I had one interview in mid December at around 1 o'clock. I stayed with a friend the night before and then went to the college early in the morning and met members of the JCR. I had a couple hours to kill so went and got a coffee in town. I then headed back to college and ate the lunch they provided in college before going to the common room where I chatted to a member of the JCR and a couple other students who were there for interview. Following a map, I then headed down to a different room for my interview which lasted about 20 minutes. Afterwards I collected my belongings and then headed home.

My interview was a much better experience than I thought it would be, the two people interviewing me were both friendly. There were a few questions to start with based on my personal statement and I was asked to expand my reflections on books and essays I had mentioned in it. I was then given an object and asked to discuss its relevance to geography, asked a question to do with a political/economic news story from a few years ago and then a general question about natural hazards. From chatting to other applicants, these last three questions were asked to almost all of us. However, they were happy to let me lead the discussion towards things I was interested in. I was also only vaguely aware of the details of the news story, so I asked them to clarify it and they were happy to explain in bit more detail what it was about.

I was glad I had kept up with current affairs because the news story I was asked about was from a few years before my interview. I had a couple of practice interviews which were helpful in practicing thinking holistically and speaking clearly but easier questions were asked in my actual interview.

I read books I was interested in and revised my A-level syllabus but I think I spent too much time doing this. I researched the fellows at my college before I applied. We had similar interests and so my interview was more human based which I preferred and I think really helped me.

Make sure you have more things to say about the books or experiences you wrote about in your personal statement, because I was asked to discuss this at interview.

Don't be afraid to ask them if you don't understand and also it's fine to bring in information from your other A-levels or direct the discussion towards your interests to some extent. I also spoke about Blue Planet and sport I played in relation to geography, I think they much prefer passion rather than a focus on academic examples.