My viva is coming up soon and I am having problems preparing for it. I can't get myself into the right frame of mind and I feel a little overwhelmed at the amount of things I still dont know. I dont know how to revise for the viva. My thesis was not brilliant and was very short. I have gone through it and made a list of every typographical error and mistake that was there. I am panicing.

Anyone have any advice on how to revise for a viva?:$

There's quite a few useful threads about viva prep. Take a look a Moomin's 'I Think I'm Going To Be Sick' one for example.

You need to know your thesis inside out, as ultimately the viva will involve going through it piece by piece and checking with you the what's, where's, why's and how's of what you did and wrote down.

If you know of any gaps in your thesis, don't worry about it too much but instead admit it to yourself and whoever's interviewing you. Then you can always go back and get more information, suggestions etc. if necessary and fill in the blanks. In your viva if you don't know something, it's better to say so than dig yourself into a deeper hole. There should be nothing aggressive or confrontational in a viva, just a general check-up that you did the work and understand it with some background knowledge on the side.


Try and correct all grammar and spelling mistakes first, well before the viva! You'll feel better and your thesis will be easier and (hopefully) more satisfying to read :-)


Relax, it's an awful time, but even the viva itself is better and more fun than the weeks leading up to it ;-)

There are also a number of books on viva preparation, for example Rowena Murray's one, and Tinkler and Jackson's (the one I'm using). Your uni library should have copies of these books, and the books could give you more tips. I bought a copy so I could use it more easily at home.

I don't have a viva date yet myself, but am expecting it at the end of March, so will be starting to reread my thesis and prepare properly shortly. Just had a meeting with my supervisor this morning to discuss how the viva works in our department and to tell me what to expect from the examiners :p

Thanks for your comments, it's a little hard knowing where to start, needing to revise the thesis, the references, knowing all the gaps is as much work as writing the thesis itself, I'm finding it a little overwhelming :(

Did you all have a mock viva?

I didn't, and personally I didn't feel the need for one, but I've heard that other people have really benefited from having one and it may help boost your confidence if you're still feeling jittery about the whole thing. Another thing I forgot to ask/mention before is: do you know if an 'internal examiner' will be involved in your viva, and if so, do you know who it is yet or can you find out? If your answer to these is yes, then there's another way of getting some help, support, and advice! They're going to have to read your thesis and know it well before the viva date, so it wont hurt to go and ask them for initial opinions, important points, are there any major flaws or gaps etc. etc.

Remember: yes, an internal examiner will ask you questions and grill you about your work and thesis in the viva, BUT, ultimately their primary role is to make sure that the/any external examiner(s) behave themselves and are fair to you. After all, it's in your uni's best interest too that you can pass!

It varies a little by university though. I have a convenor/chairperson there as well, who is taking on that part of the job, leaving the examining task more to the internal as well as external.

I'm not having a mock viva either. Could have asked for one, but I don't think it would help me very much, and might also be very counter-productive due to individual reasons in my case.