Oxbridge personal statements and preparations are often seen as more complicated than other universities’ processes, and many are thrown off by it.

“You need to do a lot of reading and research.”

“You need to master the piece of reading and know everything about it.”

“You need to read impactful, lengthy, legendary books.”

These are often misconceptions of what Oxbridge admission tutors are looking for. There may be some truths to these misconceptions, but they are ultimately looking for your passion for the subject. For education, you don’t have to have read Paolo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, or Plato’s Meno or something from Dewey. These are famous books, and you will come across them once you join the course, but they don’t have to be the books that you mention in your personal statement. Don’t read a book simply because you think that it will benefit you, read a book because you like it – and read one that you resonate with and understand.

Examples of what I read and discussed in my personal statement (I only read two books that are close to education):

• Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown, Mark A. McDaniel and Henry L. Roediger III
  
• I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything for Our Kids by Kyle Schwartz
  

Education is an interdisciplinary subject, and studying education involves studying theories in social justice, psychology, philosophy, English and arts – which leaves room for a lot of super-curricular activities. Some other suggestions across all disciplinary may include:

• Cleverlands: The Secrets Behind the World’s Education Superpowers by Crehan L.
  
• Inside the black box by Black P. and William D.
  
• How Asian teachers polish each lesson to perfection by Stigler J. and Stevenson H.
  
• Privilege: The making of an adolescent elite at St. Paul’s School by Shamus Khan
  
• Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by bell hooks
  
• The Rise of the Meritocracy by Michael Young
  
• The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks
  
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
  
• Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
  

But of course, after all, the decision on what to read and how much to read is yours. Apart from reading lengthy books, keeping on top of educational news and events is also beneficial in preparing for your application. Cambridge’s Faculty of Education website has a lot of up-to-date research in the field while news outlets can provide you with the most recent changes in educational policies. If you still want to explore Education more, podcasts and TED Talks can also be very helpful. For example, Michael Sandel’s TED Talk about The Tyranny of Merit provides a brief discussion of why meritocracy (a society ruled by merit, hard work and earned status) can potentially be inefficient and inaccurate. Oxford’s Department of Education also has a podcast series about different topics in education which can become part of your super-curricular.

Education is a hub for crossovers between multiple different subjects. In a sense, any readings or super-curriculars that you do can be linked back to education. It doesn’t really matter what you read or the length of the book or research paper that you are reading; what matters is that you can demonstrate your ability to think for yourself and even reflect on the activity that you did and show that you have passion and interest about the subject.