You guys are awesome, i'm so glad i'm not alone on this.
My sup has always seemed too busy to have long sessions or to make much constructive feedback, but part of this is because over the last few pieces of work he sees no real improvement in me, and a small part of me thinks he sees me as a lot of effort!
This weekend is dedicated to seeing how my writing has changed from UG to PG and now to PhD *sighs*, so hopefully from that i can pinpoint some explanations for my recent submission. As my mum says, i will battle on.
;-)

You make a lot of sense to me, in fact, i think there is a lot of common sense to writing in general.
However i think i have always known what my problems are and have yet attempted to really put them into practice.
I'm so embarrassed to be working at this level and asking what seems to be so many silly questions!
I feel thoroughly stupid having got this far and only just beginning to address these problems.

Honestly, i was a bit shocked to ask what exactly was wrong, but as far as i know the following are the major points:

1) General phrase and vocab are an issue. I tend to use too many words/ and overcomplicated phrases to describe what i'm talking about. But in social science, this is how i feel i have been trained. Overly complex terms and jargon have become too natural to me, but i haven't found a balance of explaining them without assuming my reader is a complete idiot.
2) Structure is a big issue. I lose the narrative and logical flow of my arguments, but i think i knew this already. Much of my work thus far has been under pressure and i think i lose sight of this when trying to achieve deadlines. Especially at the moment, when i'm attempting to do field work AND write, AND read.
3) Also, I think i have started to over-use subtitles to help me understand where i am going, but which may break up my 'story' too much.

I have been told there is a big discrepancy between some of my current work and some of my previous MA pieces, demonstrating that my writing has gone downhill, but have been told to go away and see this for myself, so i guess this is my next goal.

:p
Sneaks, you have made my day, i knew i was doing something right!

Thanks Sneaks,
I think you are right, reading comes before writing, and although i don't read the daily mail (!), it is a possibility that i don't think about the style of my sup's work or of journal articles whilst i am reading them.
I am so very willing to improve on my writing skills, i just can't help but feel i should have this awesome writing style already pinned down by now! I naively thought if i got immersed in my field work now i could sort out the writing as i developed. I guess its a little bit more immediate than that now.

Hi Bonzo,
Thanks for that, there's some really good advise there which i will definitely think about.
I think that i don't ask for constructive feedback enough, and moreover, do not have one of these great relationships with my supervisor that some other people have.
Its just such a knock down to be compared to an undergraduate after completing two pretty good Masters, i think my confidence has hit an all time low which prompted such self-doubt!
Today's meeting in which these concerns were raised with my sup just felt like i was expected to just p*** off and forget about what i was here to do purely on the basis of writing, which, as you pointed out, CAN be improved with time and effort. I'm just worried they do just want me out. :-s
I know a PhD is a hard slog, but i couldn't imagine doing anything else right now.

Hi guys, i hope someone out there may be able to give me some comforting advice!
I've just worked my way through a year of a 1+3 scholarship and started my MPhil this academic year, however, have just been told my writing is not up to scratch, and - to my horror - that my writing is actually regressing back to an undergraduate level instead of progressing to an acceptable academic style expected of a PhD. In fact (again to my complete and utter horror) my last piece of submitted work was so poor my supervisor has sent me away to think if i actually want to do a PhD, adding that i may not be capable of it.
I would like to know if anyone thinks giving up now is the right thing to do, or whether i should fight the good fight, because my ideas aren't the problem. Or, also, if anyone else has submitted 'substandard' work but has eventually made their way past it?
I have had a few writing classes, but as far as i'm concerned, i cannot wake up one day and be a professional writer ... or can i?? Please help!!!