So I finally got my result...which isn't really much of a result. As I've stated before, I doubt my 'congratulations Dr' email will ever come.

Although I've had 12 months R&R, followed by a 6 month minor revision period - both of which have taken up 2 years of my life (my viva was in December 2014), due to the dispute over my revisions, I have been given special permission by the Deputy Vice Chancellor to give further consideration to what my external examiner wants. As a result of this, I've been sent a rather vague 3 paragraphs of further revisions to do over the next 6 months (even though my last submission was meant to be my final submission - as per the university regulations).

This is a result I was not expecting at all because my last outcome letter said that my last submission would indeed be my last. So the thought of going back to my thesis now just seems impossible - I can barely remember large chunks of it.

I am absolutely sure at this stage that however I attempt to do these corrections will not please my external as we clearly are living in parallel universes. I am also sure that, if I resubmit for a third time, I will be waiting until 2018 for my result which, quite likely, will be a fail as my external has repeatedly shown that she does not want this thesis passed.

I think this revision period is just a way of giving the university more time to figure out how to deal with the situation. It's just time buying, nothing more.

So I don't know what to do. I've just thrown half my work across the room out of rage so, as you can imagine, I'm dealing with the situation very well.

My job is also incredibly demanding and I can barely stay afloat. There's no way I'm walking away from the PhD...but I don't deem this situation fair at all. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Hello all,

Thank you once again for all your supportive messages. I am pleased to say that the complaint against me has been dropped after I provided sufficient evidence that I never used the title of 'Dr' to falsify or mislead anyone into giving me a job etc. Fortunately I was able to prove that this misunderstanding was down to administrative error. I would certainly never dream of calling myself a Dr - my PhD process has been jinxed enough as it is!!

Still no news regarding my result/examiner's dispute. So the wait continues.

I'm certain that this student complaint was directly resulted to the dispute and has held my result up for even longer. Not too sure if I'll hear anything this side of Christmas...

I've decided not to chase the university for now as any contact I have with them seems to result in very negative circumstances. I think I'm best giving them space and hoping that they are fighting for me (cue eye roll). Plus, my most recent emails of two weeks ago have been ignored anyway so I'm sure that more emails and phone calls will just meet the same fate.

Will keep you all updated.

Hey JStanley, good to hear from you. Thank you for your supportive words. It is a crazy situation to be in and seems to get worse the further I venture down this path. I hope with all my heart that I get this PhD. I just seem lost in this grey waiting area terrified at the fact that my external seems willing to do anything she can to make sure I don't get this doctorate. I just hope justice is served. Will let you know! - Anz (now known as faded due to the paranoia that someone is clearly Google stalking me...! Not that there is anything wrong with writing here, plus it's all anonymous etc. And, to be honest, I feel faded at this stage!!)

(2/2) It seems quite obvious that this complaint is connected to the dispute over whether my PhD should pass. I'll never know who it is that raised this complaint but I assume it is someone involved in the process (potentially my external).

I guess they think that I got my lecturing job fraudulently and are trying to ensure an instant dismissal. Fortunately, they can dream on.

My staff profile was changed immediately and all my students have had to be informed that, if they saw a 'Dr' next to my name at any point, this was incorrect. Talk about humiliating.

I continue to be in immense shock that my PhD institution has no regard for my life or career. They keep me waiting for as long as they want with no information, lose important documents, issue me with wrong results and now dare to raise a serious complaint against me which could seriously damage both myself and my employer's reputation.

I've always tried to distance myself from the emotions of this process and tell myself that it's nothing personal. But now, it really fucking is.

Sorry for the vent, I'm just at the end of my tether her. And yes, I'm sure it will get worse.

As per usual, any advice or comments greatly appreciated. Thank you all.

(1/2) Hello all,

Thought I'd update you on my situation. The title of my journey is "Just when you think it can't get any worse, it always does".

Still no news regarding the disagreement between my examiners. Polite e-mails that I sent last week asking if my thesis had gone to Senate etc have been ignored and, as per usual, the university aren't at all bothered about leaving me in the dark. It's been a five month wait now since I submitted and no one can give me an expected turnaround time for when (or if) this dispute will be resolved.

Anyway, the way in which it got much worse is....

I received an official letter from the university this week from student complaints saying I was being investigating for fraudulently using my PhD when I haven't been awarded it yet. Long story short: someone (who clearly despises me) found my staff profile on the university where I work which (through admin error) had 'Dr' in front of my name. This was something I had not written myself and, as my colleagues can verify, I never during my application or employment at the institution stated that I had been awarded my PhD. Everyone knew that I had submitted with minors and was awaiting my result.

As a result of this complaint, my employer has been contacted by my PhD university and is being investigated. This is absolutely degrading and humiliating for me as I've only been in my new job for 3 months. I've had to have meetings with my HoD and explain everything that's been happening over the past couple of weeks.

I now have 10 days to write a personal statement defending myself (when I've done absolutely nothing wrong). Fortunately my employer is as shocked as me and is being incredibly supportive, with all my colleagues coming forward to give statements to ensure I never lied about my credentials.

Hi all,

Thanks again for your advice. Gwen86 - I don't have a counsellor at the moment. I'm too busy counselling my undergraduate students to warrant seeking counselling myself (oh dear!) I'm not sure if I'm the counselling type anyway to be honest, although I appreciate it might be a good way to vent.

I still don't have any update on my PhD. My supervisor said he'd try and find out if my internal examiner was now looking at the thesis. That was last Thursday. My internal is in the office next door to my supervisor but it seems that getting the answer to such a simple question is, as always, extremely tedious. I'm yet to have any update from my supervisor.

I also wrote to a senior academic who seems to have taken over the role of the admin team (she's the one who sent me the email explaining that there is a disagreement). I sent her a calm and short email thanking her for looking into this for me and asked the following:

"I appreciate that the university is looking into the best way to resolve this disagreement. Do you know how long this issue has been under discussion? I assume that, in keeping with Senate Regulations, a Designated Officer has been appointed to resolve this issue? If so, are you able to give me any indication of a time frame in which this matter is likely to be resolved?"

That was last Friday - it's now Tuesday and I've had no response. I'll have to give it until the end of the week but I fail to understand why answering such basic questions is so difficult for everyone involved in my PhD.

I know it's not over yet and there's still a chance but I just feel so exhausted after waiting nearly 5 months (+ everything that's gone before that). I can't sleep at night and my job is so demanding (with a 6 hour commute)...I think I'm going to have a burnout.

Thank you all for your advice and support. It makes such a difference to have your feedback and gain some insight from fellow PhD'ers.

I'm still feeling pretty numb about it all. I contacted my supervisor yesterday and he just replied with a one sentence email saying he would look into it. I think he must have known as he's been very quiet over the past month and hadn't been very proactive in getting any information for me.

Much as I want to push them in terms of time limits etc, I also don't want to rush them into making a decision which might not be to my advantage. I have to assume (and hope) that the university is fighting for me and, I guess, leave them to their own devices until I hear more.

Having looked at the PhD guidelines, there doesn't seem to be any rule as to what happens in this scenario. They've only included a clause on if examiners disagree over what revisions need to be done...in which case the issue goes to senate in order for it to be resolved. I can't find any information as to what happens if they disagree over whether the revisions are up to PhD standard.

I seriously can't believe that I could lose out on my PhD over 12,000 words of revisions when, according to the paperwork I have so far, the other 150,000 words of my PhD are deemed to have met the standards. I worked really hard on my minor revisions and thought they were the best I could produce - I really tried to think outside of my own mind and tried to embody the mind of my external examiner. Evidently that didn't get me anywhere.

I wish there was something I could do but I guess I just have to be patient. I'm scared this is going to go into 2017 now and I just can't bear that thought...the wait gets harder as more time passes.

Hello all,

I heard some disappointing news today which, to be honest, I was half prepared for as I knew a 4 and a half month wait after minors wasn't normal.

After much chasing, I received an email from the office updating me about the situation. It said the following:

"It seems that there has been a disagreement about whether you have met the requirements for the revisions. As a consequence, further consideration is being given to how best to resolve this.

Unfortunately, it may take a bit of time. I understand that this needs to be resolved as soon as possible, but I’m afraid that this is all I can tell you at this stage (as the matter is now lying with senior colleagues). I’m waiting to hear what the decision is about how best to take this forward, and I will certainly get in touch with you when I do receive word."

I'm absolutely devastated...again...I'm kind of becoming numb to the devastation now.

Hello all,

Thank you for your continued advice. I decided to call up the postgraduate office today as they never replied to my email which was sent a week ago.

I was told that the relevant administrator who is overseeing my paperwork was in a meeting and that I'd get a call back later today (that was at 11am). I waited until 4pm and no call back so I chased them again myself. I then got told that the relevant person was now out of the office so they couldn't give me any information. Apparently I will get a call back with an update tomorrow (I think not...)

Am going to start chasing this a bit harder now but am absolutely terrified of what will be waiting for me at the end of the trail.

Thank you all for your advice and support :)

Hi timefortea, congratulations on passing with minor corrections! You must be thrilled! I hope you are enjoying some well deserved celebrations :)

Unfortunately I still haven't heard anything. I wrote to the administrator who is overseeing my PhD a week ago but haven't had a reply. I can only assume she is following up with my examiner. My report doesn't give an official turnaround time for my revisions to be marked within and and the postgraduate office confirmed that the examiner can take as long as they want to read through my revisions so I'm completely screwed on that front.

I have a feeling that I won't hear anything this side of Christmas now. The general advice from fellow academics is to chase things up and create a storm about it. The advice from my family, however, is to steer clear of being too pushy. They've seen how badly I've been treated by the university and know that agitating the administration team or my examiner probably won't bode well for me.

I'm just so fed up with waiting now. I feel like I'll never (ever, ever) simply receive an email saying that my revisions have been approved and that my PhD is finally over. I'm just busying myself with my job - if I didn't have that I think I'd be going insane!

Also, I should have said, I have contacted my supervisor about this and his reply was that "it is in progress" and there is nothing more concrete he can tell me.

My PhD journey has been long and tedious with the most bizarre and stressful occurrences happening (from my viva report being lost to an incorrect result being given to me). If you want to know more please read my old posts.

However, quite simply, I want to know how long you would expect to wait after submitting your thesis post-viva with minor revisions?

I was initially told by my supervisor it would probably take 2 weeks to get a result. It's now been nearly 4 and a half months and I've heard nothing. 2 months ago I was finally enlightened (after some chasing) that my examiner had been signed off ill but was now back to work and reading my thesis. But yet I'm still waiting...

The revisions should take about 2 hours to read through (an additional 12,000 words) which are all clearly marked in the thesis and referenced in my additional explanatory document.

I keep telling myself that I'll wait just another week...then another week...then another...before I start to chase this. I'm extremely concerned that something isn't right but certainly don't want to rattle my external examiner's cage by pushing for a result. However, I have lost job opportunities due to not having the PhD and, like clockwork, another job has come up this week which would be perfect for me and is close to home, but says 'PhD essential'.

Please could I ask all of you for your advice and as much of it as possible. You are all in, or have been in, the PhD struggle: if it was you, what would you do (if anything)?

Hi timefortea, thanks for your message - no news I'm afraid. It's been 4 months and 1 week now. I told myself I would hold out until November so as to not look too pushy and I have definitely reached my limit of patience. I am going to email my supervisor today asking for some reassurance that I haven't been completely forgotten about. Feeling very fed up...

Thanks pm33. I agree - if I could just have some confirmation from the office/examiner that I haven't been lost in the system I would feel calmer about things. After losing my viva report and issuing me with an incorrect result last year, I don't have much faith in them. I know most people already assume a pass when given minors but (if you look back at my old posts) you will understand why I fear the worst. Will keep you posted.

Hi BKA, thank you for your supportive message. Yes I can only assume my examiner was seriously ill and would obviously understand if this was the case. However, I was told she was back to work as of 6 weeks ago and was reading the thesis but yet I'm still waiting. If this goes into November I don't know what I'm going to do...I feel anxious about the result every day. Will keep you updated!