Submission and Language of Thesis

5. No later than three months before submission is expected, the candidate shall complete an Intention to Submit form which will initiate procedures for examination including nomination by the Department/Faculty of an external examiner(s). External examiners are expected to be appointed prior to submission. This will ensure that the examination process can begin promptly upon submission.

6. For the purpose of the examination, candidates shall submit an electronic copy of the thesis which shall contain:

i. an abstract not exceeding three hundred words in length;              
ii. statement, signed by the candidate, showing to what extent the work submitted is the result of the candidate's own investigation; acknowledgement of other sources shall be made by footnotes giving explicit references. A full bibliography must be appended to the work;
iii. a declaration, signed by the candidate, to certify that the work has not already been accepted in substance for any degree, and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree;
iv. a signed statement regarding availability of the thesis, indicating that the thesis, if successful, may be made available for deposit in the university’s electronic research repository and for inter-library loan or photocopying (subject to the law of copyright), either immediately or after the expiry of any bar or embargo; and that the title and summary may be made available to outside organisations. Where creative works are part of the submission, the critical commentary only will normally be published. The title and summary of the thesis shall be freely available.

7. A candidate is at liberty to publish the whole or part of the work produced during the candidate's period of registration at the University prior to its submission as a whole, or part of a thesis. Such published work may later be incorporated in the thesis submitted to the University.

8. Any candidate who is following a scheme of study or research of the University may choose to submit a thesis or other work in either Welsh or English. A candidate who wishes to be assessed in a language (i.e. either Welsh or English) which is not the main language of tuition/assessment for the scheme concerned is required to notify the Centre for Welsh Language Services by the time-limit laid down by the University. The nominated officer should then liaise with the Chair of the Examining Board regarding:

i. such arrangements as may be required (e.g. provision of simultaneous translation facilities) for the viva voce examination;
ii. the necessary arrangements, which must be approved - at the request of the Chair of the Examining Board - by the examiner(s), for the translation and/or marking of work;
iii. the engagement of a suitable person or persons to act as advisory examiners or - at an approved fee - as translators.

9. On occasion it may be considered appropriate for a thesis to be submitted in a language other than Welsh or English for scholastic reasons. In such cases, permission to make such a submission may be given by the Head of the Graduate School where a reasoned case has been made for approval, normally in advance of the candidate’s registration for study. Appropriate arrangements for the supervision and examination of the thesis must be outlined by the department to confirm that the quality of the student’s learning experience and the standards of the award will not be compromised. Approval shall not be given to requests based upon the candidate’s lack of ability to produce a work for submission in either Welsh or English.

10. Candidates who are resubmitting a thesis which has failed previously to satisfy the Examiners are required to re-submit their modified thesis together with those documents specified in paragraph 6 above.

11. Detailed instructions on the presentation of theses are to be found in Notes of Guidance issued to candidates who are about to submit their thesis.

12. If satisfied that a prima facie case exists for referring the thesis for detailed examination, the Graduate School will make the thesis available to both examiners. The thesis should not be sent by the department or candidate directly to the examiners. This applies equally to a re-submission.

13. A candidate may not amend, add to, or delete from the thesis after it has been submitted.