Research degree examining – common principles and divergent practices

Reports on discussions that took place at a series of specialist seminars and workshops on research degree examining organised by the UK Council for Graduate Education during 2000/2001 at various venues in the UK. Debates the processes and procedures of research degree examination in the UK in terms of variations in practice that exist along with principles that signal a common identity. Takes account of the effects of developments in, for example, professional doctorates and the PhD by published work and on perceptions of the “traditional” examination. Issues addressed include: the composition of PhD examining panels and the roles of individual examiners; the training and qualification of examiners; the purpose and nature of the oral examination; the tension between examination of the process of training and that of the “finished product” (which the thesis may be seen to represent). Argues for the need for more transparency about examination processes, for challenge to common assumptions and for a refocusing on research degree examination as a process of assessment.