What happens at a defense or viva
The format varies more than many candidates expect.
| Format | What it usually involves |
|---|---|
| US dissertation defense | A 20 to 45 minute presentation, then questions from your committee, sometimes with a public portion first. |
| UK and Commonwealth viva | A private oral examination with an internal and external examiner, often one to three hours, usually without slides. |
| European public defense | A formal public event with opponents, following a thesis that has already been assessed in writing. |
| Proposal or prospectus defense | A shorter session testing your plan before data collection begins. |
We tailor everything to the format you face. Preparing for a slide-led American defense and a conversational British viva are quite different tasks.
Our preparation programme
Week one: reading and mapping. Your mock examiner reads the thesis, or a detailed summary if time is short, and drafts a set of questions in the style your examiners are likely to use. These cover contribution, theory, design, findings and limitations.
Week two: first mock. We run a full-length mock defense or mock viva over video, recorded so you can watch it back. Feedback follows within a day, highlighting answers that wandered, assumptions you could not quite explain and moments where you undersold your work.
Final days: targeted practice. A shorter second session focuses on the weakest areas from the first. If you are presenting, we review your slides between sessions; our academic presentation design team can help further if the deck needs restructuring.
Short on time? A single read-and-mock package can be arranged in a few days.
The questions candidates find hardest
- "What is your original contribution?" Simple to ask, hard to answer in two clear sentences. We practise until you can.
- "Why didn't you use a different method?" We help you explain the trade-off rather than defend the choice as perfect. Our methodology chapter help is useful if this part of the thesis feels shaky.
- "How does this relate to [author you did not cite]?" We practise honest, calm responses to work you haven't read in depth.
- "What would you do differently?" Examiners want reflection, not apology.
- Statistical challenges. If your results rest on models you are not fully confident explaining, a statistician can walk through them with you first; see our dissertation statistics help.
When to book and what to send
Ideally contact us four to six weeks before your date, which allows two full mocks with time to reflect between them. Two weeks is still enough for a solid single-mock package. Send your thesis or dissertation, the date and format of the defense, the names of the examiners' fields if you know them, any slides and any written reports you have already received.
If your examiners have already sent written comments or a pre-defense report, those are the best guide to what will be asked, and we build the mock around them. Where the defense is public, we can also include a short rehearsal of your opening statement and the questions that audience members tend to ask, which are usually broader and less technical than the committee's.
Why rehearsal works
Most nerves in a defense come from uncertainty about what it will feel like. Once you have answered a difficult question aloud, in front of someone with an examiner's eye, the real version is far less daunting. Rehearsal also surfaces points you understand but have never had to put into words. Everything you say in the room remains your own, and that is precisely what the preparation strengthens.
What you get
- A read-through of your thesis or summary by an academic in your field
- A tailored list of likely examiner questions, grouped by chapter and theme
- One or more recorded mock defenses or mock vivas over video
- Written feedback on your answers, with notes on what to strengthen
- Detailed feedback on your defense presentation slides
- A one-page summary sheet of your key arguments, built with you for last-minute review
What we don't do
- We prepare you; we can't predict your examiners' exact questions or influence the outcome
- Fixing substantial problems in the thesis itself is a separate piece of work, which we can scope with you
- We don't attend or contact your committee or examiners
How it works
Describe your project
Level, deadline and what you need help with.
Agree a written scope
What's included, the price and the timeline.
Work in stages
Check-ins so you can steer the work.
Review and ask
Explanations and follow-up questions included.