Geography @ Emmanuel, Cambridge in 2018

Interview format

Section 1 of the Thinking Skills Assessment; 2x interviews.

Interview content

Interview 1: discussion of geographical trends from sources provided. Interview 2: discussion of a text sent prior to the interview.

Best preparation

Watching YouTube videos on the interview, thinking of possible questions, reading the text sent in advance of the interview.

Test preparation

TSA textbooks, example questions, and practice tests.

Final thoughts

Try to see your interview as a chance to show your passion for the subject. Demonstrate that you go beyond what is taught in school in your personal statement.

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: Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) - section 1 only
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 1 hour
Length of interviews: 30 - 45 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

1st interview - the interviewers were both really friendly and enthusiastic, didn't make me feel like I was getting anything wrong. Interview was based around discussing geographical trends from information they provided.

2nd interview - based on text that we were send in advance, questions about the text, my ideas about it. They wanted to get onto discussion of personal statement but ran out of time.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

Watched Cambridge University YouTube videos on the purpose of the interview and what it would be like, went over my personal statement and thought of possible questions that could be asked about it and prepared answers, had a mock interview at school. Also, I was send a text in advance to prepare stuff on for the interview so that took up most my preparation.

Thought of predictable interview questions such as - why Cambridge? why geography? why this college? and thought of some things I would say and practiced answering them out loud to myself.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

TSA textbooks, reading example questions online, practice tests.

What advice would you give to future applicants?

Try and frame the interview in your mind not as a test but as an opportunity to show how passionate/curious you are about the subject because that's what they are looking for rather than testing your knowledge about it. Also know your personal statement because you might get questioned on it and try and mention other things you've read around the subject not just what you're taught at school, doesn't have to be particularly academic but something to show you've spent your time exploring the subject.