Hello all,

Apologies in advance if this seems like a silly query!

I received the results of my MPhil examination the other day (no viva), and have been awarded a pass subject to minor corrections. I haven't had a great time with the university; I was ultimately refused a PhD upgrade last year, after which I fell into a deep depression which required time off from my part-time job. It also transpired that I have specific learning difficulties, which may have explained why I was struggling.

Anyway, the corrections are to be completed in one month, and I received an in-depth report with a list of corrections at the end.

The list is very clear - I need include two additional references, address some minor errors, and clarify a few points (I cannot believe how many typos I made!). Not too bad really. I tackled all of the errors today.

However, the report, which is very helpful if a bit painful to read, does mention some weaknesses which are not included in the formal list of corrections. There's a lot of 'we would have liked to see [x]'; they particularly mention that 'attention is needed as far as signposting' and 'we would like to see minor revisions of the candidate's use of political terminology' - but none of this is mentioned in the list.

So, at the risk of sounding work-shy, do I only have to do what's on the list, or do I need to tackle the numerous suggestions in the report, too? I just don't want to wear myself out doing work that would be unnecessary. I can't see my supervisors until Thursday, and they have to ask the examiner on my behalf... I did ask them about this over e-mail, but they avoided my question completely and just said they'd see me Thursday.

I find myself going into a cold sweat reading the report, knowing I only have one month... and just working in those articles/clarifying points is going to take some thought...

I think in general you only have to do what's on the list of corrections. If they told me to correct things in the viva, but didn't put on them on the corrections list, I didn't do them.

Ravenix, congratulations on passing and receiving only minor corrections. Well done, that is a great result. I agree with ToL in that I would think you only have to do the items on the list to complete and pass your MPhil. The other suggestions read as if the examiners believe these suggestions would improve your work overall but are not mandatory for a pass.

They may have also included them in case you were thinking of publishing (and I imagine you would be hoping to publish an article from this) and/or your examiners had different reports and suggestions and when your panel or chair looked at both reports and had to determine your next step, the ones on the list are the must dos-with the others being suggestions made by one or other of your examiners, but not ruled as absolutely necessary by your chair. (Just surmising-could be wrong).

I know it must be pretty hard now to go back and do those suggestions in the next month. However, if you just tackle them one at a time, you will be able to do them and then graduate! How good will that be...best wishes and good luck-and don't rule out that article.

Hello guys,

Thanks so much for the kind replies. I've had the clarification and the only thing I need to do in addition to the list is revising my political terms, as that's the only thing they specifically asked for in the report. I've got that underway now, and most of the other things are done, although I did have a rather protracted fight with Microsoft Word formatting after adding some more images....
I'm sending a draft of an additional section in the introduction to my supervisors next week, which explains and outlines my use of complex/slippery terms like 'liberal' and 'radical'. Feeling quite frazzled after working all day but hopefully everything will be fine!