ELAT; 2x interviews
Interview 1: discussion of pre-reading, personal statement; Interview 2: unseen poem
Practised analysing unseen texts
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Take time to think before answering a question
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.
Test taken:
Number of interviews: 2
Skype interview: no
Time between interviews: 1 hour
Length of first interview: 30 minutes; Length of second interview: 30 minutes
I was given an extract to discuss in both of my interviews. In the first interview, I was given the extract 10 minutes before and the interview revolved around a discussion of that. In the second interview, the conversation was more general and involved a discussion of my personal statement. Halfway through this interview, I was given a poem and had a minute or so to read it before we discussed it. The atmosphere of the two interviews were quite different - as a result of the different personalities of the interviewers I think. While I was quite nervous for them, I did really enjoy the conversations we ended up having.
I completed practice ELAT papers, and prepared for the interviews by reading widely and critically. I also practised annotating unseen texts by opening books at random pages and anaylsing them.
My advice would be to give yourself time to think after every question. The interviewers want to see that you are thinking carefully and engaging properly with the ideas, so don't rush. Also, don't expect yourself to perform to your very best under these circumstances - the interview environment will be unfamiliar and you are likely to be nervous! Just answer as best you can.