Measuring Student Performance-based practice in Psychology in the Era of AI: The benefits of an oral viva in assessing final year empirical dissertations

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI), particularly large language models (LLMs), challenge psychology educators’ ability to assess students’ understanding and judgement through written coursework. We argue that this issue is especially acute for the compulsory empirical project required for British Psychological Society (BPS) accreditation. and that interactive oral examinations (Vivas) offer a discipline-aligned and scalable response. Grounded in the epistemic features of psychology, Viva enables direct assessment of students’ conceptual understanding, methodological justification, and reflective thinking in ways written reports cannot reliably capture in an AI-saturated environment. Adapting the methodology proposed by Brooks (n.d.) and Davis (n.d.), we propose an operational framework for implementing project Viva across final-year cohorts. Viva assessment is proposed not as a defensive measure, but as a future-oriented approach that enhances authenticity, equity, and educational quality in psychology.