Viva Prep
Your defence readiness tracker: question bank, checklist, and examiner notes.
Question Bank
0 / 10 prepared10 questions still to prepare.
Can you summarise your thesis in 2 minutes?
What is the original contribution of your research?
Why did you choose a qualitative or case study approach?
How do you address the issue of researcher positionality?
What literature did you deliberately exclude and why?
How does your work relate to a key theorist in your field?
What surprised you most in your findings?
How do your findings challenge existing literature?
What are the main limitations of your study?
What would you do differently if you started again?
Readiness Checklist
Complete all 8 before your viva date.
Read the full thesis cover to cover within the last 2 weeks
Prepared a 2-minute thesis summary
Researched both examiners' recent publications
Identified 3 potential weaknesses and prepared responses
Completed a mock viva with supervisor or peer
Prepared a list of corrections you would make yourself
Know the word count and chapter structure by heart
Confirmed date, time, location and format with admin