Anglo-Saxon, Norse, And Celtic @ Selwyn, Cambridge in 2019

Interview format

Arts-Humanities Admissions Assessment; 2x interviews

Interview content

Interview 1: pastoral, reasons for applying; Interview 2: personal statement, subject-specific skills

Best preparation

Read wider literature of the period

Test preparation

Practice papers

Final thoughts

Don't be afraid to make bold claims as long as you can back them up!

Remember this advice isn't official. There is no guarantee it will reflect your experience because university applications can change between years. Check the official Cambridge and Oxford websites for more accurate information on this year's application format and the required tests.

Also, someone else's experience may not reflect your own. Most interviews are more like conversations than tests and like, any conversation, they are quite interactive.

Interview Format

Test taken: Arts-Humanities Admissions Assessment (AHAA)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 2 hours
Length of interviews: 10-40 mins
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

First interview was a mainly pastoral one, like why I wanted to apply for this subject, what other things might I like to do while at university, etc. It was really short and relaxed, and felt almost underwhelming!

The second one was more academic, asking about stuff on my personal statement, and discussing themes about books which I said I read, with some general skills needed for ASNaC. It was fairly nerve-wracking, but the interviewers were really nice and didn't add to the stress whatsoever!

How did you prepare for your interviews?

Because I was applying for a "new" subject which I hadn't studied before, there was no notes from school or anything like that. But I just looked at some of the wider literature of the period and read that. I would recommend this to any others doing arts subjects - wider reading is good because you can discuss it easily.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

Practice papers only!

What advice would you give to future applicants?

Don't worry, and be enthusiastic!! I think that enthusiasm about the subject really matters, the interviewers look for people who genuinely love what they want to do! Take your time with your answers, don't rush into saying things and don't worry about getting things wrong! For ASNaC, it was as much a discussion about my outlandish ideas as expecting the right answers to questions! Don't be afraid to make bold claims as long as you can back them up!