Free tool, planning and viva
Viva practice
One examiner question at a time, with a two-minute timer.
Each time you press the button, this page picks one viva question at random and starts a two-minute timer for your spoken answer.
Many scholars who come to us for viva help have read the thesis many times over, and still in the viva they get stuck on questions they were knowing well. Mostly the problem is that they have never spoken those answers aloud to someone outside the lab within two minutes. That is why we ask you to practise by speaking and not by reading only. Keep your mobile on the table with the voice recorder app running, press the button below, and answer the question as you would answer the external examiner sitting across the table.
Viva practice
Not sure the answer fits your study? WhatsApp us or call, and we’ll look at it with you.
How the tool works
In the theme menu you will find eight themes, kept in more or less the same order in which examiners usually go through a viva, starting from the big picture of your work and ending with your contribution. If you are weak in one area, like analysis, select only that theme and stay with it for some time, otherwise leave the menu on “Any theme” and the questions will come from all eight in mixed order. Along with each question the page shows its theme and one line telling what the examiner is trying to check through that question. In a methodology question, for example, the examiner is checking whether you took the method decisions yourself or only followed a template from some other thesis. Read that line before you start speaking, as your answer should show the examiner that point clearly.
Within the theme you selected, a question will not come back till all the questions of that theme have been shown to you once, and only then the next round begins. We have also made sure that the first question in the new round is not the same question you answered last. If you change the theme in between, the count begins again for the theme you changed to.
The timer begins from 2:00 and counts down to zero, and at zero you will see “Time’s up” in the place of the time. Two minutes is mostly enough for a complete viva answer. If you finish before that, press the timer button one more time to stop it, and when you ask for the next question the timer goes back to two minutes by itself.
For one practice sitting, you can take five questions and answer every one of them aloud while the timer runs. Then play the recording from start to end and note down where you said “basically” many times or where you forgot what point you wanted to make, and after that answer the same five questions once again. If one of your lab friends is free, ask them to sit in front of you and stop you in the middle of answers, because that feels much more like a real examiner than any screen.
The page itself doesn’t record anything and it doesn’t ask permission for your microphone at any time, and our server only gets to know that one question was shown. When you want questions prepared from your own thesis, try the viva question predictor, and for the rest of your preparation before the viva day you can read our viva preparation guide.
Questions scholars ask
How long should a viva answer be?
Most of your viva answers can be between thirty seconds and two minutes long. Begin with the direct answer in one sentence, add one reason or one example after it, and stop talking there. When the examiners want more details they will ask you themselves, and a long answer gives them more points to question you on.
Who sits on the viva board?
As per clause 11 of the UGC 2022 regulations, the viva board must have your supervisor and one or more of the external examiners who evaluated your thesis. Members of the Research Advisory Committee, faculty members and research scholars can attend the viva, which is open to them, and the viva may be held online also. Who will chair the board and such other details are given in the ordinance of your university, so check that also.
What do I do when I don’t know the answer?
Tell the examiner honestly that you don’t know, and then explain what you know about that topic and how you would go about finding the answer, for example with a reply like “I didn’t test that, but my data on X suggests…”, which most examiners take as fair. Guessing confidently is worse than this, because most times the examiner already knows the answer.
My viva is online. Should I practise differently?
Yes, a little differently. Do one practice round at least on the same platform that will be used on the day, with your camera on and your slides shared the same way. Check your microphone before the viva and keep a second internet connection ready in case the first one fails, and while answering look at the camera instead of your own face on the screen.
Is my practice recorded?
No, there is no recording here and the page will not ask you for microphone access at any point. If you want a recording of your answers, use the recorder app in your own phone, and the recording stays only on your phone.
Stuck on a chapter? Talk it through with us.
Call or WhatsApp, say where you are in your thesis, and we’ll tell you plainly what kind of help makes sense, if any.