CONGRATS DR FADED :) I am so happy for you. Put the bubbly on ice ;-) You're gonna have the best celebrations ever. You got tgrough this you know you can get tgrough anything. You're such a strong and admirable person. Enjoy this feeling. Congrats doctor.

Nowt new to add, Faded, just sending you best wishes. Wishing & hoping for a speedy and positive resolution to all of this for you.

Jeez, mate. To echo others, I am just glad that your current employer is on your side. I have no advice to give, faded07. I do believe that everyone has to answer for their conduct in the end though and whoever did this will get no luck for this. You stay being you. This case just shows how the UK system needs to be overhauled. A more moderated system like you have in US and mainland Europe would surely prevent this kind of thing. Placing all this power in the hands of a stranger is crazy in this day and age. I just wish for strength and support for you, faded. I look forward to you getting your PhD (which you should have been awarded 2 years ago) and publishing works and going on to be successful at whatever you do. And remember you are so strong to keep going through this. You can get through anything now, faded.

Anz, you know we're all rooting for you. This is just ridiculous. I know this has been going on for close to 2 years for you now. It is callous behaviour on the 'examiners' part. I really don't know who these people think they are to leave a fellow human being in limbo like this. I know how fickle and fragile the whole thing is. You know my story. I really wish someone could wave a magic wand and resolve this right now for you.
Bewildered has given some very practical advice about complaints and appeals - if you think even the threat would push things along then do so. I know that I learned from my viva to be a lot more pushy in getting the things I wanted. Maybe that's the right strategy.
Right now I am just wishing for peace and contentment for you. Remember you are so much more than a PhD and that you can and will go on to publish this the way you want to and there is a big world out there and many great days ahead for you.
Best wishes and I am hoping for a speedy and successful outcome for you now.

Yay! Congrats, Charliebrown :-) I bet that's a weight off your shoulders at long last. Time to crack open the bubbly and sit back for a while :-) I think anyone who gets through a PhD has demonstrated a high level of mental tenacity but that applies even more so to those who have gone through major corrections, R&Rs, and fails. You got through this you can get through anything mentally. Well done.

Hi Anz, I wish there was something useful I could say to you. I'd imagine that you will find very varied answers to your question as the examination process doesn't seem to really be governed by any standardised process. My examiners got back to me within a week and it was the week leading up to Christmas but my case was rather peculiar. You may recall I got very angry about unwarranted major corrections, extern ended up admitting to making a mistake and couldn't overturn their own decision, carried out their silly major corrections within 5 weeks and basically put it up to everyone that I wanted it sorted before Christmas so I could move on with my life. My original thesis before corrections has since been published as a book by a major academic publisher. I also quickly got a great steady non-academic job. Life's worked out just fine. I now view the awful result as a blessing in disguise - it made me so determined to get my version published as a book and it changed my whole outlook on life. I no longer take things so seriously and I have a much better social life. *** I don't mean to make the thread about me. Rather, I hope that my story might provide hope and inspiration. Please don't ever feel that your work was bad or deserved the result it got. Believe in yourself. *** I wish that they get back to you and pass your PhD completely so that you can just move on with your life and do it your way. You have the patience of a saint. I think what you have been through is nothing short of cruelty. And to be honest it's disgusting behaviour like that that turned me off working in a university. I wish you every success for the future and look forward to you posting a happy story here about how it's all worked out for you.

Anz, I am heartbroken for you. I am also shocked. This system is just ridiculous and pardon my french but what a knob of an examiner you got. This is just silly.
Please take care of yourself. You are someone's best friend, someone's daughter, perhaps sister, mother etc... There are people that care very much about you and will be there for you right now. Don't suffer this alone or feel that it has all been a waste. Please mind yourself and don't do anything rash.
Definitely when the time is right mount an appeal about this and, as others have advised, also take them to task for giving you the wrong results. I remember they also lost the initial reports on you - the admin at your uni don't sound very professional. There are people who have posted here before who have taken on and won their cases against the university and examiners.
I have every faith that you can and will go on to publish extracts from this thesis. You just had the bad luck to get one massive knob of an examiner who I really hope someday will realise what they have done.
Sick for you, Anz. I am so, so sorry. But definitely appeal this. This is just not on.

Oh no love you're not alone, as the great David Bowie put it. Argh, I get so angry for you, Anz, when I see this is still going on. Bloody heck. I can do nothing but wish you positive energy and urge you to take care of yourself. I guess just try and do all the right things - socialise, exercise, eat right - as that can only help. You have mental resilience and tenacity that few others have, you know. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I have everything crossed for you still. And DrPurplePineapple is living proof that this kind of protracted ending doesn't mean you can't go on to bigger and better things. You know my story - not as drawn out but shitty all the same. Personally I can say it made me even stronger and I learned a lot. I'd still prefer it hadn't happened but I learned to value my life more, the people in my life, and just started living more and not getting stressed about work. I opted out of the game and into a 9-5 where I am very happy but I keep my foot in the door as an independent scholar and that suits me. The rotten experience gave me a rebirth in a way. I hope there's some positives in your experience somewhere. Wishing you great news very soon. Take care :-)
Edit: Anz, I just wanted to reiterate more forcefully that I am so angry that this is allowed to happen in the 21st century. It is just not on - who do these people think they are toying with someone's life in this way? The system needs changing to a more moderated form of examination. It's not right to continue putting such power in the hands of one person.

My two cents would be that even if you want to do it for the right personal reasons (passion for a particular topic or craving to find out the answer to a particular research question), I would still recommend you do it part-time while staying in your job. The grim reality is that it is next to impossible to land a permanent well paid academic job in many fields and it is also often very difficult to transition to a non-academic job afterwards. Out of 7 who graduated in my department last year (social sciences) 5 are still unemployed and publications don't seem to be making a difference. Last I heard, one of them had taken to applying for shop and cleaning jobs. I am doing jobs I could have done after my degree but I am happy. Having said that, I did love my project and got to publish, present and lecture and they were all great experiences but it was a costly thing to do and I'm not sure I could say I'd do it again if I could wind back the clock. To me it's a no brainer for you given that you're in a good job that you are happy in - stick with your job and don't allow yourself to be used as cheap labour for the university.

Hi folks,
No longer in academia but considering putting in an abstract to plug my forthcoming book at an academic conference next summer. I have only ever done individual presentations but the most appropriate theme for me falls under 'working groups'. There's no detail on the conference website about what this is and I never attended these 'working groups' at conferences. So can anyone tell me what it is? Is it just like a normal session with say 3 or 4 individual presenters or is it more a roundtable sort of thing but you still give your presentation only sitting at a round table. I haven't got a notion so if anyone knows can you give me the heads up? Ta, folks.

Everything crossed for you, Anz. My situation wasn't as difficult as yours because it wasn't as prolonged but I do agree with you that the system is disgusting and a large part of the reason why I felt inclined to go for a non-academic career after the way I was treated. How could I respect that system? Your mention of mental health reminded me that this time last year I was thinking, "thank god I didn't have any existing mental health issues" because I can't begin to imagine how the major correction or R&R process must impact on someone who does. I mean I took it so badly and I was always a happy, optimistic person so how must a person prone to various types of depression cope? It made me very concerned and I might pen an anonymous article at some point for Times Higher Education or someone like that because it needs to be addressed. I had two very scary occasions in the correction period where my heart started racing so fast that I had to sit down and try and catch my breath. I don't know was that a panic attack or what but it scared me as I never had any issue like that before. It's cruel.
I think Ireland, UK and HK are the places with this system that puts all the power in two people's hands. I think in other countries it's examined by a more moderated panel of people and I think that would be better.
I wish I could say something to help, Anz, but all I can say is I do understand the stress and worry you're experiencing. Nothing stops it only finding out the result but I think you do start to appreciate the little things in life more. You're one tough cookie and remind me of Pineapple who used to post here. You know you can do anything now. I'm wishing you all the best, Anz, and hoping you get the perfect Christmas present :-)

Hi glowworm, I didn't call myself Dr on my job apps following viva but funnily enough letters of invitation for interview were addressed to Dr J and when I went to interview they shook my hand and said "Great to meet you Dr J". So even if you don't refer to yourself as Dr on the job app they might call you it anyway ;-) Based on this my perception was that it's no big deal. You've got it and it's just a matter of the paper work being sorted.

My advice = go with the job. Just browse this forum and see how many freshly minted PhD grads are unemployed or in a job way below their qualifications. If I could wind back the clock I wouldn't bother. Please don't do it - that's what I say to everyone!

Hi Anz, I remember your posts from earlier this year. I just wanted to say well done on getting the corrections done. You'll probably recall that I was in a very similar position. I endured a full week of feeling sick and sleepless nights after resubmitting it post-viva before they let me know it had passed and all was fine. I even took to saying novenas (was raised a Roman Catholic). I know that rubs people up the wrong way but it did give me much needed solace at probably the lowest point in my life. I had no idea when they would get back and it was coincidence/divine intervention (take your pick) that on the night before I received confirmation I had passed I just finished the 9 day novena and I lay awake all night watching The Godfather series of films. I then got up and had to go to the social welfare office. Could life get more depressing? Came home and there was an email waiting for me. I was at the point where I wasn't sleeping, I was sick, I was shaking, I couldn't have cared if I died. Then the arseholes finally let me know I had passed. They completely ruined my thesis and damaged my confidence for a brief period but I am now converting the proper version into a book and have recovered but it's made me very wary of people. The rest is history. I'm so sorry you had to endure the same shite as me. It's beyond ridiculous. Never feel that you did anything wrong here. Just remember you encountered a pair of self-centred idiots and that's it. Wishing you all the v best but no solutions as to how to get through this limbo period.

Bewildered and awsoci, thank you so much for the suggestions. I have decided to incorporate my non-academic jobs onto my CV. I like the idea, awsoci, of talking about transferable skills. Cheers again folks.