Milestones, assessment and completion

Throughout your PhD, you'll work towards a number of key milestones that support your progress and prepare you for examination. This section outlines the processes involved in progression reviews, thesis submission, the viva voce examination, and the deposit of your completed e-thesis.

Progression and review milestones

During your research degree, you will have regular reviews. These make sure that: 

  • your progress is on track
  • you get the right support
  • any problems are picked up early

On your eDoc project page, the project dates tab shows the deadlines for your reviews. These dates are based on when you started your degree. eDoc will remind you when a milestone is coming up.

Below are the main milestones you need to know about.

Programme approval

Who does this?

PhD and MPhil students

Deadline

  • Full-time within three months of starting
  • Part-time within 6 months of starting

Purpose

To check and approve your research project.

You need to provide

  • A summary of your research (aims and main questions).
  • How your project links to or challenges existing work.
  • A short plan of your research work.
  • Details of facilities, equipment or funding you need.
  • Details of ethical approval (if needed).
  • Proof you have completed the required steps below.

Mandatory requirements before approval

  • Attend your Faculty induction (note: different from the Doctoral Academy welcome event).
  • Complete the Research Ethics online training (certificate must be uploaded to eDoc).
  • Submit a training plan on eDoc.

There are guides to doing a Training Needs Analysis and creating a Training Plan in our eDoc Guides page.

Your application will be reviewed by the Faculty Research Degrees Committee by people who are not your supervisors.

Confirmation of registration

Who does this?

PhD students only

Deadline

  • Full-time within 12 months of starting
  • Part-time within 24 months of starting

Purpose

To check you have the potential to finish your PhD successfully.

What’s involved

Written submission

  • Draft work that could form part of your final thesis. The content/length of this will depend on your subject. Check your Faculty PGR Handbook for more detail.
  • A short progress report (max one page) hat reflects your progress and has plans for how you will complete your degree.
  • A research training report (max 1 page) that reflects on training that you have already done and what more training you still need to do. You can use the Training Needs Analysis section in eDoc to help you to think about what other training you need or skills that you need to work on.

Oral assessment (mini-viva)

  • You will present and defend your submission and future plans.
  • Assessors write reports before and after the oral assessment.
  • The Review Panel then writes a final joint report and recommendation for the Research Degrees Board. 

Who assesses you?

A Review Panel including:

  • one Independent Assessor (The Independent Assessor is someone from LJMU and normally from within your school or subject area but form outside of your supervisory team)
  • your Lead Supervisor
  • at least one Co-Supervisor (The Independent Assessor organises the meeting and completes documents in eDoc)

Annual progress review

Who does this?

PhD and MPhil students

Deadline

One month before your annual re-registration date (except in the year you do Confirmation of Registration)

Purpose

To decide if you can continue with your research.

You need to provide

  • Reflection on your progress so far.
  • Key objectives for the next 12 months.
  • Reflection on training completed and a training plan for the year ahead.

Check your Faculty Handbook for any extra requirements.

There are guides to doing a Training Needs Analysis and creating a Training Plan in our eDoc guides page.

Submission planning

Who does this?

PhD, PhD by Published Work, and MPhil students

Purpose

To prepare for thesis submission.

What you must do

  • Submit a final draft thesis to your supervisors for review.
  • Supervisors need about 1 month to give feedback.
  • Their opinion is advice only – the final decision to submit is yours.

You cannot submit your thesis for examination until this process is complete.

There are guides to Creating an Examination Record and Submission Planning in our eDoc guides page.

Thesis submission and ViVa Voce examination

Examination overview

Your Research Degree examination has two main parts:

  • Submitting your thesis and having it reviewed by examiners.
  • Defending your thesis at a viva voce (oral exam) with the same examiners.

In your final year, you will normally complete both of these steps. The full examination process can take several months, so it’s important to plan ahead.

We recommend that you attend the following workshops:

  • Preparing for Submission and Assessment
  • 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva workshops.

You can find these in the Events calendar section of eDoc.

More information is available in the Research Degrees Regulations and the Policy and Guidance for the Examination of Research Degrees. We encourage you to read this information to become familiar with the examination process.

Below is a summary of each stage of the thesis submission and viva process.

Intention to submit and thesis submission

After you have completed submission planning, you should complete the Intention to Submit form in eDoc. This lets the Doctoral Academy and your supervisors know when you plan to submit your final thesis.

You must submit your thesis electronically as one PDF file through eDoc. If examiners request printed copies, the Doctoral Academy will provide these.

Please do not send your thesis directly to your examiners. You supervisors should not do this either.

There are eDoc guides to help you to complete the Intention to Submit form and& submitting your thesis in our eDoc guides page.

Appointment of the examination panel

Your Lead Supervisor is responsible for recommending suitable examiners. These recommendations are then reviewed and approved by the Research Degrees Board. We strongly advise discussing potential examiners with your supervisors well in advance.

Sometimes an Independent Chair is appointed to oversee the viva voce.

The Policy and Guidance for the Examination of Research Degrees has details about: 

  • the number of examiners you will have
  • their eligibility criteria
  • how an Independent Chair is appointed

There is a guide to nominating the examination panel through eDoc in our eDoc guides page.

The Viva Voce

Your Lead Supervisor will confirm the practical arrangements for your viva. You will receive the date, time, and location through eDoc.

Please note:
If you need any reasonable adjustments, let the Doctoral Academy know as early as possible so that we can support you.

Your viva may be held in person, online, or in a hybrid format. See our online viva guidance for more information:

Before the viva

Each examiner will write a preliminary report on your thesis. These reports are confidential and are not shared with you or your supervisors.

On the day of your viva

Your examiners will give you their provisional recommendation verbally. They will then submit a formal report, which must be approved by the Research Degrees Board. Once approved, you will receive confirmation via eDoc.

Viva results

Details about the possible outcomes of your viva can be found in Research Degrees Regulations.

Depositing your e-thesis

When you complete your research degree, you need to upload the final approved version of your thesis to the LJMU E-Theses Collection. You will receive instructions once your degree has been awarded. You can find information in the Policy and Guidance for the Presentation and Deposit of Research Theses.