Oh and 4-12 months is plenty of time, especially the longer version of that. But don't let things drift if you do plan to resubmit. Get on with things, after you've had a short break. The quicker you get on with it, the quicker it is out of the way. And normally it's a lot easier to rewrite / rework something than it is to write it in the first place. It also takes much less time.

If you have been given corrections / even a resubmission then normally your examiners would specify, in writing, what you need to fix. If you do that the normally there is a good outcome. I know two students in my department who were referred around the same time, and both got through in the end. Yes there is always a chance you could fail in the end, but if you follow what you have been told to address - and it should be specific / precise enough for you to do so - you have a very good chance of getting your PhD.

The drawback of not completing is that it is a failed PhD ultimately, and could look bad on your CV in the future. You might also find that you have to cover it up, or explain it away. Whereas if you knuckle down and get on with it you have a good chance of completing successfully.

Fees for referrals/resubmission are usually low. Normally universities require you to pay the examination fee. We're typically talking something like 250 pounds, not many thousands as in tuition/PG fees.

I think you need a break in any event. Give yourself a breather. But if you do decide to go for the PhD you need to be positive, and have a plan. And I think your supervisor's advice to speak to sociologists at your university is wise.

Good luck!

Part-time (as I was) does not mean you shouldn't have a high degree of involvement. Yes you are probably not on campus, and not there every day. But you should still have regular supervision meetings, your supervisors should respond to email promptly, and read your stuff. To be honest you should have complained before now. Complaining to the fees person may not be that effective. Complaining to a director of studies is likely to have more effect.

Good luck Bug! Wishing you the best for the day.

I was a part-time student, managing on typically no more than 5 hours total a week, especially towards the end of my nearly 6 years of part-time study. I spent 3 of those years writing up. I had a false start and had to restart the writing after a year, to get the right voice, approach etc. If you have a full day and some extra time I think you should be fine. But make sure you are clear about keeping that time. You need to put in the hours regularly, week after week. And it is a long slog. More of a marathon than a sprint. But it's doable.

It's also possible to do it in really short bursts. I did most of my writing up in 1 hour chunks. I had a clear idea of what each chapter would be about. Then I would pick the 2 most appealing chapters, and work on those simultaneously (I get bored doing just 1 at a time). And I would draw up to-do lists of what I needed to be getting on with in each chapter - really easy low-level breakdowns - and then I would pick the most appealing, or least unappealing. And that way I made progress, even in short bursts.

It would help if you have an idea of when you will be submitting, and can then work out a timetable for when the different chapters will be finished. Let your supervisors have a copy of this, and then stick to it. That's what I did, and it kept me motivated and moving onwards.

Good luck!

Just bumping this up for anyone who missed it over the weekend / Bank Holiday.

A useful article on this came up on my Twitter feed today. It's written by Dr Thom Brooks (@thom_brooks) of Newcastle University. It covers a wide range of publishing options, from book reviews, through conference presentations and proceedings, replies and fuller articles, through to book contracts. Useful advice for both graduate students and post-docs.

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1085245

Found it. He was 93.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23971874-a-phd-in-philosophy-at-93-but-student-vows-to-carry-on.do

======= Date Modified 25 Aug 2011 16:54:00 =======
Don't you have a thesis monitoring system at your university? At my university this system is in place to check that students are making adequate progress and that supervision is working ok. Full-time students see their thesis monitoring committee twice a year; part-timers once a year. Both the student and the supervisor fill out a questionnaire, and then the student has a discussion (usually about an hour long) with the staff on the committee - which usually change each time, so you get input from lots of people in the department over the years. It's a safety net to make sure that everything is going ok.

My supervisor left half-way through my PhD. He was going to continue to act as my supervisor long-distance (500 miles away). But at a subsequent thesis monitoring committee meeting it became clear that this system was not working well for me. So another member of staff volunteered to take over as my supervisor, and was superb.

But, yes, I totally agree about speaking up and asking for help when you need it. And the sooner the better.

Good luck!

I can't find the link right now but I'm pretty sure Amanda Vickery (historian) twittered fairly recently about a 95-year-old man who had just completed his PhD at a London University, maybe QMUL or RHUL. If he wasn't 95 he was close to that.

I wouldn't recommend putting the contribution in the intro. Then why should the examiners bother reading your thesis? I put it in my final conclusions/summary discussion. I covered it briefly in the abstract too, but very very briefly. But the main place where I stressed my contribution was at the end.

Oh and when he's in the last few stages he will not want to leave the PhD stuff for long, but could still do with a break from time to time. So relatively quick things can be best like going for a coffee, or a trip out for an ice cream, or maybe to the cinema to see a film. Don't suggest going away for a weekend break :)

Not being asked how the PhD is going is really good :) My parents were more likely to ask that, including in one case how much longer it was going to take. Not a good question. But it is good if you can be there to listen if he does want to talk about it.

When I was in the last few months of my PhD I relished escaping from it for times. So really simple things like going out for coffee and a cake. Or a treat like a day-out to a nearby town I love. Not sure what your boyfriend likes but maybe there are treats he could have.

I was really lucky that my husband had been through the PhD process himself, so knew how to support, and what not to do.

Good luck to you both!

I started a PhD over again. The first time I was full-time, and funded by EPSRC. I had to leave that after a progressive neurological disease developed and my research council wouldn't support a switch to part-time study.

The second time I was part-time, and won funding from AHRC (totally different discipline second time around). If applying for research council funding you may find that you get less funding the second-time. I had to declare my prior PhD study+research council funding on the form. AHRC could have reduced my funding accordingly. But they didn't.

One advantage of starting a PhD a second time is you can learn from your earlier experiences. In my first PhD I spent the first year doing the typical do-a-literature review stuff, as was normal in my department and in that part of the sciences. But that really was a waste of time, and by the time I fell ill I had made little progress. So the second time I hit the ground running. Despite being part-time (and very part-time - about 5 hours a week by the end) I finished my literature review for the second PhD within 3 months of starting, and was straight on to the researching phase. And I knew how to manage my time better, and the stages to go through.

Good luck!