Check The Timings

The length of your viva doesn’t matter for the most part.

There’s an obvious exception: if the amount of time that you are in the viva could have a negative physical, mental or emotional consequence for you then you need to explore what measures could be put in place via your Graduate School or Doctoral College to make sure the viva is fair for you.

That aside, while there are trends and patterns, vivas generally take as long as they need to. Aside from being tiring if they’re long there are no greater likelihoods of negative outcomes based on viva length. Rather than try to make it be quick it’s better to just prepare and engage as well as you can.

Viva length is a distraction. Better timing-related questions to ask are:

• What paperwork do I need to submit ahead of my thesis submission and when do I need to do that?
• When after submission will I be told the date of my viva?
• How much notice will I be given?
• When do I need to declare if I have reasonable adjustments that need to be addressed?
• How much time is given for different kinds of corrections?
• If there is any more post-viva paperwork when does that have to be completed by?

One more timing-related question: when will you celebrate your viva success?

PS: if you’re looking for more ideas about expectations that are worth focussing on then please check out The Expectations Issue, my latest curated collection of Viva Survivors help.