Your results have just been released. Hopefully you have been successful in your studies and are enjoying celebrating your achievement. Unfortunately, maybe the news you receive is not so positive. You get the unwelcome message that you have ‘failed’ your thesis or dissertation. Despite your undoubted disappointment, this should not stop you from continuing to study, completing your programme and obtaining your qualification. Simply pause and ask yourself: ‘what can I do next?’
First, and foremost, it is worth noting that failing a thesis or dissertation is not uncommon. After all, for most of your degree, many of of your assessments were short, directed tasks, which accounted for relatively small credits towards your overall qualification. When it comes to your thesis, or dissertation, however, you are often left to work alone, for a long period of time. During this time, you are using a process that is relatively new to you, and which comprises a large proportion of the credits you need to complete your programme.
Take note of the proverb put forward by Thomas H. Palmer in his Teacher’s Manual. ‘Tis a lesson you should heed: Try, try, try again. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again’. Unless your college’s rules say otherwise, it is usual for students to have an opportunity to submit a revised thesis or dissertation, and/or do another viva voce (oral examination). You should most certainly ‘try again’!
Review your result
When ‘trying again’, you need to verify exactly what your result means. One student we worked with contacted us in a panic. They said they had ‘failed’ their dissertation. When we looked at their transcript, it simply said the mark was ‘withheld’ (some institutions use other wording, such as ‘pending’). This did not mean that they had failed, but, rather, there was a delay in publishing their result. This can happen if, for instance, the Examination Board did not have all the information they needed, such as requiring further evidence in support of the thesis. In such cases, you will be requested to furnish additional information within a specified (usually short) timeframe before you can obtain your overall result. Occasionally, if an Examination Board is not able to agree a mark/score on the available evidence, students can be offered a viva voce examination (an oral defence of their work).
Another common result given is ‘failed, entitled to resubmit’. This indicates that you have not passed your thesis, but can resubmit all, or part of your assessment work, for further consideration by the examiners. The results for such resubmissions are typically ‘capped’. This means that if you are successful in your resubmission, you will only be awarded the lowest available pass grade. Nonetheless, it is well worthwhile resubmitting, so you can complete your programme of studies and rightfully earn your degree.
Try again. Do better
Another proverb, this time from Samuel Beckett. ‘Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better’.
Assuming your overall result is a ‘fail, entitled to resubmit’ you should view this as your opportunity to ‘do better’. To help, we recommend you seek feedback on your performance. It is important to do this immediately, as information on why students fail is not normally retained by institutions for too long after the official results are published.
In some cases, the Examinations Board provides feedback in the form of a written performance profile, or report, which identifies areas where marks have been gained or lost. Performance profiles vary in the amount of detail they offer, as the content is decided by the Examination Board, who, in turn, are advised by the institute’s general assessment regulations. You will, however, receive a score/mark on each component, or part, of the thesis. You may find minor differences between your overall, examinable, score and the component-level scores on your performance profile. This can occur when the Examination Board checks and revises borderline scores and amends the overall score, accordingly. In this situation, you can be confident that your awarded score/mark is correct.
Even if you do not receive written feedback, you may be able to approach your supervisor and/or examiner(s) to request some. Most are usually willing to offer verbal observations, but will rarely give written comments, as this might cut across decisions made by the Board. Again, you should try to do this quickly, as those who are most likely to be able assist you (such as your supervisor, internal examiner, or external examiner) may be moving on to the next cohort of students. It is important to seek not just feedback, but feed-forward. In other words, to discuss with your supervisor and/or examiner how you can improve your research study, document structure and/or presentation format, when you resubmit.
Other supports
In addition, you should establish what other supports may be available to help you resubmit your work. In some colleges, your supervisor remains in place until your second submission is complete. Whereas, in other institutions, you are automatically appointed an alternative supervisor to assist with resubmission. Even if no supervision is provided, you may have access to a counsellor or mentor to help you. Regardless of what is (or is not) available, it is always worthwhile checking. The more guidance you can obtain, at this stage, the better. If no support is forthcoming from your college, seek help from other students who have passed their thesis. Find out, who, in your class, was awarded a first/distinction. Would they share a copy of their thesis with you? Could you ask for their advice on how to improve yours?
Check the rules for resubmission
Make sure you know the rules for resubmission. You need to find out when, where, and in what format, you can resubmit. Questions you may need to pose are:
When should resubmission happen? This could vary from a couple of days, to up to six months after the original submission date. If you are not ready to rework your thesis or dissertation straight away, you may be able to postpone to the next opportunity for resubmission. This could, however, be as much as twelve months away. If you are ready, confirm who is responsible for registering you for your resubmission. In some institutions, this is done automatically by the faculty; in others, you will be responsible for your own registration.
What will your institution allow you to revise? Sometimes, it is only the presentation elements of your thesis document that can be changed (such as, structure, layout, typeface, and so on). Whereas in other cases, you are permitted a total rewrite of your study. This may occur, for example, when the content is of an appropriate standard, but it contains errors related to spellings, grammar, citing and referencing. Some institutions will only allow you to alter components for which you have a fail mark (such as, if your findings are poorly written up, you may be invited to revise that chapter/section only). Others may direct you to refine, or amend, a specific section (for example, your abstract).
The viva voce
In cases where you are invited to a viva voce, or a second presentation, it is usually because the research itself is passable, but the Examinations Board wants added assurances. For example, that you carried out the work yourself, or that you fully understood the research process you followed. This may mean that you will have to prepare for an in-depth, audio-visual presentation, and/or, participate in an oral questions and answer session. If your research is genuinely yours, and you understood what you did, this should not phase you. Make sure that you prepare in advance and practice, practice, practice. It would be helpful to have a copy of your thesis document ready, with key information marked up, so that you can refer to them easily.
If all else fails?
One final proverb comes to mind here. ‘If at first you don’t succeed; try, try again; then give up, and go and do something else instead’ (anon.).
If you are not eligible for a resubmission, or if they are not available for your thesis, you should check to see if you can gain credit for the research by retaking the whole module. That is, by doing new research and submitting that in place of your original thesis, or take another module, like a taught module, instead.
Finally. most institutions have an appeals mechanism, and this is the ultimate course of action you can take. With a thesis, or dissertation, it is rare to have the result of an Examinations Board overturned. The Appeals Board, however, may offer an alternative way of obtaining credit to complete your qualification, for example, by obtaining credits on another module.
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