The Thesis Examiner Report
What examiners write about a thesis, the recommendations they choose between, and what you can fix before they read it.
After reading your thesis, each examiner writes a report for your university. Its format is set by the institution, so the exact headings, the list of possible outcomes and whether you see the report before your defence or viva all vary. Check your own university's examination regulations for the rules that apply to you. This guide describes the parts most reports share, so you know what an examiner is reading for.
What a report usually contains
Most examiner reports, whatever the form, cover the same ground in some order.
- A summary of the thesis in the examiner's words
- what it set out to do and what it found. A summary that misses your main point is a signal the thesis did not make it clear.
- An assessment against the degree's criteria
- for a doctorate, usually an original contribution to knowledge, command of the literature, sound methods and a coherent presentation.
- Specific comments
- questions for the defence, points that need more justification, and lists of corrections, often by page.
- A recommendation
- the outcome the examiner proposes to the university.
The usual recommendations
Names and categories differ by country and university. A common set looks like this:
- Accept as it stands, or with no corrections.
- Minor corrections
- typos, small clarifications, missing references, to be made within a short period.
- Major corrections
- substantive changes to chapters, analyses or arguments, checked again before the degree is awarded.
- Revise and resubmit
- the thesis is re-examined after a longer revision.
- A lower degree or fail
- rare, and usually preceded by warnings during the degree.
An outline of a report
This is an illustrative structure, not a real report and not any university's form. It shows how the parts usually fit together.
EXAMINER'S REPORT Candidate, thesis title, degree 1. Summary of the thesis Aims, methods, main findings, as the examiner understood them. 2. Assessment Contribution to the field Use of the literature Methods and analysis Presentation and structure 3. Points for the oral examination Questions the candidate should be ready to answer. 4. Corrections Required: changes needed before the degree is awarded. Suggested: improvements left to the candidate. Typographical: listed by page. 5. Recommendation One of the outcomes in the university's regulations.
What you can fix before an examiner reads it
An examiner's time is better spent on your research than on the list of typographical corrections. The items in section 4 of the outline are the ones you can remove in advance.
- Citations that do not match the bibliography, and entries never cited.
- Figures and tables numbered out of order, without captions, or never mentioned in the text.
- Acronyms used before they are defined.
- Terms used inconsistently across chapters.
- Typos, unclear sentences and an abstract that no longer matches the results.
Where a review fits
The Thesis Review looks for exactly those problems in the whole document and lists them in one report, for $99 paid before the review runs. It is not an examiner's report: it does not assess your contribution, your methods or your use of the literature, and it makes no recommendation. It clears the ground so your examiners can focus on those.
Frequently asked questions
The written assessment an examiner sends to the university after reading a thesis. It usually summarises the thesis, assesses it against the degree's criteria, lists questions and corrections, and recommends an outcome.