i think he would be the best person to ask for advice on what your options are.

i think its crazy for the university not to let you have 3 month extention to submit your thesis. i mean seriously what is the harm? what do they lose in granting an extention.

your other option would be to try to submit a thesis as best as you can by their deadline and hope the examiners then give you the 18month for corrections to improve the thesis. if the uni really are not budging. that is risky though, as some examiners might just give a downright fail and not allow further corrections.

what is the deadline they have given you ? is it end of september? which is usually the case.

thanks for that information Lara! i hope that i don't have to use it, but if the worst comes to the worst, i'll sue them all for their incompetence and cruelty!

I just read the article at the link posted. That is horrifying and hair raising.

Are these rogue, isolated examples, or is this indicative of how the PhD experience plays itself out?

Its all too common.

The system is this way because there is a lack of standardisation across PhDs, no real definition of what is adequate supervision and no set "rights" of PhDers (unlike staff or undergrads). Its a recipe for exploitation, and insecurity.

More and more I can see the effect it has on my PhDers. Some are becoming a shell of the person they once were, half of them are recieving student counselling and I find frequently find Prozac boxes in the litter bin.

The worst thing is that if you survive it makes you "become one of them" without realising, and the cycle goes on...

As for litigation, there is the Office of Independent Adjudication which deals with this kind of thing. Their website is http://www.oiahe.org.uk/ and they cite case studies of rulings. It is very useful for seeing what was previously considered a "justified" complaint and what wasn't.

Alas it is common. I have seen a few people complain but no-one has successfully had bad supervision held to account. My grabt deadline is Oct - but I can submit at Xmas. I can't remember when I last say my sup - maybe Feb, maybe Mar. I have emailed, and phoned every day last week trying to get an appt to go over a draft chapter. I despair of getting feedback in time. And I am concerned that no-one has really got into the details of the models I am working with - they could be rubbish.

I am so fed up with working alone and just hoping it will be alright in the end.

You're welcome Jojo!

and sadly to report Olivia, it is all too common, like BHC and Smiloden have also said.

Smiloden, sorry to hear about lack of feedback, that is very frustrating indeed!