Sit your viva once before it counts
Describe your thesis in two minutes. Then AI examiners take you through your methodology, your contribution, and the gaps you were hoping nobody would notice — in the sustained, no-slides way a real viva does.
Start with a free drill. No card required.
The internal-style examiner
Keeps the session moving and presses on scope, clarity, and whether your thesis says what you think it says. The questions a process-minded examiner from your own institution would ask.
The external-style examiner
Has no stake in your passing. Pushes on originality, your command of the literature, and the 'so what' of the whole project — the way the independent expert in the room does.
The methodologist
Goes after the design: your sample, your measures, your analysis, and the threats to validity you decided to live with. Wants specifics.
What makes a viva different
A viva is not a presentation with questions tacked on. It is a closed examination where two examiners work through your thesis in sustained dialogue, and the external examiner has no reason to go easy. Practising for it means drilling the conversation, not rehearsing a talk.
- A viva is usually closed — no audience, just you and the examiners — so the pressure is sustained dialogue, not a one-off talk.
- Most UK vivas have no presentation. The examination is the conversation, which means there is nowhere to hide behind slides.
- The external examiner leads much of the questioning and carries the most weight in the recommendation. Their priors matter.
- Minor corrections are the most common outcome, not a clean pass — so the work is showing you can defend the thesis, not perform a flawless monologue.
Prepare for the questions, not just the day
The committee draws on the same categories a real viva tests. If you want to read before you practise, start here:
Questions about the mock viva
- Is the mock viva really free?
- The first session is a free focused drill — Dr. Hale (Chair) runs roughly five questions on your methodology and contribution. No card required. Unlimited full mock vivas with all three examiners, per-question scoring, and a written readiness debrief cost $19/month or $49 for a 90-day Defense Pass. There is a 14-day readiness-or-refund guarantee.
- How is this different from a mock viva with my supervisor?
- Your supervisor knows your work and wants you to pass, so they tend to pull punches. The external-style examiner here has no stake in your success and keeps pushing on your contribution until you can justify it. Use both: AI reps to drill the content, a human mock near the end for the feel of the room.
- I haven't finished writing. Is a mock viva still useful?
- Yes, if you can give a two-minute summary of your argument. The examiners will find the gaps you haven't patched yet — which is exactly what you want to discover now rather than on the day.
- Can it replicate my actual examiners?
- No. It can't reproduce your specific examiners, your department's politics, or the room itself. What it does well is drill the content and the categories of question a real viva tests — methodology, contribution, validity, and positioning.
Find out where you stand
Start with a free drill. No card required. Describe your thesis, and the examiners begin.