Once the examiner has confirmed that you have satisfactorily completed any corrections, or you have received confirmation of the outcome of pass with no corrections from the Doctoral College, you are required to submit a final electronic version of your thesis and completed Library Declaration and Deposit Agreement (Form 5) via the online form. Please note that Masters by Research students are not required to submit an electronic copy.

You are also required to provide a printed version of your thesis. This can be ordered via Warwick Print onlineLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window, selecting ‘Doctoral College’ as the delivery address. Please note when completing the order form you should specify Library Binding. The pages of your thesis should be stitched along the spine for longevity and therefore we are unable to accept bindings which have the pages bound by any other means, such as glue only. Further details of the hard-binding specifications are available in Appendix B of the Guide to Examinations of Higher Degrees by Research.

If you would prefer to use an external printing service you can deliver your thesis directly to the Library Helpdesk in person or via post to Library Helpdesk, University of Warwick Library, Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry CV4 7AL.

Once we have received your final electronic thesis submission your name will be placed on the next pass list for the approval of your award by the Senate and we will send you an email to confirm this.

You should submit an electronic version of your thesis, together with completed Thesis Submission Declaration Form (Form 3) to the Doctoral College via the online form.

You will receive a confirmation of receipt email within three working days of submission. During our peak periods we may not be able to confirm receipt should you contact us for an update.

Your viva may be held fully online, in person or with one or more parties joining remotely. Guidance is available on viva by video conference.

Academic departments usually make the viva arrangements so for any queries in this regard, please contact your supervisor or postgraduate secretary in the first instance.

You should forward a copy of your corrected thesis to your internal examiner. If you had two external examiners you should forward the revised thesis to your examinations advisor who will forward it to the external examiner(s) nominated to check the corrections. If the corrections are satisfactory, the examiner will notify the Doctoral College. The Doctoral College will send you instructions for submitting the final thesis.

As soon as all the paperwork in connection with your examination has been completed and you have submitted a final library bound and electronic copy of your thesis, your name will be placed on a pass list for the approval of your award by the Senate, either at its next meeting or via Chair's action approval. Pass lists are sent for approval on a monthly basis. Shortly after Senate approval, you will receive confirmation to your University email address and any other email address recorded on your student record. Please ensure that your email details are correct on Student Records Online. Your award will only be conferred once you have paid any study-related debts to the University.

If you are unable to meet your deadline for corrections/resubmission you can request an extension – please email your request, setting out the reason and length of extra time required, together with support from your supervisor and Director of Graduate Studies and the approval of your examiner to doctoralcollege@warwick.ac.uk.

If you require an embargo in excess of two years, this must be applied for when submitting your thesis for examination. You should email the Doctoral College with the reasons for the embargo and the length of time required. Please attach any supporting documentation relevant to the request, together with support from your supervisor. The Academic Director will consider your request and you will be notified of their decision.

If your embargo has expired, or is due to expire and you require it to be extended, please also email the Doctoral College following the guidance above, enclosing any supporting evidence.

If you have submitted your thesis but the examination process has not been completed, you can email the Doctoral College to request a status letter. This will confirm the date of thesis submission, viva date (if held) and examiners' recommendation (once approved by the Chair of the relevant Faculty Education Committee).

When the examination process has been completed and you have been notified that your award has been conferred by the Senate, you can request a confirmation of award letter from Student Services.

If, after submitting the final electronic/hard copy of your thesis to the Doctoral College, your award is approved by Senate more than 2 weeks before the “Expected Course End Date” on your latest CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies), the university will report your “early completion” to the UKVI. You may not be able to re-enter the UK using your tier 4/student visa once this report has been made.

In due course, the UKVI will “curtail” (shorten) your visa, normally to a date 4 months from when your degree was conferred. If you are in the UK, this means you can stay in the UK until then to work (subject to the conditions of your visa), settle your affairs in preparation to leave, or apply for another visa. However, if you are outside of the UK when your visa is curtailed, your visa will immediately be deemed as “lapsed”, and you will not be able to enter the UK using it, even if the curtailed expiry date is in the future.

For this reason, you should plan any periods of absence from the UK around the time your degree is conferred carefully. This is particularly important if you need to make a further visa application from within the UK, e.g. because you want to apply for the ‘Graduate Route’ Visa.

The Immigration Service is here to help if you have queries or concerns about your visa whilst you are at, or graduating from Warwick.

In cases where the outcome of your viva is “Pass with minor corrections” or "Pass with major corrections", your examiners should provide you with a list of the corrections and the deadline for completion either at the end of the viva or shortly afterwards. You will also receive an email from the Doctoral College confirming your corrections period and the date by which you must submit your corrections directly to your examiners.

You are required to submit a final copy of your thesis as described above.

You should submit your thesis as above. In addition you should provide a memo detailing how you have addressed the revisions requested by your examiners. Please note the resubmission fee is currently £200.00. You can pay the fee via the payment form.

If you are unable to pay online, please contact the Doctoral College.

The July 2024 ceremonies will take place during the weeks commencing 15 July 2024 and 22 July 2024. For full details please refer to the Awards and Ceremonies website. 

In order to be eligible to attend the Summer Degree Congregation or to graduate in absentia from this Congregation, all of the formalities regarding your examination need to be completed by Friday 14 June 2024, at the very latest. Please note that it will not be possible to extend this deadline under any circumstances.

Completion of the examination process includes your thesis being examined (usually by viva, in the case of doctoral students), all reports from the examiners being returned to the Doctoral College, the reports being approved by the Chair of the relevant Faculty Education Committee, corrections (if any) being completed with notification of satisfactory completion being communicated to the Doctoral College by your examiners, and the Doctoral College receiving a final electronic copy of your thesis with a completed Library Declaration and Deposit Agreement and confirmation of the order of your hard bound thesis.

Ideally the Doctoral College should receive your completed Nomination of Examiners Form (Form 2) at least one month before you intend to submit. Please complete Part 1 of this form and then forward to your supervisor for completion of Part 2.

If you are not able to submit the completed Nomination of Examiners Form one month before thesis submission, you can still submit your thesis but there may be a delay in this being dispatched to your examiners.

Once the award of your degree has been approved by the Senate, you will be invited to attend the next Degree Congregation. You may choose either to receive your degree certificate at the ceremony or to graduate in absentia. Please note that you will not receive your degree certificate until your degree has been conferred formally at a Congregation, whether you decide to be present in person or not. Further information on Degree Congregations is available on the Awards and Ceremonies website. The Awards and Ceremonies Team can be contacted via graduation@warwick.ac.uk.

From May 2021 all eligible students receiving an award from the University of Warwick will automatically receive a digital certificate in addition to their hard copy certificate, in the weeks following conferral. You do not need to request a digital certificate. It will be provided automatically. Further information is available on the Awards and Ceremonies website.

The Doctoral College produces pass lists for approval by Senate on a monthly basis. Where there is no meeting of Senate scheduled, Chair's action approval of the pass list will be requested.

The dates of upcoming pass lists are as follows. Confirmation of award emails will be sent by Student Records Management, usually within 2 weeks of award. You will not receive a conferral email nor be eligible to attend a Degree Congregation if you have any study-related debts to the University.

Dates for the 2024/25 academic year will be available shortly.

The Student Records Management team in Student Administrative Services process pre-submission changes to student records.

Once you have submitted your thesis your access to facilities will be extended to cover your examination period. This will include any time allowed by your examiners to undertake minor corrections or submit a revised thesis. Please note that it may take a few days for your period of registration to be extended. There is no need to obtain a new student card, unless you specifically require a card showing your new expiry date.