Hi Sunnychicka16,

Sorry you're having such a hard time. This is just a suggestion but if your uni offers any kind of one to one academic writing support for international students, maybe you should book a tutorial with them. If the research director made a judgement about your work after reading just one paragraph, it could be because there are problems with your writing style. If you are lucky and get a good writing tutor you might get some great advice on how to improve your style and how to tackle writing a lot very quickly. At the uni where I work, a student in crisis like you could probably get one tutorial appointment a week for three or four weeks to help them sort themselves out.

I would also go to the SU and see what advice they can give you about getting an extension. From what you've said above about the amount of work you've done so far, I think submitting your thesis just one month from now is a very risky strategy. You might get revise and resubmit but the alternatives are outright fail and resubmit for MPhil.

Good luck.

I know for certain that failing PhDs completely doesn't happen unless you submit something extremely shoddy (1000 word thesis for example). I doubt Sunnychicka is in that position. Resubmitting for MPhil is more possible but that's why Sunnychicka you have to use the viva as an opportunity to show that your work (once you address the shortcomings) would be original enough to warrant a PhD. Vivas by and large tend not to be as merciless as ppl may think- the friend I was referring to submitted only 10,000 words, didn't do much work due to personal reasons but submitted anyway. Even after getting grilled for 3 hours by the external examiner he was still given a revise and resubmit. I do think R&R is more likely- it doesn't seem that you lack any knowledge of your topic, didn't do ANY WORK, have no reasons for the shortcomings etc…If you lacked on that front then an Mphil is possible. Fingers crossed.

I would like to thank you all first for your insights and trying to help me out.

@incognito: My writing was slow but yes as you suggested I am certainly not the one with 1000-10000 words thesis. Although my none of the chapter is finished completely I have written more than 40000 words. My thesis is about a development issue. The participants are the people with whom I worked for years. I am very determined to try to change their situation and helping them to get justice. The only good point about my PhD is that I have never felt bored ever about my topic. In fact I am always afraid that I wont be able to truly justify the injustice of the participants in my thesis. My research is appreciated in all the conferences I presented, it is original. The passion for my research always reflected in my all presentations and also got me research poster prize. All I want to say is that I can finish my PhD and the topic is indeed new and less researched. So, I can show spark in the viva for sure. However I am also afraid if my department would give negative opinions about me to the internal and external, it would be very difficult for me. But the way I was treated there are all possibilities of negative outcomes. I wonder if my Viva could be independent away from my department in which both my examiners would be external.

My biggest fear is outright fail, resubmit for MPhil or MPhil degree. I couldn't afford either of these options in any case.

BTW I contacted the Graduate school and the person I met wondered why my department is not providing me at least 3 months. It is their best interest that the PhD students finish degree. So, as per her advise I made a case. Now the Graduate school will contact my department and supervisors(who certainly wont support me). I contacted the SU as well and he was not of any help. I should accept that my progress was a bit slow and that put me in this situation. I am doing everything I can and writting as well. Let us see what happens. I am keeping the options suggested by you in mind.

@AslingB: The research director didnt know me. He did not have any info about me. During the meeting the verdict he gave was all after hearing what my supervisor is saying. In fact when he said this is not a good piece of work after reading the first para of the draft.my supervisor was of a different opinion. He said the chapter is indeed interesting and there are good arguments in the chapter. All academics have different style and opinion. My two supervisors often disagree with each other regarding topic and writing style. Anyways that is a long topic of discussion. I have attended academic writing session before but I do not have time to attend them now. However thanks for your suggestion Aslin.

Thanks again!

Poor supervision, your supervisor lead you wrongly. Now he'll hide behind your guilt and vulnerability. Contact embassy, get their lawyer. PhDs taken more than 3 years are useless and hopeless.

Uh oh - I'm at 3.5 years, better jack it in now then!

If you worked for the Samaritans mate you wouldn't be able to get a barge underneath Chelsea Bridge for all the falling bodies!

I started mine 4.5 years ago (not part time)... I guess I'm useless and hopeless then. Oh wait, no I'm not.

You or any human is never useless, I meant PhD degree which takes too long due non-academic issues. Industry or university will pick smart & efficient PhDs, won't you agree? Or they feel sorry for us & hire us?

IntoSpiral no need to take things personal and be sensitive. It takes lot of courage and determination to do a PhD, spending nights and days analysing complex subjects and data.let 10 years pass, then you'll know.

I'm not sure what your history is, jackbarr, it might help if you shared it. In my experience not many students finish within three years. Of the 30 or so I know from different UK universities, I can think of two and they finished on time due to a combination of hard work, efficient supervision and fortunate timing. Have any studies looked at employability of students by duration of study? I'd be surprised if they found that this was a significant factor - perhaps it is in extreme cases. Some studentships provide funding for 3.5 or 4 years in recognition that 3 years is unrealistic. Every PhD student I've met has had to be smart and efficient to get anywhere near the end! Employers are well aware of this and are more interested in the relevance of your knowledge and skills than how long it took. People will take it personally if you revive a thread to make statements like those above.