I'm sorry for what has happened to every one on this site. If you read my story you will realise I feel cheated as well. Has anyone got any advice on how to put this on a C.V? I did not "fail" because I was not allowed to submit...I did not "quit" so I do not want to put down I did not complete. If I explain what happened to me I sound like I am criticising a University, which never impresses any-one! My University Post Grad officer today suggested I should say I left for personal reasons...which after spending years doing a p-t PhD would make me look like a total flake! Surely studying for years at PhD level counts for something?

I was doing a part-time PhD for 9 years. I am a single parent and have had to juggle a lot to even go to university. I was assigned a new supervisor towards the end of my PhD because my original supervisor had retired. She had me doing re-writes and changing styles and jumping through hoops. Then a few weeks before I was going to submit she sent me a letter saying the original design was not suitable for a post-grad thesis...and if I re-do the whole thing from scratch and meet criteria which is physically impossible I could achieve a masters degree! I wrote a letter of complaint / appeal to the post-grad office. I was politely told ...tough. I am now 40 years old and working on a check out. In the mean time my friends who have not even got A levels have got really good positions because they have spent the last decade or so working their way up.. I was stupid and dedicated my time and energy and money trying to get a doctorate. My son turns 18 next month so I lose my single parent status so I'm crossing my fingers that I can claim housing benefit to help pay my bloody rent when the tax credits stop. And to think once upon a time I was allowed to marked 1st and 2nd yr degrees papers and advise on 3rd yr projects...