How to Prepare for an Oral Examination

by Prof Nora Tam, former Professor, Department of Biology and Chemistry

The oral exam is not just a formality. After you submit your MPhil or PhD thesis, the examiners judge whether it is worthy of an oral exam. The exam provides an opportunity for you to defend and clarify points that are not clear to the examiners. It allows the examiners to check whether you understand the topic properly. Most oral exam have two parts - an oral presentation by the student followed by a questions and discussion session. 

Before the exam 

As soon as you submit your thesis, prepare for your oral exam. Prepare your presentation in a clear and interesting way. Timing is crucial. You are asked to present for 20-25 minutes; if you go beyond thirty minutes it shows you cannot summarise your work. Give a brief introduction and outline your methodology. The most important parts are your key findings, your contribution to the topic and your originality.

Think about possible questions that may arise. Rehearse in front of your friends, or ask your supervisor for comments. Talk to students who have already sat their exams to find out exactly what happens. If you have already received feedback from your external examiner, look at these questions and comments very carefully and respond to them. You can even prepare written answers and table them for the examiners.

Ensure you are very familiar with your thesis. You need to be familiar with every page, table and figure. You should be able to elaborate a little on every statement it contains. Quite often after you submit your thesis you find typing errors and minor mistakes. Prepare a list of erratum and table it for the examiners.

During the exam 

Dress appropriately to show respect to your examiners.

Make your oral presentation clear and interesting within the time allowed. Highlight your key findings and contribution to the area of study. Try to impress the panel members. A good oral presentation always leads to a friendlier environment and an open and meaningful discussion. After your presentation, questions usually start with the external examiner, followed by your internal examiner (usually from your department) and your supervisor.

Try to relax. The best way to approach it is as a discussion, an exchange of research findings and ideas, rather than just questions and answers.

Listen to each question very carefully. It is important that you understand each question fully and address the question that is being asked. You don't need to give your answer immediately, you can organise your thoughts first. If you think the answer is already in your thesis, you can remind the examiners to refer to certain pages, diagrams or figures.

The answers you give should be clear, concise and precise. If your answer is not precise, it will lead to a clarifying question, and this is when the questions become more difficult. If the exam is face-to-face, look at the facial expressions of your examiners to see if they are satisfied with your answer. If they appear satisfied then stop. You need to allow time for them to ask other questions.

Let the examiners see you are confident in your answers. If your answer does not agree with what the examiner says it doesn't matter. Different people can have different views. Give enough evidence to substantiate your arguments and convince the examiners that your way of thinking is acceptable. Don't become overly defensive and don't feel insulted if the examiner doesn't agree with what you say. Keep calm and stay in a discussion mood. If a question is raised that you don't know the answer to, just be honest and say that you have not yet come across this. Comment on whether it would be worthwhile exploring in the future.

You don't need to have all the answers but you do need to know the way to approach research questions. Examiners are looking for students who can work independently, identify research topics, consolidate research questions and can tackle and find answers for their research questions. Examiners may give you hypothetical questions, such as how would you tackle other aspects of your topic if you had time.

If your external examiner is overseas, the oral exam may be by telephone conference. You need to do the oral presentation slowly, and ensure that the examiner is following your presentation and knows which slide you are on (the examiner will have copies of the slides).

After the exam 

There is no standard length for an oral exam. The discussion section can last from twenty minutes to over three hours. After the exam, you'll be asked to leave the room. The panel will decide the result and you'll be invited back. If you are successful, usually the first word you'll hear is "Congratulations!"

Go and talk to your classmates. As well as feeling relieved when you exam is over, you'll realise that you have learned a lot. Talk to your fellow classmates, especially those who haven't had their oral exam, because sharing your experience is very important.