Each Examiner must independently and without consultation, decide whether the thesis meets the scholarly standards for the discipline and degree in form and content.
There are 2 possible outcomes that the examiners may consider:
- Acceptable to go to defense with revisions
- Unacceptable to go forward to defense
Acceptable with Revisions: A work that requires some revisions may be judged acceptable. Revisions/modifications include limited typographical or grammatical errors; errors in calculation, labels for tables, nomenclature, and bibliographic form; and the need for clarification of content.
Unacceptable: A thesis judged unacceptable may contain for example, faulty conceptualization, inappropriate or faulty use of research methodology, misinterpretation or misuse of data, neglect of relevant material, illogical argument, unfounded conclusions, seriously flawed writing and presentation, and failure to engage the scholarly context.
The completed examiner reports are confidential to the Vice-Provost (Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies). The External Examiner completes the External Examiner Report (normally 2-3 pages in length). SGPS must receive the completed forms from all the Examiners at least five working days before the date scheduled for the candidate's Thesis Examination. All examiner evaluations are shared with the Supervisor after the examination.In the event this thesis is nominated for an award, the comments below may be included as part of the nomination package.
When you are ready to submit your review you may save this report as a Microsoft Word (or RTF) file, or as a PDF file and then upload to Scholarship@Western.
- Significance of the research question(s) addressed and academic quality and merit
- Appropriateness of the research methods used and the approach taken; success in using the chosen method or approach
- Clarity of analysis and conclusions
- Originality/value of the thesis as a contribution to knowledge
- Structure of thesis; writing professional standard
- Quality of the writing
- Other
- Please include your examination questions here:
If you have any questions, please contact Krystyna Locke at (519) 661-3914 or .
Western University – External Examiner's Report – Page 1