PhD student sues Cambridge University for failing to pass doctoral exam

(Dan Tri) - Jacob Meagher, a law student, has just filed a lawsuit against Cambridge University (UK) for the second time, claiming that he was discriminated against during the exam process.

PhD student Jacob Meagher claims he was unfairly rejected from defending his PhD. Meagher claims the school's decision has left him with a lot of damage and prevented him from getting the job he wanted.

Before that, Meagher had received a job offer that promised him a promising career.

PhD student Jacob Meagher (Photo: Daily Mail).

Meagher failed the final examination in her doctoral thesis defence, an oral examination commonly referred to by Cambridge University graduate students as the "viva voce" examination.

Meagher said he had some personal issues, some congenital disabilities. This prevented him from being able to perform the oral exam as well as many other PhD students. However, Meagher said he deserved the school to create conditions by arranging alternative examinations, so that he could defend his doctoral thesis in a way that suited his personal abilities.

Meagher filed a lawsuit against the University of Cambridge and five of its lecturers in March 2024, nearly a year after Meagher received the results of her doctoral thesis.

According to information provided to a British court, Cambridge University considers awarding a doctorate to a doctoral candidate based on a 100,000-word thesis and an oral exam revolving around this thesis.

On April 26, 2023, the school officially announced the results of Meagher’s doctoral thesis defense. The school decided not to award Meagher a doctoral degree. However, Meagher could review his thesis, make changes, and resubmit it.

In his lawsuit, Mr. Meagher argued that even in completing his doctoral thesis, he encountered some personal problems. Meagher argued that he did not have the same ability as many other doctoral students, and that he had difficulty completing a long thesis that covered many aspects of content.

According to Meagher, Cambridge University should have given him the opportunity to obtain his PhD using more flexible assessment methods, rather than applying a single assessment method to all PhD students.

A corner of the campus in Cambridge University (Photo: The Telegraph).

Before Meagher took the "viva voce" oral exam, the University of Cambridge's Disability Resource Centre (DRC) made a number of recommendations, so that the oral exam team members had some direction on how to interact appropriately with Meagher.

Some of the guidelines offered by this center include asking very specific questions instead of "general" questions, and using active verbs instead of passive ones.

The panelists also needed to pay attention to their tone of voice. They also needed to make sure Meagher had enough time between questions to regain his composure and reorganize his words and information during the interview.

Meagher said he suffered serious health problems after taking the oral exam. When he first took the matter to court in early 2024, the court dismissed his lawsuit.

Meagher disagreed with the court's decision and continued the litigation. Now the case is back before the court for review.

Initially the school allowed him to resubmit his thesis, but later the school changed its decision and he could no longer resubmit his thesis.

According to Mr. Meagher, a new decision has been made at the school, according to which they will not reconsider his doctoral thesis defense, until the lawsuit is resolved.

Currently, Mr. Meagher's lawsuit is attracting quite a lot of attention, information about the lawsuit will continue to be updated by the British press.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/nghien-cuu-sinh-kien-dai-hoc-cambridge-vi-khong-do-tien-si-20250116145406921.htm