PhD Viva Voce: What to Expect and How to Prepare

A viva is an oral examination of your thesis. You submit the thesis, the examiners read it, and then you meet them to discuss it. The word is short for viva voce, Latin for "with the living voice," and it is the standard way a doctorate is examined in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Universities in India and Kenya also hold vivas for doctoral candidates.

It is a conversation about a document the examiners have read closely. You are the person who knows the thesis best, and the viva tests whether you can explain and defend it.

Who is in the room

A UK viva usually has two examiners: an internal examiner from your own university and an external examiner from another. Some universities add an independent chair, who runs the process and does not examine you. Your supervisor does not examine you. Many universities let your supervisor attend as a silent observer if you agree, and others bar them. Your regulations will say which.

The examiners each write a preliminary report before the viva. They meet briefly beforehand to agree the areas they will press, and the discussion follows from there.

What the examiners are deciding

They are checking four things.

That the thesis is your own work, and that you understand all of it.
That it makes an original contribution to knowledge.
That the method suits the question and was carried out properly.
That you can place the work in the field and say where its limits lie.

The first few questions are usually open. A common opener is to ask you to summarize the thesis in a few minutes, or to say why you chose the topic. Later questions go through the chapters in detail and press on whatever the examiners marked in their reports.

How long it takes and what follows

A viva often runs between one and three hours. Length varies with the examiners and the thesis, and a long viva is not a bad sign.

At the end you are usually asked to leave the room while the examiners decide. Outcomes differ by university, and typical ones are:

Pass with no corrections.
Pass with minor corrections, checked by one examiner.
Pass with major corrections, which may need more time and a second check.
Revise and resubmit for re-examination.
A lower award, such as an MPhil, where the thesis does not meet the doctoral standard.

A pass with corrections is a common result. Treat the list as a normal part of the process and not a verdict on you.

How to prepare

Reread the thesis in full, a few weeks before the date. You wrote chapters over years, and the examiners will read them in one sitting. You need to know where each argument sits.
Write a one-page summary of your contribution. State the problem, what you did, what you found, and what is new. If you cannot say it clearly in two minutes, the examiners will notice.
Mark your own weak points. Every thesis has them: a small sample, a method choice you would change, a result you did not expect. Decide how you will explain each one plainly. Examiners respect a candidate who names a limit before they do.
Know the literature that bears on your claim. Expect questions on the scholars whose work you disagree with or build on, and on anything published since you submitted.
Hold a mock viva. Ask your supervisor or a colleague to question you. Our 30 mock defense questions and 12 common defense questions cover the questions that come up in any examination, and our defense checklist helps you test the thesis itself.
Bring a clean, tabbed copy of the thesis and a list of any typing errors you found after submission.

On the day

Answer the question you were asked, in your own words, and stop. If you need a moment, take it. If you do not understand a question, ask the examiner to put it another way. If you do not know, say so, then say how you would find out. A candidate who bluffs does worse than one who admits a gap.

The examiners are on your side in one respect: they want a thesis that stands up. Their questions point at where it does not yet.

If your university calls it a defense

The oral examination has other names: defense, viva, viva voce, oral defense. The formats differ more than the names do, so read your university's regulations. For the differences in how the words thesis and dissertation are used, see our guide to thesis vs dissertation.

If the examiners have asked for corrections, or your committee has sent comments you want help sorting into a plan, our committee feedback review is built for that.