Planning your viva voce
Learn more about how to plan your viva and the possible outcomes of your examination meeting.
The viva voce – literally translated as ‘with living voice’ – is the final assessment in your doctoral process. It is an oral examination, where you will explain and defend your research to examiners with expertise in your field.
The process for your supervisors
While you were preparing to submit your thesis, your supervisory team will have submitted your Examination Arrangements, liaising with your examiners and finding a suitable date. This will be ideally within three to six months of your submission date: once this is submitted, the Doctoral School will be able to start planning your Viva, so it's important that it's submitted in time to avoid any delays to your examination.
Your examiners will complete and submit a preliminary report on your thesis. This helps them identify key points and decide on the questions that you will be asked, to ensure that you have a thorough and fair examination.
The examination meeting
Your viva exam will involve one internal NTU examiner, one external examiner and an independent chair, who is an experienced NTU colleague unconnected to you and your research. If you wish for your supervisor to observe the meeting – to take notes, or support you afterwards with any amendments – you can make a request via email to the Doctoral School.
This meeting is your chance to explain your research process, defend your findings, and demonstrate your knowledge.
The length and format of your viva will differ depending on your academic discipline and thesis, but you can talk to your supervisor about what to expect and how to prepare. You might find a ‘mock viva’ with your supervisors helpful, and there are sessions planned throughout the year, as well as previous recordings, via the DETD programme.
The outcome
After the discussion, your examiners will likely take a short recess to discuss your answers and their final thoughts on your project. You will then invited back to the exam and informed of your outcome and any amendments.
Remember! Amendments are not a failure: many doctoral candidates receive corrections.
If you receive corrections, you will have a specified amount of time to complete these and resubmit your final, amended thesis.
- Minor corrections: 3 months for full time candidates, 6 months for part time - this is generally small amendments such as grammatical and formatting issues, minor tweaks to data or additional evidence for some statements.
- Major corrections: 6 months for full time candidates, 12 months for part time – this usually consist of sections that may require some additional reading or rewriting, in addition to grammatical and formatting issues.
- Revise and Resubmission: 12 months for full time, 24 months for part time - this is when the thesis requires substantial rewriting or additional data and is then re-submitted and re-examined, with or without another viva.
Your examiners will discuss any corrections with you, and will often offer you advice for the future such as publishing your research.
Once you have completed any corrections, you will need to submit your amended thesis to the correct Dropbox on NOW within the agreed timeframe. When you have your updated TurnitIn report, save your amended thesis as a PDF and upload them both to the Candidate Declaration on the PGR Dashboard.
Once your amendments have been accepted by your SRDC, you will receive your official confirmation and be eligible for graduation.