Receiving a request to attend an "Investigatory Viva" or any meeting to discuss concerns about your work can be highly stressful, but it is not an immediate finding of guilt. It is a tool used by universities to address one of the most severe forms of academic misconduct: False Authorship or Contract Cheating. This means the university suspects that the work you submitted was completed by an unauthorised third party, such as an essay mill or an AI tool.

The meeting or viva is your critical opportunity to demonstrate to the university that the work is genuinely yours, based on your knowledge and understanding.

The Purpose of the Viva

When an examiner or investigator finds anomalies—inconsistency in writing style, inappropriate references, or odd data—they may initiate a viva (oral examination) to confirm authorship. This practice is explicitly part of the procedures at institutions like Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) and UCL. Other institutions may not use the term, but their procedures will often include a formal meeting to discuss the concerns and give you an opportunity to answer their questions.

The investigator or panel will use the meeting to assess, on the balance of probabilities (meaning, is it more likely than not?), that you produced the work. They need to be satisfied that the submission is a true reflection of your own academic achievement. This viva or meeting might be the last thing to happen before the decision is made, so make sure you go prepared.

How to Prepare Your Defence

Your best defence relies on demonstrating a continuous link between your learning and the final submitted product.

1. Provide Your Working Materials

The panel is trying to gauge the effort and progression that went into the assignment. They may request to see original materials, notes, or drafts. These documents provide crucial evidence to back up your claim of authorship.

Tip: Always retain multiple versions or drafts of major assessments, showing how the work developed from initial ideas to the final piece.

2. Demonstrate Subject Mastery 

During the viva, the questions will be focused entirely on the content of the submitted work. You must be able to:

• Explain the Work: Discuss the core arguments, methodology, and conclusions presented in the assessment.

• Defend Your Sources: Show that you undertook the necessary research and reading yourself. If you cited an unusual text, be prepared to summarise its contents and explain why it was central to your argument.

• Discuss Development: Explain the logical steps and choices you made while developing the assessment.

3. Do Not Fail to Engage 

If you receive a request or a requirement to attend an investigatory viva, you must go. 

If you do not attend the viva without a valid reason, you deprive yourself of the main opportunity to demonstrate that the work is your own, and the investigation will proceed based solely on the original (suspicious) evidence, severely jeopardising your case.

4. Seek Support 

You are encouraged to seek support from independent advisors, such as the Students' Union Advice Centre, who can help you prepare your defence strategy and understand the process.

Successfully navigating the investigatory viva or meeting turns a highly serious allegation into a procedural test that you can pass by simply proving your ownership of the work. If you have been called to a viva, gather every piece of supporting documentation and focus entirely on preparing to defend the intellectual content of your submission.

Check our resources area for more guidance on how to prepare.