Test taken: None
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 30 mins
Length of interviews: 30 mins
Online interview: Yes

My first interview was a general interview. I had two interviewers. The interview began with questions asking me to reflect on my education so far. When I answered, I was quickly given a critical-sounding follow up question - I worried that this meant I had done something wrong. But when I answered, the interviewer cracked a joke, and this made me realise that they were interested, and just trying to push me! I was also given a quote and asked to respond to it with what I thought it meant, and give a definition of one of the words in the question. I felt super nervous and uncertain, and started down an unhelpful route to answer the question. When I realised, I asked to start again, but we moved on to other questions. They were interested in why studying the subject appealed to me and what had interested me in what I had encountered already. It felt like a formal conversation. I was really nervous but the atmosphere was encouraging.

My second interview was English and Drama based. I was emailed a poem before the interview (15 mins, plus extra time as an adjustment they made for my disability) with one broad question and a few questions that were more specific but very accessible. The interview started with me presenting my answers to the questions. I got to show my excitement for the subject here. The questions asked were to get me to develop what I was saying. The interviewer was really encouraging. A second interviewer took the lead with the next part, which was discussing my coursework and personal statement. This was more focused on the drama side of things, which I'd expressed an interest in. At the end, I thanked them for a really enjoyable conversation and meant it!

I applied for Education, English, Drama and the Arts. Most of the preparation I did involved reviewing and building upon the things I had done for the earlier parts of the application. I was a gap year student and did not spend much time with all of the stuff I had studied in school. I read through the essay and coursework I submitted as my two writing samples. I annotated them with additional information where teachers had made comments asking me to expand or clarify, and did some more research on things I had just mentioned but wasn't certain about. This meant that I felt comfortable when my interviewer asked me questions about my coursework, and I was able to show that I had developed my thinking since the time I had written it. I did an online MOOC (a free online course) that looked at issues in education in the 21st century before I applied. I refreshed my memory of that by reading through my notes and thought about what I found most interesting in it. It was really helpful that I had made notes of the thoughts I had and comments I made when I did the course, and I think that thinking about what else I knew that connected to what I was studying in this subject I'd never encountered before was good preparation for the interview. I got myself back into the headspace of thinking about texts I referenced on my personal statement and reading around the subject area I had done by listening to podcast episodes on the texts and topic. I practiced talking about them by telling family members and friends about them. I did have a mock interview arranged by my old school. The most helpful part of this was practising talking to someone who wasn't familiar and answering questions when nervous.

Feeling nervous is natural and finding questions difficult is to be expected! These two things being apparent in your interview is not a bad thing. Don't be afraid to express that you find something really interesting or you are excited by a certain idea. Developing your thoughts and deepening your knowledge is more helpful than trying to know everything more broadly but at a surface level.