Free tool · PhD planning
Viva practice
Random viva questions and a two-minute timer, for practising your answers out loud.
This tool asks you one PhD viva question at a time, picked at random from 26 questions that examiners commonly ask, and gives you a two-minute timer to answer it out loud. Under each question it shows what the examiner is really checking, so you answer the purpose behind the question rather than just its words.
Pick a single theme if you already know where you are shaky (for most scholars that is methodology), or leave it on all themes for a mixed round. No question comes back until you have seen every question in your choice. It works best in the last few weeks before the viva, when you know the thesis well but have not yet said much of it aloud.
Practise a viva question
Method
How this tool works
The questions are the ones in the table of our guide to common PhD viva questions. They sit in eight themes, in roughly the order an examiner works through a thesis: the big picture, then the literature and gap, objectives and theory, methodology, analysis and results, findings, limitations, and last what the thesis contributes. Each theme has three or four questions, 26 in total.
When you press the button, the tool shuffles the questions in the theme you chose and hands them out one at a time. After the last one it shuffles again. The line under each question, “What the examiner is checking”, comes from the same table. A question about your sample size is rarely about the number. The examiner wants to know whether you made the choice yourself and can defend it.
The timer counts down from two minutes. That is enough time to make two or three points and give one example, and short enough to keep the examiner listening. Long spoken answers drift, and the examiner may cut in with the next question halfway through. If you are done in thirty seconds, check whether you gave a reason or just a statement.
Say every answer out loud. An answer rehearsed in your head feels smooth and hides the gaps; speaking in full sentences shows you exactly where you stop. If you can, ask a colleague or your supervisor to read the questions to you and interrupt the way an examiner might. Once these general questions feel easy, the viva question predictor suggests questions based on your own abstract.
Limits
What this tool can’t do
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How many questions will the examiner ask?
There is no fixed number. The questioning is usually the longest part of the viva and can run from half an hour to well over an hour, so expect many questions, including follow-ups on your own answers. Your university may have its own practice, and your supervisor will know what is usual in your department.
How long should an answer be?
Most answers should take one to two minutes. Open with the direct answer, give your reason, and add one piece of evidence from your thesis if it helps. Then stop. If the examiner wants more, they will ask. The opening “tell us about your work” question is the one place where a slightly longer, well-planned answer pays off.
Any tips for an online viva?
The questions are the same as in the room. What changes is the risk of a technical failure. Test your camera, microphone, internet and screen sharing a day before, keep a phone ready as a backup connection, and choose a quiet room. Check that the university has shared the link with everyone who may attend, since the viva is still open to the audience. UGC’s 2022 regulations allow the viva to be held online.
What if I don’t know the answer?
It happens to everyone, and your handling of it counts for more than the gap. Pause and think; a short silence looks careful. If the question is unclear, ask what the examiner means. Answer the part you can, and say plainly what you did not test or have not read. Stick to what you know: examiners value accuracy, and it keeps your earlier good answers credible. Our viva questions guide covers this in more detail.
Is anything recorded?
The questions run in your browser, and your voice, your answers and the questions you saw stay on your device. Like every tool on this site, we count only that the tool was used, with nothing that identifies you.
Can someone help me with a proper mock viva?
Yes. A mock viva with an examiner from your field, asking questions drawn from your own thesis, is the closest practice to the real thing. Our viva voce preparation service offers that, with written feedback. You still give every answer yourself.
Keep reading
Related guides and services
Common PhD viva questions
The questions examiners ask most often, grouped by theme, with how to prepare each answer.
Viva Voce Preparation
Presentation review, a question bank built from your thesis, and a mock viva before the real one.
PhD thesis submission and evaluation
From submission to award: similarity check, examiners, reports, revisions and the viva.
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