English @ Jesus, Cambridge in 2016

Interview format

English Literature Admissions Test (ELAT); 2x interviews

Interview content

Interview 1: unseen text; Interview 2: general conversation about subject

Best preparation

Listened to podcasts like In Our Time

Test preparation

Got familiar with format

Final thoughts

Don’t worry about knowing everything about every aspect of literature.

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: English Literature Admissions Test (ELAT)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 1 hour
Length of interviews: 30 mins
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

We were given an unseen text which we had 15 minutes to read. The first half of the interview was talking about the text and the second half was a more general chat about English.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

I re-read summaries of the things I mentioned in my personal statement. I listened to a few podcasts (in particular In Our Time and Approaching Shakespeare) just to familiarise myself with what talking about literature feels like.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

I looked at the practice papers online and familiarised myself with how the test worked. I didn’t do any practice tests.

What advice would you give to future applicants?

Be yourself! Don’t worry about knowing everything about every aspect of literature. Be passionate about your own niche interests.