Revise and resubmit result following viva

[Chimps97]

last week I sat my viva after almost 9 years part time PhD and unexpectedly received a revise and resubmit. I was expecting major corrections- but this feels so much worse. I’m not an academic and have no one in my family/friendship group who has a PhD so had never even heard of this - I’ve just focussed on the “fail”. My supervisors, TAP team and mock viva have been surprised, and did not see this coming either.
I was told R&R without the need for another viva, and 12 months…can anyone explain how R&R is different to major corrections? I presume it’s just an indication that examiners believe work is of a much lower standard?
i think examiners had made their decision prior to the viva due to some
of the comments made, and that there was not 1 single positive comment made about the work through the viva.
Reading through the previous threads has been very helpful- I’m so sorry that others have been in a similar situation and I would not wish this on anyone. I have had very challenging experiences, but I have to say this has been one of the worst experiences of my life. I can’t stop crying (not actually a crier usually), can’t eat, sleep and feel so low.
I’ll await the report, but really question whether I should progress as I have missed out on almost 10 years with this over my head (I work full time in a very challenging job - not academic and PhD will make zero difference - it was always more of a personal challenge).
can anyone advise - am i automatically eligible for MSc or could my work be too poor for this too?? Also - those who been through this process - what would you do? The oral feedback in the viva felt subjective (external examiner directly challenged what my lead supervisor had repeatedly guided - and said “I would have guided you differently “ - they might have done - but they weren’t my supervisor!) so I am paranoid i can spend another year, only for them to subjectively judge something else.…

I’m so sorry this has happened. A negative viva experience is soul destroying. It feels so personal, especially when you’ve worked incredibly hard over such a long period of time. revise and resubmit it’s not the end of the world, especially if they are not looking for a second viva. It sounds like it is closer to major corrections, and once you see the report, you’ll get a feel for how much they want you to do. You can talk about this with your supervisor and come up with a plan.

I had a negative viva experience, it can be truly heartbreaking to finish your PhD on such a negative outcome but don’t let one person‘s opinion of your work take away what you have done. A PhD, part-time whilst working in a challenging job is an incredible achievement. You should be proud of yourself.

Hang in there, wait for the report and give yourself some time to get over this before you make a decision.

Doing scholarly research at this level requires resilience & determination. Rejection and/or correction of hard work are pretty normal in academic life - it's about rigour & protecting the highest standards possible.

Don't think about the whys or wherefores (ie why it's not major corrections etc etc). Just get the Examiners' reports, and do what they ask.

Importantly, don't do more than they ask. There is a tendency for candidates to feel they have failed, and to feel they need to completely rewrite the thesis. Don't self-sabotage like that. Work through the report methodically with your supervisor, and try to take it step by step.

Believe me, if the examiners wanted to fail you, they would have. If they thought it was touch & go, they'd require a second viva. There are worse things than revise & resubmit.

You may be required to do some restructuring, or find new data, or whatever - these are things which can make the difference between major corrections and R & R.

I've had one student get R&R which was given as a kindness by the examiners because (a) it gives more time for changes and (b) it allows for more rounds of revision to get things up to scratch.

If it was a fail, they award an mphil and say goodbye.

R&R is giving you the space to make changes he get the PhD complete. So talk to your supervisor and keep going.

Sometimes there is very little between major corrections and a revise and resubmit. It may be that the examiners wanted to give you more time to make the changes and a R&R was the only way to do that. The lack of a second viva is a good sign.

When you get the corrections list, work through it dispassionately - it’s a job that needs to be done. Just do it. When you submit, include the list of corrections and annotate it to show how you have responded and where.

A bad viva is an awful experience. I know, I had one. But you have not failed your thesis. An R&R just means you have more work to do to get there. Take a deep breath, don’t do anything for a couple of weeks and then roll your sleeves up and start tackling the revisions.

You can do it!

edited to remove an extra word.

i had a shit viva too, and still have no empathy, sympathy or kind thoughts for my examiners, even so many years after - got R&R also, nearly gave up science, cried loads, saw it as total embarrassing failure... etc.

all previous advice is spot on - it may have been a kindness to give you more time as per uni guidelines, you defended well since no other viva... deal with it with dispassion, don t let it kill the satisfaction of finishing, and, if you bear a grudge like me, you can dream up ways of how you d confront the examiners years after the fact...

Yup, I agree with above - if they don't want another viva, it's not really a rejection - if they were worried you couldn't revise to passable level, they would want another viva. Where I am, they CAN'T fail you without a viva, so it would be a signal they expected you to pass in 12 months. It is often a time thing - major corrections is 3 months, but R&R is 12 months, so I'd say they felt that it would be too much to do in 3 months and wanted to give you more time.

You’ve had good advice on here. A second viva would be a much more daunting prospect: hopefully your examiners report will be specific and detailed, and then you can pick yourself up and work through it systematically. For now, totally reasonable to wallow a bit and I hope you have good support around you.

Hi
please do not regard the resubmit as failing because it’s not.. it is another chance to make your work better… a lot of time you are guided by your supervisors who might have a different view on methodology than how examiners would… sometimes you can have all the necessary knowledge but you may not have write it down as adequately as it could and probably in your viva you answered and you showed PhD level yet they want to see it on paper
please make the corrections and get your PhD the corrections will be straightforward so you will have more clarity on what you need to add or adjust. You can even finish the corrections may be a bit earlier than 12 months. Trust me, I know the frustration that comes with it but once you get your report and the comments all written, you will have more clarity. I advise you not to settle for less as you have come all this long.
i got the same about two months ago and Im working on it

Hi
please do not regard the resubmit as failing because it’s not.. it is another chance to make your work better… a lot of time you are guided by your supervisors who might have a different view on methodology than how examiners would… sometimes you can have all the necessary knowledge but you may not have write it down as adequately as it could and probably in your viva you answered and you showed PhD level yet they want to see it on paper
please make the corrections and get your PhD the corrections will be straightforward so you will have more clarity on what you need to add or adjust. You can even finish the corrections may be a bit earlier than 12 months. Trust me, I know the frustration that comes with it but once you get your report and the comments all written, you will have more clarity.