Definately get back in there and do some biting (only theoretically of course :-) ) I think sometimes we should question the unis more than we do, and sometimes they should be a little more willing to look at cases like this and take a less passive role in finding a way through these difficulties they owe you that.

So, I'm no further forward really - I've spoken to the grad school and they told me to speak to my supervisor not them and gave me a link to a document setting out the appeals procedure:

For appeals against the decisions of the Boards of Examiners (excepting those relating to assessment irregularities).

Grounds
There are only four possible grounds for appeal.

•You were adversely affected by illness or other relevant factors, of which you were previously unaware, or which for a good cause you were unable to disclose to the examiners in advance.
•Procedural irregularity on the part of the examiners.
•Inadequate assessment by an examiner or examiners.
•Bias or prejudice on the part of an examiner or examiners.
Note: an appeal relates to the decision of the examiners and should not be used to raise general complaints about tuition or support over the length of the programme.

If needed could you get an appeal on the basis that the external was biased (no examiner should say they "hate" a student's work) and even that the internal was insufficient?
It amazes me that such an unregulated system is allowed to mess students around in this way, every time it snags the uni just seem to look the other way. Is your supervisor being any help?

Hi Angel,

Given what you've said about the fuss between your supervisors and the external since your viva, can you get any evidence about what has happened just in case you need it? What have your supervisors advised you to do? It certainly sounds like your examiner is biased so getting some evidence to that effect might be useful if the worst happens. The other thing I was wondering is whether you cite any research by the examiner from hell? To be honest I've done it with my examiners as I figured that a bit of ego stroking doesn't hurt.

I was told by a guy I work with that the examiners can only fail you after a resubmit if you haven't done what they asked. He also suggested that you should write a document to go with your thesis that explains exactly how you have addressed the examiners comments complete with page numbers. He seemed to think that this makes it more difficult for examiners to fail you and he is a fairly experienced supervisor so I followed his advice and it worked out well for me. In the second viva they primarily examined me on the document I'd written rather than the full thesis and it was much quicker - about an hour in total. It's definitely worth a try.

:-)