2x interviews (20/25 mins each); 30 mins reading time
Discussed 2 poems I read beforehand, literary theory, and books I read in school.
Read up on literary ethics, T.S. Eliot's essays, Tom Paulin's ‘The Secret Life of Poems’.
Be honest, don't be afraid to ask questions.
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.
I had two interviews lasting 20/25 minutes each, each was one on one, and I had a half hour interval to read in between.
In the first interview I was given a poem to read and then asked about it. We also talked about some literary theory/ethics. For example, we discussed the diversity of the literary canon.
In my second interview I was questioned on a poem which I had been given half an hour to read and analyse and then asked about a book which I had studied at school. I wasn’t asked very specific questions and was allowed to digress quite a lot so it felt more like an opportunity to demonstrate my interests.
Tom Paulin's ‘The Secret Life of Poems’ is definitely worth a read. Try analysing a poem yourself and then compare to what he says.
It's also worthwhile reading up on a bit of Literary ethics. I found that the few T.S.Eliot essays I’d read were very useful.
Just be honest and listen to what they’re saying because they want people they can teach. If there’s something you’re curious about or can’t quite make sense of, don’t be embarrassed to ask!