Ten tips to help you pass your PhD viva

  • It is a test to prove that you have written your own thesis. So, if you have written it yourself, and your supervisor feels that both the thesis and you are ready for examination, then you really should have nothing to worry about.
  • It is an ‘open book’ exam. The viva is not a test of memory; you can bring stuff into the exam, and really you can bring anything you want into the exam – within reason! Of course, bring a copy of your thesis! You can stick yellow ‘Post-it’ notes on it (eg, anticipated questions and answers), although personally I hated the idea of that, and I just used the Table of Contents; however, it works well for some people…do what makes you comfortable.
  • Your examiners want to pass you. Don’t expect an easy ride, but don’t expect some kind of medieval hand-to-hand combat. You will be very nervous for the first couple of questions. This is normal, your examiners know that, and they should ask you some questions to relax you and settle you into your exam.

Also See: 101 Tips for Finishing Your PhD Quickly

  • Follow the normal rules of conversation. Don’t interrupt your examiners; let them finish their questions before starting to answer. However, do not worry about respectfully disagreeing with them, either. It should be an open, frank, honest and polite conversation. Keep referring your examiners to your written work. Don’t try to memorise everything, as mentioned above, they also want to make sure that you’ve written your own thesis. So just make sure that you know where all the key sections of your thesis are.
  • It normally lasts two hours. However, it could range from 90 minutes to four hours – so, like every other exam you have ever sat at university, pace yourself and don’t rush into a poorly conceived or considered answer. When you are asked a question, write it down. This will give you a minute or so, and also don’t worry about bullet-pointing answers. You probably have a list of anticipated viva questions and your answers; you can bring them in and refer to them if you like.
  • Tell a story or two. Give the examiners some flavour of what you did during the three years. It was not a cold, clinical process; it was full of and fraught with interpersonal relationships (disasters), and you came out the other side and have an 80,000-word (or larger) thesis to show for it. However, stick to the questions you have been asked – it’s easy to give away answers that may lead to other difficult questions. So practise being assertive and limit your answers to ONLY the questions you’ve been asked. It can become very easy to stumble across an unpleasant surprise if you start wandering.

Also See: How to submit a PhD thesis

  • Try to settle in and enjoy it. Remember, it is your thesis and the examiners want to pass you. If you are feeling intimidated by the experience of your examiners, then remember that no one knows more about your thesis than you: in this respect, you are the expert in the room. At the same time, if you are stumped by a question and go completely blank, then just be honest and humble and say so. Your examiners are very likely to point out a few things that you haven’t considered, and it’s better to admit this than to try to bluster through a half-baked answer.
  • Know what a pass is. It is really rather difficult to fail. There are normally six or seven results.
  • The examiners are there to listen to you. It’s probably the last and often the only time that two senior academics, respected in the field, are going to concentrate solely on your work. This is a PhD exam, conducted by two people with nothing else to do but listen to you.
  • It is a safe activity. In preparation for this academically sound exegesis of the viva, I have conducted extensive research – well, I did a Google search and looked at the first two pages of hits (does anyone really do any more these days?) – and found no evidence of anyone dying during their viva…so go for it!

Also See: The weirdest questions asked about your PhD

Kevin O’Gorman is professor of management and business history at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Dubai and Malaysia. This is an edited version of a post that originally appeared on It’s Not you, It’s Your Data, a collaborative blog on the PhD journey.

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