English @ Queens', Cambridge in 2014

Interview format

1x test (2 hours), 1x interview (30 mins)

Interview content

Talked about personal statement and unseen poem

Best preparation

Reading texts from personal statement

Final thoughts

It was good to chat to people to reduce nerves between 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

One written exam early afternoon for 2 hours then half an hour interview in the evening. Formal exam, informal style interview.

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

Mostly directed around my personal statement and then an unseen poem and some more questions further to that. I hated the exam and felt I'd lost my chance, whereas I loved my interview and really relaxed into it, enjoyed it almost.

How did you prepare?

Knowing my personal statement inside and out and the texts on it - my views on each of them and having read them ALL recently.

Looking back, what advice would you give to your past self?

The timings of the day weren't ideal so it was handy to have provision to chat to someone between the times of the exam and interview as I was so nervous!