Why mock viva practice matters
The PhD viva is a live, spoken examination. The examiners have read your thesis and will ask questions about it in real time. You answer, they follow up, you clarify. The challenge isn't just knowing your work — it's being able to articulate it under questioning, in a spoken conversation, on the day.
That's why most viva preparation advice recommends practising out loud. The trouble is finding the right opportunities. A formal mock viva with your supervisor is ideal but hard to arrange more than once. Reading your thesis back to yourself is useful but not the same as being questioned on it. Defensia sits in that gap.
Why real-time spoken practice is different from question lists
The real viva is spoken — so spoken practice is more transferable than reading notes
Hearing yourself explain complex ideas reveals gaps that reading your thesis doesn't
Responding to follow-up questions in real time builds the flexibility the viva demands
Repeated spoken rehearsal reduces the cognitive load on the day itself
What a session looks like
Question, answer, follow-up, feedback — all in a single spoken session.
Methodologist
Examiner speaking
EXAMINER
"Your methodology chapter describes a thematic analysis approach. Can you explain why you chose inductive coding rather than applying an existing theoretical framework to your data?"
YOUR ANSWER
"I chose inductive coding because my research question was exploratory — I was examining patterns in participant experience that hadn't been categorised before, so applying a predetermined framework would have constrained the analysis…"
FOLLOW-UP
"How did you establish rigour in that process? Did you use member checking or inter-rater reliability measures?"
SESSION FEEDBACK
How it works
Upload your thesis
Defensia indexes your work so every question is grounded in what you actually wrote.
Choose an examiner style
Select the style of questioning you want to practise. Start gentle, build up to rigorous.
Answer out loud in a live session
Speak your answers. The examiner listens and responds with follow-up questions based on what you said.
Review structured feedback
After the session, review scores and notes across five categories. Practise again when you're ready.
Examiner styles
Choose the type of questioning you want to rehearse. Whether you want constructive practice to build confidence or rigorous challenge to stress-test your arguments, there's a style suited to where you are in your preparation.
See all examiner styles →