SUMMARY
The demands of research in graduate school make it imperative to assess the readiness of graduate students to conduct research, whether as a requirement for their subjects, or the type of thesis or dissertation. In this study quantitative and qualitative methods were employed, namely a survey questionnaire, interviews, and document analysis, to examine graduate students' readiness in thesis writing and the difficulties they face. The findings reveal that students often struggle with research and statistical tools in the comprehensive exam. Additionally, the students' ability to articulate their knowledge and ideas significantly affects their exam results. Study findings also indicate that students are only moderately prepared regarding research readiness, scoring lowest in identifying research problems and writing literature reviews. As a result, some students abandon their research projects or cannot complete them on time. The data from the interviews further support the quantitative results, indicating that the students lack research skills and face multiple workloads, which impact their ability to complete their research. To address these challenges, the Graduate School in their research programme should offer seminars on developing research skills for students every semester.https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.22.4.9