English @ Selwyn, Cambridge in 2019

Interview format

English Literature Admissions Test (ELAT); 2x interviews

Interview content

Interview 1: studying an unseen poem; Interview 2: submitted work

Best preparation

Mock interviews with unfamiliar teachers

Test preparation

Writing practice essays

Final thoughts

Be open to opportunities and questions given by the interviewers

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 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

I was given a poem ten minutes before whilst sitting outside the interview, and I had to annotate and study it to the best of my ability. I was questioned on different features of the text and prompted if I was struggling. Then we discussed my submitted work and why I explored the themes I did.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

Mock interviews helped me the most, even though they were not with teachers who taught my subject. The outsider knowledge they could give me on my actual interview skills helped me more than the technical advice given by English tutors. Read as much as you can and ensure you know everything written on your personal statement and the essays you submitted.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

Past practice papers and sample papers. Writing as many essays as possible and analysing as much unseen prose and poetry as I could get my hands on.

What advice would you give to future applicants?

Do as much preparation as you physically can, because this will not only put you academically in the best place, but also mentally because you will be confident. The interviewers are not looking for you to know everything. They want to be able to teach you more, so be open to opportunities and questions they give