Hi all,
I'm due to submit my thesis for an MPhil in the next few weeks.
Over the last 7 years of post grad study I've lost my father, had a nightmare job, my husbands been seriously ill, had a maternity leave and baby, moved up and down the country to different places following my husbands job and a miscarriage. Through the midst of all that I had a Skype call (how most of my supervision has been done!) where we decided it would be better for me to transfer from PhD to MPhil as the quality of my writing was not great (they actually thought I might be dyslexic). A few years on I am in a better place. I'm quite pleased with the way the write up is going.

We shrank the project for an MPhil but I have now realised that one of the reasons I struggled was because even for a PhD what I was trying to do was huge. My thesis is still approaching full PhD length anyway. Has anyone heard of an MPhil viva resulting in recommendation for a PhD with amendments? (I can dream!)

I should say, I questioned the length with my supervisor and he said the examiners aren't told what the word limit is so the worst that could happen is they can refuse to read it, which he's never heard of?! And he keeps telling me to expand bits which is making it longer.

Hi , sorry to hear about all the stress you have been through. Well done on preparing the thesis and getting to this stage. Unfortunately, I don't think you can upgrade during the viva as the examiners are informed they should assess for a specific award. If you want the chance to get a PhD you will have re-register as a PhD.

I haven't heard of this happening, but I would think that to be considered for a PhD you would have to be registered for a PhD and submit your thesis with the appropriate paperwork?

However, if you think you might have done enough for a PhD after all, could you talk to your supervisor about the possibility of submitting your thesis for the PhD instead? Probably the worst outcome is that the examiners think it's not quite enough and award you the MPhil instead, which is what you were planning to submit for anyway.

I agree with Ephiny, it's worth a shot - you've got nothing to lose.