external examiner. She thinks the examiner was too severe. I told her that my family and some of my friends even think that this examiner purposefully want to fail me out of jealousy or something (I'm well-known in my field of study where I live, so the examiner must know who I am according to my friends and family). But I don't know if she purposefully wants to fail me, I tend to give the benefit of the doubt to people most of the time. My supervisor also told me that she has a lot of empathy for the situation I am in (may lose Vanier and doctoral admission).

Either way, my supervisor thinks that there are very few chances that I fail again if I apply everything she mentioned in her comments (which I plan on doing). She told me that if that examiner fails me again, I can report it to the Dean. Also, the examiner took one extra month to correct my thesis when the deadline was within 4 weeks. That gives me one month less in terms of time to correct my thesis...

5 hours ago, Adelaide9216 said: She has told me that she does not agree 100% with the evaluation made by the external examiner. She thinks the examiner was too severe. I told her that my family and some of my friends even think that this examiner purposefully want to fail me out of jealousy or something (I'm well-known in my field of study where I live, so the examiner must know who I am according to my friends and family). But I don't know if she purposefully wants to fail me, I tend to give the benefit of the doubt to people most of the time. My supervisor also told me that she has a lot of empathy for the situation I am in (may lose Vanier and doctoral admission). Either way, my supervisor thinks that there are very few chances that I fail again if I apply everything she mentioned in her comments (which I plan on doing). She told me that if that examiner fails me again, I can report it to the Dean. Also, the examiner took one extra month to correct my thesis when the deadline was within 4 weeks. That gives me one month less in terms of time to correct my thesis...

I see. Very interesting situation. Purposefully failing someone would be a big deal, but that certainly doesn't rule out pre-judgmental thoughts. Are you getting other eyes on your thesis? I ask because I would be hesitant to other rely on your advisors advice when she seemed to underestimate the evaluator the first time. Saying things like "very few chances [you] fail again" is kind of worrying (although I don't know that tone or context this was said in.

I definitely think taking an extra month to read and give results is a huge deal. That alone is sketchy. Usually these are pretty hard deadlines.

You can do it!!!

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Just failed my thesis defence for my MS degree because my thesis "does not have enough successful results". Is it my fault or the standard is too high?

I'm a MS student in engineering and my project basically is to build a device that could achieve certain functions. Our program lasts for 2.5 years and I switched to this project after my first year, so I only had 1.5 years to finish it. I spent tons of effort building the device and testing it and some parts of it did work, but after loads of experiments, I just couldn't get the device to realise the function we initially want it to have. When the final defence was near and I realised I couldn't get the results I want, I just faked a result (something should be ashamed of, I know, but that's not the focus of this post) and shifted the focus of my thesis to the process of designing and building the device, as well as showing the parts that worked as intended.

And just as title described, I failed and the committee criticized (ridiculed, I would even say) my thesis strongly for not having enough successful results. And frankly, I already knew that would be the result because when I saw other students' presentation during the defence, EVERY ONE of them showed their successful results and how the thing they worked on was innovative and superior than the currently used one, as well as their publications (having publications is not part of our graduation requirements but still, I'm the only one that doesn't have them ).

However, with that said, I did enjoy building the device and I felt like I learned a lot during the process. I also worked hard while I was working on the project. Admittedly there were some issues re: planning, scheduling, communication that I should've improved while I was doing it, but I felt like I failed not for those reasons, but simply because I didn't reach the end result that the committee wants to see.

I saw some threads in this sub about not producing enough results as Master's student and everyone was saying "nobody is expecting Master's students to do innovative research", "the most important thing is the skills you earned along the way", "negative results are still results". While I agree with these opinions, apparently the committee in our school doesn't think so and now I have one month left to create successful results before attending a second defence. Do you guys think I failed because it's my fault or the standard for our Master's program is simply too high? All replies are appreciated and I would be happy to provide you with more details if you want to know about them :)

Edit: Some people have mentioned that the committee failed me because they recognized my results were fake and just found some other excuses instead of going through a formal procedure. However, I don't think that's the case here because they didn't ask a SINGLE question about my results, about how I acquired the data, how I processed the data, the meaning of the data... nothing. It was simply "not enough", whereas another student was confronted with these questions when the committee were doubting the credibility of his data. Because of that, I don't think integrity was the issue here.

Edit2: Thanks for all the replies you guys gave me, I appreciate every one of them. I now understand that I failed not because the standard was too high, but simply because I wasn't good enough to reach the standard for a MS, whether it's academic prowess, integrity, or the ability to conduct research. I've been taking notes about the things I've learned from your comments and I'll make sure to improve on them in the future!

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My supervisor is suggesting I will fail my PhD, is this possible?

I am a final-year PhD student in Canada studying cybersecurity. During my PhD, I did not have very good supervision. I told them I wanted to defend soon. However, one of my supervisors keeps on telling me: “Don’t rush, you may fail”.

I got one first-author paper in IEEE Transactions and 3 medium level first-author conferences accepted. How can I fail? Is it possible? Has anyone ever failed the PhD defense?

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat . – Bryan Krause ♦ Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 16:47

8 Answers 8

There are definitely fails in PhD defenses. It may depend on the specific system and I don't know about Canada, but I know of a number of them in the UK, where the candidate was asked to rework and come back in a year or so. Also PhD examiners in the UK don't have to accept a thesis just because there are publications. I do think some published material shouldn't have been accepted, and not everything I have seen published is in my view acceptable at PhD level.

4 I'd say that "major revisions" are not a fail necesarily. If you are told to work a bit more on it, yeah you fail as you don't get a PhD, but its not fail as "bye no PhD for you ever". – Ander Biguri Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 11:29
6 @AnderBiguri That's a fair enough objection to my use of terminology, however if you plan to apply/go for a postdoc or anything you need a PhD for directly after your defense, the immediate practical consequences are those of a fail. – Christian Hennig Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 11:38
Totally agree with that :) – Ander Biguri Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 11:42
5 yep, I remember an English student at Oxford who had published an entire book with Springer and was failed, which sounded like a real scandal to my ears. A friend of mine at Cambridge, was asked to completely rewrite his thesis, in Finance, spent a year doing it, sent the revision, did not hear from anyone for months, when he finally contacted them they said "Oh you passed last year". Nightmare. – PatrickT Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 19:16
2 @Tom There is some variation, also within the UK. I have seen both cases, where the viva had to be repeated, and where people were just told upon resubmission that they had passed now, even with major corrections. I don't remember exactly anymore but chances are I have even seen a form in which examiners could choose between these options (on top of minor corrections). – Christian Hennig Commented Jan 14, 2023 at 11:04

Your supervisor is aware of expectations for a PhD program. Their role is to help you understand these expectations and develop your PhD work to this standard.

Having one IEEE Trans publication and a few proceedings is good, but not necessarily indicative that your work meets the criteria of a PhD award. Normally, PhD dissertation is a major piece of academic research, which can be compared to a manuscript (a book). A journal paper is a more scoped contribution compared roughly to one chapter of your PhD thesis. Having one journal paper published does not guarantee you a PhD. I am aware of some candidates with 5+ journal publications, who failed their defence because they rushed and did not write an adequate PhD dissertation. It definitely happens.

Having a postdoc offer before you completed your PhD is a good sign that your work is interesting and promising. However, if your postdoc offer is conditional on you completing the PhD successfully, you still have to complete your PhD. Seeing your advisor as an obstacle is not constructive or helpful. Once again, they are trying to help you, and you should see their expertise as a resource.

22 Everything here is correct, but I'll just caution that 'your supervisor is aware of expectations for a PhD program' does not imply that supervisors have a 100% track record of being right when they predict a fail. – Daniel Hatton Commented Jan 12, 2023 at 20:30
2 @DanielHatton True. But they hedged their bets: "you may fail" is always true. – PatrickT Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 19:17
This is mostly good but "they are trying to help you" is not always true. – aquirdturtle Commented Jan 14, 2023 at 22:34

Why PhD Defenses fail rarely

The main reason why PhD defenses fail rarely is that the process is structured so that in general people attempt their defense only when they are almost certain to pass. If there are any issues and objections, there is a strong preference to have them resolved before a defense, not have them be raised during a rejecting vote in the defense process. No one wants to waste all the formal process effort on a failed attempt, so supervisors and committees will know that someone is likely to fail and strongly advise them to not make the attempt and postpone it, so in general a failure should happen only if the student has been warned that they are likely to fail and disregards this advice to make the attempt anyway. This sounds suspiciously similar to what you are describing.

This answer could be seen as slightly misleading. OP is in a situation where they have been warned by the supervisor that they could fail the PhD if they submit with the current results. In that situation, the chances of actually failing the PhD are much higher than in the average case. – lighthouse keeper Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 13:46
22 @lighthousekeeper that's exactly what the answer is saying‽ – leftaroundabout Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 14:33
+1 for speaking to this specific case for the OP. This is probably the most useful answer to pay attention to. Maybe add some whitespace to guide readers? – Mike M Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 22:07

Yes it is possible to fail a PhD defence and it does happen. Thankfully this is rare.

I’m not in CS so I cannot compare with your peers but you should not make the error of thinking that you need so many publications to get a degree.

If anything, compare a situation where you have x publications as a single author with a situation where you have x publications with many co-authors. Obviously your intellectual contribution to each publication matters; your supervisors and members of your PhD committee can decide you have not done enough even if you have 2x publications because your contribution to each publication has been minimal. I want to emphasize I’m not talking about writing codes or some other such tasks: a PhD is a research degree so your advisor needs to convince your committee and eventually the external examiner that you have made significant and novel contributions to these publications.

I have heard of students failing at the defence stage. This is not pleasant, and it’s a situation everyone wants to avoid. It often (but not always) happens because the candidate is rushed by external events - some visa issue, some family matter, whatever.

In most systems I know, candidates will first go through a sort of “internal defence”, where the student may have to present their work to the committee, or there is some big committee meeting where the final draft of the thesis is evaluated before the thesis is sent to the external examiner. Nobody wants the student to fail so having the committee on board minimizes but does not eliminate the risk of failures. If the thesis is marginal and some committee members still have issue, but the thesis goes out anyways, there could be trouble at the defence with the external examiner.

If you think you have done enough but your advisor does not agree, it’s time to have a frank discussion with your supervisory committee to sort things out, and establish clear milestones for the completion of your degree.

The reason it is rare to fail a Ph.D. defense is that supervisors make sure nobody defends until they are ready. Don't push to be the exception.

Good answers already, but I think this might also be relevant.

Have you found your institution's academic regulations relating to research degrees? If not, you should. They might be a boring read but they should lay out the exact procedure and requirements for a PhD assessment as well as all the possible outcomes. There will be "failed" outcomes in the regulations. Sadly there will also be stories of students who have failed (even with publications). There might be resit opportunities, too. The regulations might also detail the appeals process if you do fail.

There is some debate in the comments here as to whether "major revisions" are considered a fail or not. The short answer is that depends on your institution's academic regulations.

One thing that the academic regulations are very unlikely to say is "1 good journal + 3 medium conferences = pass", so although your chances of passing are good, your chances of failing are unlikely to be zero.

From reading your other question, your supervisor isn't really saying that they think it's likely that you fail.

I need to submit one paper to a journal and write one conference paper, then I am ready to write my thesis.

I got a postdoc position in a great research lab. The tentative start date is the beginning of May. They asked for a letter from my supervisor, stating that I am going to defend before the beginning of May. However, my supervisor keeps on telling me he can only state that I can submit my thesis before that date. He wrote a letter for that.

Your current timeline has you starting, finishing, submitting, and defending your thesis in less than 4 months (really more like 3 months), with your defense being sometime in late April. Even if you and your supervisor do everything perfectly there are still a lot of outside factors that can impact that, the biggest one being when can/will your committee get together to hear your defense. Your timeline is so tight that if you submit your thesis and the committee takes a week to review it and then says we want some minor changes, we'll be able to review those changes in another week... What are you going to do? Or if one person can only meet on Wednesday and another person is unavailable on Wednesday so they have to schedule your defense for a week later? (Or two, or three...)

If you submit your thesis but don't have time to do the changes then it's possible that you could fail. It's even more likely that you don't fail but you don't pass your defense on your timeline . Your supervisor is (wisely) unwilling to commit to other people doing things that are outside of your control.

If your advisor says "it's time to get ready for your defense", your odds of passing are extremely high. If you try to defend against your advisor's will, that's a different story.

I would suggest you talk with your advisor about why they think you are not ready. It could be that they are not happy with your work and need more. It could be that they think you should take as much of the free study time you have in grad school and make the most of it: trust me, you will miss this aspect later in life!

If you believe you are being treated unfairly by your advisor in this situation, I would suggest you discuss with the chair.

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COMMENTS

My undergraduate thesis project is a failure and I don't know what to
You need to talk about this with your supervisor. This is a normal situation, but only your supervisor or another person very familiar with your work can tell you what you need to do. This is perfectly fine. My undergraduate thesis project didn't work either. Just write up your work and talk to your supervisor.
I failed my thesis, and I might be one year late before I graduate
RichieOfTheSultanate. ADMIN MOD. I failed my thesis, and I might be one year late before I graduate. Asia/Pacific. Most of my classmates will be checking their thesis this month, and probably most of them will graduate a semester later. I am the only person in the class that my thesis groupmates kicked out because I was "lazy" or "did not meet ...
Academic Writing: How I almost failed my bachelor's thesis
Three months is more than enough to write a bachelor's thesis, especially when you consider that 25-30 pages is only a few pages longer than a regular term paper. If you write a little bit every day and talk to your examiner about your progress regularly, you are on the right track to getting a result you can be satisfied with.
I realize I made a huge mistake in my thesis and am not sure what to do
Hi guys, yea, I was able to correct my thesis and send it to my chair via an all-nighter. I'm sure they were annoyed, but they reviewed it and suggested some wording changes here and there.I can't imagine that my thesis is anything remotely like a dissertation, but it's still been challenging due to ADHD (I overlook details all of the time ...
Devastated about bachelor's thesis result
1. There are so many scenarios of why this might have happened running through my head right now that will make it extremely hard to write a full answer. However, I can tell you this. Professors can be moody, egotistic, nice and caring at any time of the day for no/a million reason! Let it go and do not over think it.
Failed your thesis? What next?
Another common result given is 'failed, entitled to resubmit'. This indicates that you have not passed your thesis, but can resubmit all, or part of your assessment work, for further consideration by the examiners. The results for such resubmissions are typically 'capped'.
The common pitfalls of failed dissertations and how to steer clear of
The majority of failed Ph.D. dissertations are sloppily presented. They contain typos, grammatical mistakes, referencing errors and inconsistencies in presentation. Looking at some committee reports randomly, I note the following comments: "The thesis is poorly written.". "That previous section is long, badly written and lacks structure.".
11 quick fixes to get your thesis back on track
The best advice is still 'read a little, write a little, every single day'. The math favours you here. Reading a single article or a few chapters every day builds a nice familiarity with your field over the course of a year. And writing 500-1000 words every day yields enough content for two to three dissertations.
What Happens if You Fail Your Dissertation?
If you fail your undergraduate dissertation, you can still graduate as long as you have enough credits, although this may be with an ordinary degree. However, if you fail your master's dissertation or PhD thesis resubmission, you will not be allowed to graduate. The topic of failure is quite daunting for most students.
I failed my dissertation defense. But I am not a failure
Lorie Owens, or PhDiva (@Dissertating) as she is commonly known in academic Twitter circles, paints a vivid picture of how she failed at her first dissertation defense. This narrative originally ...
Has anyone here ever failed a thesis or dissertation?
Reply. 3d_extra. •. At my university, there are 3 defenses. The first is the most important and the last is simply to verify that you implemented all corrections. The second one is skipped if the first one is good enough. (major revision) -> (minor revision) -> (final) or. (minor revision) -> (skip) -> (final)
I failed my dissertation defense. But I am not a failure.
My husband beamed at the compliment and I felt light pushing out the darkness. Dan and I both had failed marriages in our past, but ours had been "meant-to-be" from our six and a half hour meet-cute at Starbucks. I did get past this failed dissertation defense, too. I failed, but I am not a failure. 4 claps.
I failed my thesis.
If it is an issue of expertise and experience, then it is a red flag. An advisor should be able to identify obvious flaws in your research and warn you about that. Ideally, they should work with you to sort them out. There are strict examiners out there, but a thesis that receives a fail must have some serious issues.
citations
I cannot read my bachelor thesis, it is awful and there are mistakes. But it was accepted and I defended it. I fear reading my masters, because there are mistakes, weak spots, etc. But it was accepted and I defended it. Maybe you tolerate others' mistakes but overestimate your own mistakes. You made a mistake(s). Nobody is perfect.
My Bachelor Thesis ruins me : r/GradSchool
Hi there, I'm fucked.I am currently doing my BA and a couple of weeks ago I handed in my thesis. I didn't get any feedback until this week. And - I failed. Miserably. Also, my last semester had just begun.Now I am in this situation where I am constantly shifting between working all day to pay rent or go to university to make my attendance.
5 Surefire Ways To Fail Your Academic Thesis
So, here goes. 1. Widen Your Project Scope As Much As You Can. In other words, write all the ideas you have as well as the various permutations of your theoretical solutions to real-world problems. Then address all these real-world problems in your thesis. You may choose to ignore your supervisor's advice to narrow your research scope to one ...
How bad does an undergraduate dissertation have to be to fail?
A. NonIndigenous. Original post by jonathanemptage. there are many things that could cause you to fail your right being way below the word count might cause you to loose marks most unis will be quite fair giving you 10% each way so if you have a 10,000 word word count and your dissertation is say 9,900 or 10,100 that wouldn't be a problem.
research undergraduate
I am conducting a research project under supervision of a professor for the bachelor's thesis. Among all the tasks agreed between the professor and I, there is one task which was suggested by me. It is an attempt to solve the problem by using a completely different approach from the other one suggested by the professor (which works great).
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I failed my bachelor dissertation last semester. Im writing a new one now but i have no motivation. ... During my thesis year, my mental health worsened to the point that I was crying all day everyday and couldn't get out of bed. Looking at my thesis made me want to cry and I was gearing close to serious suicidal ideation. I received a ...
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Just failed my thesis defence for my MS degree because my thesis "does not have enough successful results". Is it my fault or the standard is too high? ... In the meantime, start applying for jobs with your bachelor's. It will give you an idea of what you can except, worse case scenario and you won't be dreading it if the time comes. ...
thesis
Peteris. 8,281 30 40. This answer could be seen as slightly misleading. OP is in a situation where they have been warned by the supervisor that they could fail the PhD if they submit with the current results. In that situation, the chances of actually failing the PhD are much higher than in the average case.