I'm not sure if this applies to you, but if you have to adhere to a certain system for writing, referencing etc then there might be stipulations about how you present your tables. I had no idea about this until my supervisor referred me to the APA table guidelines, so I've just done my best to stick to those!

I have found a similar thing at points with my PhD when I thought I'd be writing like a demon and was instead dragging my feet! Maybe you just need to break what needs done into chunks, write it out even if it feels a bit uninspired, and then spend some time editing? I found it easier to see where I needed to go with my conclusion once I had something written out and could edit it with the other chapters. Good luck - the late stages of thesis writing are stressful and you're probably reacting to that.

Keeping everything crossed, faded!

It is good to hear you had a core of about twenty - I also find I have a small group of articles that have truly influenced my research, and a large group of others that either back up the same points or make minor additional points. I do sometimes worry about not including sufficient references to show that I've read around the field properly, and find myself trying to shoehorn others in!

Of course. I would contend that in cases where the dept has a preferred candidate already and is happy with that person's work, the vacancy shouldn't be advertised as an external one. The job market's too pressured, and people are putting too much into each application to be chasing jobs that aren't available.

I also hate the thought of the job being earmarked for an internal candidate, Zutterfly. I am not an over-confident applicant by any means, but three of the jobs I've applied for have matched my job history to the extent that the job specification read like my CV, and I didn't get short-listed for any of them. Part of me thinks I fit the job spec better than the person who already had the job in the bag, and was not short-listed for that reason (these were not jobs that required a completed PhD or anything like that).

It is grim, isn't it? I know people say 'you never know when the right job will come along', but I am going to put a sensible time limit on it once I am finished the PhD process, because life is too short to keep hanging on with only bits of insecure work and application after application.

Is it possible to meet your supervisors to go over their feedback? I always find that things look a lot more harsh on the page than when they're discussed, especially if you're feeling disheartened. Maybe you could have a meeting with them to discuss the bits of your thesis that can be kept and the bits that need changed? I can imagine it must all look like an impossible task just now, but for your supervisors to have given the go-ahead for your viva in the first place, they must have thought you had something worthy of a PhD there.

An academic friend of mine advised me that some universities will judge you on where you did your PhD, your supervisors, and your examiners. I'm not quite sure how a prospective employer would find the latter information unless you volunteered it (and quite frankly, it sounds like 'old boys' network' rubbish to me), but I guess there's a possibility that some people are impressed by the big names.

It is common for the full-time PhD to take longer than three years, but most universities charge a 'continuation/writing up fee' for the fourth year, rather than full fees - at my university it is £130 for fourth year. Worth adding it all up to see what's the best option for you!

Edited to add: If you're calculating whole costs, consider stuff like Council Tax as well (full time students get Council Tax exemption/discount).

Good luck with your appeal, faded. I hope the chair sees this through, now she has all the facts.