The Default

Two examiners and a candidate in a fairly anonymous university room. A facilitated discussion that takes place over two or three hours with one or two breaks. It begins with a big opening question and concludes with a short intermission while examiners check they’ve covered everything.

The above is one way to describe the default viva experience and yet every week I’d bet there is a viva taking place somewhere in the UK where:

• The candidate needs to have three examiners;
• The viva is finished in an hour;
• Examiners ask in advance for a presentation to kick things off;
• The candidate needs to bring resources with them like a screen, a prototype or something to demonstrate;
• The viva happens over Zoom.

Of course, video vivas are much more common now than six years ago, but they aren’t thought of as part of the default option.

The default might give a sense of what your viva will be like – or what vivas are supposed to be like – but your viva will be unique.

Your research is unique. Your thesis is unique. You and your circumstances are unique.

There are regulations and expectations and a sense of what your viva will be like. There’s an idea of a default viva, but the reality of your viva. Any differences you perceive or need for your viva do not make for a situation to automatically worry about.