I just received an email today that my PhD examination results are in (in Australia) and that I've passed the PhD with minor amendments (exciting!!!!).

I've just had a read through of my reports. One is really positive but balanced, outlining both what was done well with the thesis, and what could be improved upon, alongside highlighting what chapters would make for good articles. Their report was very comprehensive (going through each chapter) and despite listing some areas for further development/improvement, they awarded it a pass with no changes.

The other report is very negative, with no discussion of what was done well at all, and seems to run off into a tangent about the theoretical approach/use of another particular theory, I think because they don't agree with what's been said. It doesn't discuss any of the chapters in detail or demonstrate a comprehensive read, being only a small page in comparison to the quite full two pages from the first examiner...

Despite all the negativity, they awarded it a pass with minor amendments (that don't need to go back to them) with very short (vague) details about what to change. I find this odd, in that if they really didn't like the thesis/didn't believe it was well done, why award a pass with minor amendments, and not really provide much detail about what those should be?

I'm ecstatic about passing (overwhelmed really) but I was wondering if others in Australia have had overly negative reports, and how they handled the deciphering of the feedback to produce good amendments that will address the errors?

Congratulations on passing your PhD!!

I'm not in Australia and I'm not at that stage anyway, but in your shoes I would arrange a meeting with my supervisor to see if you can decipher between you what is required. As for the person who wrote only a small and negative-sounding report, perhaps it's just their style and they liked everything except for the one thing they mentioned? Whatever happened, they didn't have reservations big enough to stop you passing! I think you can assume that they did think it was well done.