After submission

Once your thesis or research portfolio has been submitted, you are under examination.

You do not pay fees during the under examination period, but you do remain an enrolled student and retain access to University services. Your thesis/portfolio will be sent to two examiners, usually an internal examiner from our University and an external examiner from another university. You should not know who your examiners are until you receive your final grade (or until your viva/on-site examination if you are a Master's by Research Portfolio student). If you do discover who they are before this, you must not discuss your thesis with them.

The examination process

Examiners will each submit a written report on your thesis and recommend a grade to your School Research Committee. Your final grade will be finalised by your School Research Committee and approved by your Faculty’s Associate Dean (PGR). The FGR Exams Team will then release your grade and examiners’ reports to you, which will include your examiners’ names. This usually happens between three to six months after submission but can take longer. If you have not received your result or any communication after six month, you can email the FGR Exams Team for an update.

Receiving your result

When your grade has been approved, you will receive your reports, grade and outcome via email. If you have passed, this may be subject to amendments to your thesis. If this is the case, your reports and letter will contain details of what is required, and your supervisor will oversee these amendments, so work together to ensure they are successfully completed. If you are not required to make amendments, you can still choose to make editorial amendments but if you make any changes, you should ensure that your supervisor has reviewed this version. When you deposit your thesis/portfolio, you will be asked to declare that it is the final version which means that it has been approved by your supervisor.

Depositing in the Library

You must complete any required amendments and have them approved and deposit your thesis in the University Library within three months of receiving your final grade. You cannot have your degree conferred or apply for graduation until you have done this.  When you successfully deposit, you will receive a confirmation receipt. The FGR Exams Team also receive this receipt, and use it to process changes to your Student Record, marking you "degree complete". This is a manual process and may take a couple of business days during busy periods.

You will have access to University services (including your University email and the Library) until 28 days after you lodge the final version of your thesis in the Library. Access to Student Health will depend on when you have paid levies for. You can check this by emailing Student Finance at student-finance@vuw.ac.nz or calling them on 0800 04 04 04.

Graduation

You need to apply to graduate and have your qualification conferred, whether you plan to attend a ceremony or not.

If you are keen to attend a specific graduation ceremony, you must submit your application by the deadline.

Find all the information you need at Apply to graduate.

Contacting the FGR Exams Team

If you are an international student and have questions about visa issues, please email the International Student Experience Team or call them on +64 4 463 5308.

You can email the FGR Exams Team if you have questions, want an update or need a visa support letter.