Thesis examination

Review the examination process and outcomes

After your thesis is submitted and your examiners finalised, your thesis will be sent for examination.

Each examiner is sent your thesis together with examination instructions guidelines. Your examiners are required to complete their examination and provide their report within four weeks for MRes theses and five weeks for PhD and MPhil theses. You and your supervisors should not contact examiners during the examination process.

For detailed information about the examination process, see the Graduate Research Thesis Preparation, Submission and Examination Policy.

The information below is applicable to examinations:

Where the supervisor has commenced the nomination of examiners, or the student has submitted their thesis in the e-examination portal on or before 31 August 2024
Where the supervisor has commenced the nomination of examiners and the student has submitted their thesis in the e-examination portal on or after 1 September 2024

Examination outcomes

Award: The thesis meets all required standards in terms of the nature and quality of work undertaken, and the degree can be awarded without any further work by the student, other than the correction of typographical errors and small lapses of expression and presentation in the final copy.
Award (after Corrections): The thesis meets all required standards in terms of the nature and quality of work undertaken, and the degree can be awarded without further examination once the student has made a number of corrections and clarifications in the thesis. The corrections are to be completed to the satisfaction of the Thesis Examination Subcommittee and are required to be completed within one month for MRes students and two months for MPhil/PhD students.
Revision and Re-examination: The thesis does not yet meet all required standards for the award of the degree and the student should complete a further period of research and writing. Normally, under this category, a student would re-enrol for a period of up to one-year full-time (or equivalent). The thesis will then be submitted for re-examination.
Not award: The thesis does not meet the required standards for the award of the degree, and does not warrant a further period of research and writing.

MRes students will also be awarded a percentage score for their thesis. The maximum mark a thesis can receive after re-examination is 64%.

For further information about examination criteria and outcomes, see the Graduate Research Thesis Preparation, Submission and Examination Policy.

Revise and resubmit

In some cases, you may be advised to revise and resubmit your thesis for re-examination. During re-examination, examiners are requested to determine whether or not the revised thesis now meets the requirements of the degree as specified.

Re-submission must occur within one year from the date of the decision for revision for PhD and MPhil students and three months from the date of the decision for revision for MRes students.

For re-submission, you will need to submit your thesis in accordance with the relevant submission requirements. You must also include documentation that addresses the matters raised in your initial examination. This documentation must not be examiner-specific.

Initial examiners will receive an invitation to re-examine your thesis. Re-examiners are allowed access to your unrevised thesis, along with all reports from the University and initial examiners (subject to privacy requirements).
If your initial examiners are unavailable, there may be new examiners appointed. You should make no direct contact with your examiners – any contact you wish to make must be approved by the Research and Research Training Committee.
If you do not complete your re-submission in the determined time-frame, you will be deemed to have failed the requirements for the award of your degree.
If you fail to meet the requirements of the degree on re-examination, you cannot apply for further re-examination.

Note that revision of your thesis requires you to re-enrol and pay any required fees.

For further information about the resubmission process, see the Graduate Research Thesis Preparation, Submission and Examination Policy.

Final thesis submission

All graduate research students, including PhD, MPhil and MRes students must submit a final digital copy of their thesis for inclusion in the Macquarie University Theses which is Macquarie University’s open access digital collection. Access to graduate research theses is facilitated through the University Library.

Macquarie University Theses is designed to promote globally, preserve locally and provide open access to the research theses of Macquarie University's students. Records from Macquarie University Theses are also accessible from sources such as Trove Australia, Google and Google Scholar. The Macquarie University’s open access digital theses collection gives your research greater potential readership, ensures your research is protected from destruction and provides security through adherence to metadata standards and access rights. The Library and the GRA work together to implement, manage and oversee the submission of digital theses for inclusion in Macquarie University Theses.

Further information and FAQs can be found Theses @ Macquarie University.

Once the thesis has been examined and recommended to be passed to the Research and Research Training Committee, you have to submit a 'HDR Thesis Submission to Library Request’ eForm accompanied by the final digital copy of the thesis.

To submit, you must:

Log in to eStudent
Click in the Forms tile
Search for the ‘HDR Thesis Submission to Library Request’
Complete the form

After submission of the eForm, your request will go to the Graduate Research Academy. You will receive an email notification confirming that your request has been completed.

The Library will accept your digital thesis in PDF, Word and RTF format. The final display format on Macquarie University Theses is PDF and the Library will convert your thesis into this format as required. If you intend to submit your thesis in PDF format, security protection or password access should not be applied.

Parts of your thesis may be subject to copyright. If you are concerned about copyright issues related to your thesis, check Macquarie's information on copyright, talk to Macquarie University's Copyright Coordinator or speak to your Research Librarian.

The University recognises that in particular cases commercial and confidentiality issues may necessitate an embargo on the digital version of a thesis. Where an embargo is required on cultural, ethical, legal or commercial grounds approval from the Research Degree Subcommittee is required. For further information, please email gr.exam@mq.edu.au. Where a student is seeking to publish their thesis, or part thereof, a request to the Macquarie University Library is required. For further information please contact the Library by emailing researchonline@mq.edu.au.

A thesis may include supplementary files, eg. creative component or data files, that you wish to restrict from full open access. If this is the case, please email the Library at researchonline@mq.edu.au to discuss options for managing restrictions to supplementary files.

Hardbound guidelines

If your faculty requests a hardbound copy of your thesis, you should prepare the thesis in accordance with the following requirements:

The spine should state the title of the thesis (abbreviated if necessary), your family name, and the date of submission or re-submission.
The words should be in gold lettering of suitable size.
When published papers are submitted as additional evidence, they should be bound in the back of the thesis as an appendix. When they form part of the thesis body, they should be bound into the thesis itself.

Examination outcomes

Award: The thesis meets all required standards in terms of the nature and quality of work undertaken, and the degree can be awarded without any further work by the student, other than the correction of typographical errors and small lapses of expression and presentation in the final copy.
Award (after Corrections): The thesis meets all required standards in terms of the nature and quality of work undertaken, and the degree can be awarded without further examination once the student has made a number of corrections and clarifications in the thesis. The corrections are to be completed to the satisfaction of the Thesis Examination Subcommittee and are required to be completed within one month for MRes students and two months for MPhil/PhD students.
Revision and Re-examination: The thesis does not yet meet all required standards for the award of the degree and the student should complete a further period of research and writing. Under this category, a student will be automatically re-enrolled into their course for a period of 12 months (or equivalent) for PhD; 9 months (or equivalent) for MPhil or 3 months (or equivalent) for MRes. The thesis will then be submitted for re-examination.
Not award: The thesis does not meet the required standards for the award of the degree, and does not warrant a further period of research and writing.

MRes students will also be awarded a percentage score for their thesis. The maximum mark a thesis can receive after re-examination is 64%.

For further information about examination criteria and outcomes, see the Graduate Research Thesis Preparation, Submission and Examination Policy.

Revision and Re-examination

If you receive an outcome of revise and re-examination, you will be automatically re-enrolled. Re-submission must occur within one year from the date of the decision for revision for PhD, nine months for MPhil students and three months from the date of the decision for revision for MRes students.

Initial examiners will receive an invitation to re-examine your thesis. Re-examiners are allowed access to your unrevised thesis, along with all reports from the University and initial examiners (subject to privacy requirements).
If your initial examiners are unavailable, there may be new examiners appointed. You should make no direct contact with your examiners – any contact you wish to make must be approved by the Research and Research Training Committee.
If you do not complete your re-submission in the determined time-frame, you will be deemed to have failed the requirements for the award of your degree.
If you fail to meet the requirements of the degree on re-examination, you cannot apply for further re-examination.

Note that revision of your thesis requires you to pay any applicable fees.

For further information about the resubmission process, see the Graduate Research Thesis Preparation, Submission and Examination Policy and Procedure.

Final thesis submission

Further information and FAQs can be found Theses @ Macquarie University.

Once the thesis has been examined and recommended to be passed to the Research and Research Training Committee, you have to submit a ‘HDR Thesis Submission to Library Request’ eForm accompanied by the final digital copy of the thesis.

To submit, you must:

Log in to eStudent
Click in the Forms tile
Search for the ‘HDR Thesis Submission to Library Request’
Complete the form

After submission of the eForm, your request will go to the Graduate Research Academy. You will receive an email notification confirming that your request has been completed.

Hardbound guidelines

If your faculty requests a hardbound copy of your thesis, you should prepare the thesis in accordance with the following requirements:

The spine should state the title of the thesis (abbreviated if necessary), your family name, and the date of submission or re-submission.
The words should be in gold lettering of suitable size.
When published papers are submitted as additional evidence, they should be bound in the back of the thesis as an appendix. When they form part of the thesis body, they should be bound into the thesis itself.

International Students

If you are an international student visa holder, your visa date will be checked by the University when your thesis examination outcome has been finalised. If your visa is found to have more than 4 weeks’ validity, the Graduate Research Academy will report the thesis submission to the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). You are responsible for contacting DHA regarding your change of visa status. If you wish to stay in Australia to wait for examination results, DHA will need to be consulted. Contact DHA directly for advice.

For further information about thesis preparation, submission and examination, see the Graduate Research Thesis Preparation, Submission and Examination Policy.

Celebrate your achievement!

We’d like to celebrate your completion with you, so after you’ve received your final examination letter, stop by the Graduate Research Academy (GRA) and take a selfie with us to capture the moment:

Then it's time to promote yourself again by sharing your success and selfie photo on the Graduate Research Academy Network LinkedIn group!