A "friend" of mine recently received news in the mail that they failed their masters dissertation. Pretty disappointing given the work they put in however they have an opportunity to resubmit the paper.

The feedback was quite brutal pretty much calling out lack of critical analysis and lack of real substance.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? What advice can you provide? What steps did you take to resubmit?

It feels as if my friend can benefit from 1-2-1 tutoring or guidance (should they seek to continue). To date the main lecturer has provided guidance however this has been quite limited. Therefore someone independent may be of most help.

Are there any services internal or external that can support?

Does anyone have any advice for dmuk?

What subject? And what is the dissertation on?

*bump*

Any ideas on free or paid for services to offer support? The university is offering very limited support to re-submit.

Paper would benefit from someone who submits these papers on a regular basis; and ideally studies in the field.

Subject is Educatio .

Does the university have any kind of writing centre or study skills support? I think the quality of advice that you get from these kinds of centres varies quite a lot but some of them can be very good, so it might be worth a try. Or if there's an English language unit or centre, someone there might be able to help or put your friend in contact with someone who can. If they run in-sessional writing courses for international post-grads they will be familiar with the requirements for masters dissertations.

Alternatively, can you friend have a look at some examples of successful dissertations? It might help them to see what theirs is lacking.

Universities have very defined limits to the amount and type of support that Universities and others can provide and these are usually outlined in the rules and regulations. They often only amount to editing assistance. This is because the work needs to be the candidate's work, so this may be why your friend feels that the support is very limited.

The criticism seems to imply that there is a lack of substance (data? or content) in the dissertation and a lack of a critical overview or analysis. Can your friend go, as suggested by Aisling, to the English Language support centre or the International student support centre, as it may be that the data and substance is there but language skills are impacting on how your friend expresses and organises her/his arguments and 'thesis statement'. Often markers and readers of dissertations and papers can be really floored by language and structure issues in a written piece and incorrectly assume that these mean that the data and original thesis were/are flawed. (Just think of the number of journal rejections or write and resubmits that people undergo-only to have the resubmitted piece be praised once the communication issues have been sorted).

Or alternatively could your friend advertise privately, or through the universities "student work register" or similar for a postgrad student or retired teacher or similar to coach/help her/him with reorganising and setting out the dissertation so that it meets the standard.

For setting out a Master's dissertation or thesis, I initially relied heavily on a book called How to Write a Master's Thesis by Yvonne N Bui (Sage Publications 2009). This had chapters with step by step protocols on how to set up and argue each chapter, with many samples from the author's own students, provided as case studies and models. These case studies were predominantly from Education.

If the final result was a 'fail'-does this Masters have an alternative qualification? For example, did it also include taught aspects and coursework, and do you receive credit for this even if the dissertation does not pass. Eg: with some Master's degrees, a score below the pass line on the dissertation can still be added to results for course work units and similar and result in a PostGraduate Diploma or similar. (I know this would not be a preferred option but sometimes it is helpful to know that there is some qualification or acknowledgement of the work even if dissertation marks are not all one would wish them to be).

It must be very hard for your friend at the moment, so hoping that their spirits are not too low at present. I'm not sure if this reply will be helpful or provide welcome news, but I am sure that many on the forum would be sympathetic to your friend's problem and results.

Thanks for the helpful advice. Reassuring there is still some hope here.

We will look into what writing/study support services the university offers. Additionally previous papers is a good suggestion.

We will also look at a "student work register" or similar. Ultimately someone from an academic background would be very useful. The paper was obviously not written at an adequate level for masters; however potentially the data and research was flawed making the result even worse.

The 'How to Write a Masters' is a good idea. There was guidance notes from the university however a dedicated book won't hurt.

There are no other pass options other than resubmitting the paper. Therefore resubmitting a passable paper will be key.

Can anyone suggest any private services? Or is it best to pursue the university options first?

There's really no private services on how to write a thesis. Honestly, I think that an undergraduate degree should prepare someone enough that they should be able to write a thesis without too much difficulty using the guidance of their supervisors, colleagues and advice available online and in books. If someone can't do this, then one should question whether they should be awarded a Masters at all.

The person just needs clear guidance on what needs to be changed and proceed from there. The university should have given them this already, if not, then they need to ask for it. The university are best placed to provide advice because ultimately they are the ones awarding the degree and know what they are looking for.