Thesis submission and examinations

The York St John University Academic Board prescribes criteria, regulations and learning outcomes for York St John Postgraduate Research awards. The links below provide information on the process and requirements for research degrees:

• Regulations for research degrees (webpage)
• Code of Practice for Research Degrees 2023-24 (docx, 1.4 MB)
• Learning Outcomes for the Award of Research Degrees (docx, 49.1 kB)
• Guide to the Examination Process for Research Degrees (docx, 1.4 MB)

Nomination of Examiners

Master’s by Research PGRs (with a start date of 1 October 2021 or later) will be examined by an external examiner assessment of the thesis and normally no oral examination will be held. The PGR will be notified of the external examiner’s recommendation and will be provided with a copy of the examiner’s report once it has been approved by the Research Degrees Examination Panel.

Doctoral and MPhil PGRs will have an oral examination of their thesis. There will be a minimum of 2 examiners (one internal and one external) and an independent chair. If the PGR has also been employed as a member of University staff on a fixed term or permanent contract, at grade 7 or above for a combined total of 12 months during any point in the candidature, 2 external examiners will be required. Examiners are nominated using the Application for Assessment form.

A document setting out the criteria for the appointment of examiners and independent chairs is available from the Document Directory.

Application for Assessment

The Application for Assessment should be done by the PGR at least 3 months before they intend to submit their thesis for examination. The form will be available for completion via e:Vision.

The PGR will need to confirm details about their thesis title, employment at the University, the inclusion of research from the thesis in published work, any supplementary material to be submitted with the thesis and ethical approval details.

Once the PGR has submitted their part of the form a notification will be sent to the supervisor for the next part of the form to be done. The supervisor will need to confirm the thesis title and to put forward recommendations for examiners. If the PGR is undertaking a Practice-led programme and there will be live performance of the practice element, details of those arrangements will also be required.

The form will then pass to the School PGR Lead for them to nominate an independent chair for the examination.

Once received by Registry, the form will be checked and circulated to RDEP for its consideration. Examination panels will be notified of their appointment for the examination following RDEP approval. The PGR will also be advised of the confirmed examination panel and will be provided with details on how to submit their thesis to Moodle.

Thesis preparation and submission

PGRs should prepare their thesis for submission in accordance with the format regulations found in Section 3 of the Guide to the examination process for research degrees.

Programme specific word limits are as follows:

Degree	Minimum length	Maximum length
MA and MSc	N/A	30,000 words (100 pages)
MA Practice-led	5,000 words (15 pages)	10,000 (30 pages)
MPhil	N/A	60,000 words (200 pages)
MPhil Practice-led	20,000 words (60 pages)	30,000 words (100 pages)
PhD	N/A	100,000 words (300 pages)
PhD (Practice-led)	25,000 words (75 pages)	50,000 words (150 pages)
Professional Doctorates	N/A	50,000 words (150 pages)
PhD by Published Work	Please see specific requirements in Section 18 of the 'Code of Practice for Research Degrees'

The thesis must be submitted to the Research Degree Submission link via Moodle, along with a Research Degree Submission Form and copies of any associated published work or supplementary material. Examiners can also request a soft-bound copy of the thesis for examination purposes. Registry will inform PGRs if any soft-bound copies are required. PGRs can arrange for the soft-bound copies to be produced through Print Services and Registry staff will be able to collect the copies on their behalf when they have been done.

External Examiner Assessment of Thesis (MA/MSc by Research PGRs who started from 1 October 2021 onwards).

Once the PGR has submitted their thesis and it has been checked against the thesis format requirements the thesis (and copies of publications and/or any supplementary material, as appropriate) will be sent out to the external examiner for assessment. The external examiner will complete an External Examiner Report and Recommendation form and submit this to Registry for approval by RDEP. Registry will advise the PGR of the outcome and the next steps to be taken from that point. There will not normally be an oral examination unless the external examiner requests that one is held, and in the event that it is then an independent chair will be appointed to be present.

Oral examination

An oral examination (viva voce) will be arranged for Doctoral and MPhil PGRs.

Registry is responsible for the organisation of oral examinations. The oral examination usually takes place within the 3 months following submission of the thesis.

Once the application for assessment has been approved and the thesis submitted, Registry will contact the examiners and independent chair to identify their availability for the examination. Once a provisional date has been identified this will be checked with the PGR to make sure they are also available. A PGR can ask a supervisor to be present for the examination as a silent observer.

On the day of the examination the panel will hold a pre-meeting to discuss the preliminary reports and questions on the thesis.

Oral examinations can vary in duration and there is no fixed end time. After the examination, the examiners will discuss their recommendation in the absence of the PGR (and their supervisor, if present) and will then usually invite the PGR back into the examination to give them the outcome orally. A written report will then be produced and this will be given to the PGR once is has been approved by RDEP.

The outcome of the examination will be one of the following recommendations:

• Pass without amendments
• Pass subject to amendments (to be completed within 6 months)
• Thesis to be re-submitted
• Fail (only possible on re-submission unless under the terms of the Research Misconduct Policy)

Instructions to Examiners

The Instructions to Examiners and report forms for the examiners to complete both before and after the examination are provided in the Document Directory.

Recording of Oral Examinations

Oral examinations are recorded as set out in the Policy and Guidance on the Recording of Oral Examinations.

The independent chair is responsible for starting and ending the recording and for its subsequent transfer to Registry for secure storage. The examiners' discussion before and after the exam, and the communication of the outcome to the PGR should not be recorded.