Hello Shiba,
I’m sorry that you didn’t get the result you were hoping for. I’m not in the same position as you; I have my viva in a few days, but, for various reasons, I think there is a chance I will have to resubmit myself.
This would obviously be very disappointing, but I have thought about it a lot and keep coming back to the fact that, unlike when you are actually writing the thesis, the examiners have actually told you what they want to do….It looks like in your case, according to your supervisor, they have also given you more than enough time to do it. I know it must be very difficult knowing that this is the final opportunity to submit, but, in theory, it should be easier than the first time. I have been around long enough to know and hear of quite a few (more than I would have expected) who had to resubmit. All of them passed on the second attempt, and this seems to be normal. It also depends on the examiner; some might have given majors for beefing up a major chapter, but yours didn’t….it doesn’t mean that you are objectively less good at doing research than those who passed with minors or majors!
It’s really unfortunate that because most people don’t have to resubmit it is spoken of as some sort of aberration; this is definitely not the case! A lot of good theses get majors or have to resubmit because of specific issues that are, comparatively, straightforward to resolve, and I would have a very low opinion of anyone who actually thought you were a poor researcher because of it. Your examiners didn’t think that! It sounds like you have a supportive supervisor and clear instructions on what to do so go ahead and work on that and don’t think about the second viva until it comes around again.
I know nothing will change the disappointment, or make the additional work any easier, but I hope this might be helpful for moving on with things. 😊

Hello,
I have never posted here before, but as I have the viva for my PhD (in history) in a few days I thought I might as well give it a go and ask for some advice.
I am proud of my thesis and think that I have a strong concept; I am confident in my overall argument, the arguments of all my chapters, and my points within them, but I know there are definitely some significant flaws. It took me quite a long time to settle on my argument and ended up changing my structure quite late on …..In short, the final write-up was quite rushed and it does definitely show. I didn’t use the full word count and there are definitely places where I could have used more sources to support a point or extrapolated more ideas from the analysis, so the issues seem more substantive than just typos and adding a few more citations here and there. I definitely do have a strong concept which chimes with work that my external has done herself, but she is a very good scholar and will probably be looking for a better ‘finish’ to the work.
My main concern is that my examiner will want to know why I haven’t cited works that were published before I submitted, or why I didn’t expand a point more etc. My thesis is quite wide-ranging so I am comfortable saying that I couldn’t explore every topic to the nth degree within the parameters of a PhD, and because it would be repetitive or obscure the point, which is true, but, given that it is a bit short, it’s also obvious that I didn’t have enough time. Which, for want of a better word, sounds a bit naff as an ‘excuse.’ I am reading through my thesis to demonstrate that I am aware of its flaws and familiar with the scholarly field, especially new research etc, but I was wondering if anyone has any advice for answers that can accept these points, without looking incompetent.
Any and all contributions much appreciated!Thanks! 😊