Test taken: English Literature Admissions Test (ELAT)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: An hour
Length of interviews: Half an hour each
Online interview: Yes

My first interview was a general interview with very broad questions. I was asked about how English Literature is connected to History (you might be asked about the other subjects you do) and had some questions about how literary criticism changes over time. In this first interview I was not so much talking about specific texts, rather it was a discussion of literature itself. My second interview started with a discussion of an unseen extract that is typically given to you 10 minutes before the interview. Don't worry about understanding the extract in one go, just make some notes about what you find interesting and be willing to accept different interpretations rather than clinging to what you initially wrote. The interview then ended with a discussion of what I had written in my personal statement. Make sure you have actually read everything you put in your personal statement (really not a good look if you haven't) and be prepared to talk more in depth about what you wrote. All your thoughts about what is in your personal statement should should ideally not already be on the page, because you don't want to be repeating yourself. Finally, they asked me to talk about something I had read recently. This is why I recommend reading new things all the way up to the interview. Have some things that you have read recently that you are ready to talk about – the interviewer wants to see that you enjoy reading and do it regularly!

For my interview, I made sure that I read some books from each of the main literary – but don't worry if you don't have time to do this. The most important thing is that you have interesting things to say about some texts. Read as much as you can, but make sure you read around texts as well. It is no good having read something if you are not able to play around with the ideas that it explores during the interview. British Library articles are great for close readings of poems, introductions to themes and ideas in novels, and have great contextual information about all the different literary periods. Try also to watch some productions of Shakespeare plays. I found it much easier to understand the play when I saw it performed. Once I applied to Cambridge I spoke to my teacher about what to read, and as I went along I collected notes on a pad of paper for everything I read. Closer to the interview, I looked for questions from past interviews and practiced thinking on my toes about them. Don't prepare answers for specific questions since the content of interviews is usually quite unpredictable. The questions can be quite strange but as long as you are prepared to think on your feet and consider other interpretations when given new information you will be fine. They are not trying to catch you out, just trying to see how you think.

Practice papers were used in enrichment classes at school in order to prepare. In general, getting any unseen poem or extract and annotating it closely is great practice for the ELAT.

Don't worry about how much you've read – it's about what you do with what you've read and how you talk about it. Make sure that you are open to new interpretations, as the interviewers like you to consider new ideas as you go along, rather than clinging onto what you were saying before. It does not mean that what you said was wrong – they just want to see you consider another side of the argument. Rather than saying "I don't know" to a question, ask them to repeat it and don't be afraid of thinking out loud or putting ideas that aren't fully formed out there – the interviewer will usually help you along. Most of all, show you are passionate about English.