Thesis Examination and Marking

How do I stop myself examining the thesis I would have written?

Test every criticism on two axes. Does it only make sense if the standard is the best thesis you have read rather than a bare pass at this degree? And does it only make sense if the thesis were yours? A design you would not have chosen, justified against alternatives and executed correctly, is a pass on that criterion. Move the rest into a taste class that does not appear among the criticisms.

What makes a criticism defensible in an examiner's report?

A location. "The literature review is superficial" is an impression the candidate cannot answer and a board cannot audit. Naming the pages, the specific omission and why it matters to the study's design converts it into a finding. If you cannot locate an instance for an impression you hold, it is not yet a finding.

How do I decide whether a flaw is fatal or correctable?

Ask whether the thesis already contains what is needed. If the fix is a re-presentation, re-framing or re-analysis of material that is already there, and it can be done within the corrections period the regulations allow, it is correctable. If it requires new research, or it goes to a threshold criterion that no rewriting satisfies, it is fatal. A correction that quietly requires a different thesis is a different outcome delivered dishonestly.

What should a corrections list look like?

Numbered items, each with a location, a statement of the problem and a condition that resolves it, closed with an explicit statement that the list is complete. "Improve the literature review" fails. Naming the pages, the missing engagement and the paragraph that would resolve it passes. Count the list against the corrections period honestly.

How do I handle a competent thesis that adds nothing new?

That is a contribution problem, and whether it is fatal depends entirely on how the degree defines contribution. In many research doctorates it is a threshold criterion and technical competence does not compensate. In many taught dissertations it is a quality criterion and the same thesis passes modestly. Read your regulations rather than importing another degree's answer.

What do I do when the other examiner and I disagree?

Exchange evidenced judgements rather than conclusions. Most apparent outcome disagreements are agreements about the thesis with a divergence on classification or on the standard. The first is settled by re-reading, the second by the regulations, the third by the institution. Where genuine disagreement persists, use the provision for separate reports or a third examiner rather than manufacturing a consensus neither of you holds.

Can an AI system mark a thesis or recommend an outcome?

No. Assessment, examination and progression decisions belong to the named academic and cannot be delegated. This skill never assigns a mark and never states a recommendation; it lays out the criterion-to-outcome chain for the examiner to complete. Institutional policy also governs whether an AI system may touch examination material at all, which is unpublished, confidential and personal data.