Unexpectations

There is a lot that you can expect from your viva.

If you explore regulations and viva stories you can get a good sense of what they are like. Regulations give a foundation of the process and what examiners do. Viva stories describe the pattern of experiences that candidates have.

They give a feel for vivas. As a result, you can build expectations you can work towards.

There is also a lot that you can’t expect from your viva.

Stories might showthe range of experiences but you can’t expect a particular viva length or a definite opening question. You can be confident of the work you’ve invested but you can’t expect your examiners to agree with you about every detail of your research.

You can know about vivas but still expect that there will be some unknowns – aspects of your viva that you cannot know until you get there.

You can expect a lot but must also expect the unexpected.