Normally, your earliest possible defence date will be 6-7 weeks after submission of your dissertation to Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for external examination. If your External Examiner has requested a review period of longer than 4 weeks, a later defence date can be expected; we would be in touch with you if this applies to your exam. Delays may also be expected if you have not submitted all of the required documents or if your actual submission date is significantly different from the anticipated submission date provided on your Nominations for External Examiner form and you have not already been in touch to inform us of the change.
Once your dissertation has been transmitted to the External Examiner, you will receive an email notification informing you of the External Examiner's identity, the date we are expecting their written report and your earliest possible defence date.