Examiners' joint report after the viva

After the oral examination, the joint examiners’ report should be completed, signed and countersigned by the Director of PGR Studies then returned to the Doctoral College Operations (DCO) team.

Notifying the PGR of the examiners' recommendation

The process of notifying the PGR and supervisor of the recommendation the examiners are sending forward should normally take place after the viva but, in any event, must take place within 24 hours of the oral examination. It should be made clear that the recommendation is subject to the approval of the Graduate Board’s Examinations Group.

Completing the final joint examiners' report

The final report must be completed immediately after the viva.

The main body of the final report must be typed using the Report templates available. 

The joint report must be countersigned by the Director of PGR Studies (or Head of School). The report can be passed to the Graduate School to arrange for countersignature. 

The report should be returned to your Graduate School within 10 working days of the examination, together with the preliminary reports, and the report from the Independent Chair (if appointed). Where the recommendation is referral, notes for guidance must also be submitted with the report.

Please do not give a copy of the report to the PGR at this stage. The examiners’ report and recommendation must be approved by the Graduate Board’s Examinations Group.

General feedback on the examination process

If examiners wish to submit separate comments or provide any general comment or feedback regarding the examination process which they wish to bring to the attention of the Graduate Board, they are invited to do so by writing to Doctoral College Operations: rp_examinations@adm.leeds.ac.uk. 

Graduate Board's Examinations Group

The recommendation of the examiners is subject to final approval by the Graduate Board’s Examinations Group. Members consider the content of every report form to establish that the criteria for the award of the degree has been met. The Group may ask for further information if it is not satisfied that the recommendation has been clearly and sufficiently justified or if specific examples are lacking.

Release of the examiners' report to the candidate

The joint examiners’ report will be sent to the candidate and their supervisor(s) by DCO after approval by the Examinations Group. Please bear this in mind when completing your report. Further guidance is given on the instructions to examiners page.

Failure to reach an agreement

In the exceptional circumstances of a failure to reach agreement on the recommendation (within the 24 hour period available) the internal examiner is asked to contact DCO immediately. If the examiners are unable to reach an agreement they must submit separate, independent final reports. For more details, please download the procedure to be followed.