History Admissions Assessment (HAA), MML admissions test, 2x 40 minute interviews
Interview 1 (French): discussion in French about pre-reading, then discussion of personal statement Interview 2 (history): discussion of general historical questions, then debate
Reading over notes of books read, making mindmaps, watching documentaries and practicing talking and thinking about the subject
Practice papers
Try to show your enthusiasm and relish the challenge!
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: History Admissions Assessment (HAA), MML admissions test
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 30 mins
Length of interviews: c.40 mins
Online interview: Yes
I found both my interviews very enjoyable. My first interview was a French interview, which consisted of reading a passage that I was sent beforehand and then discussing it for the first half. We spoke French from the offset. It was incredibly difficult. I found the grammar very challenging and speaking in French from the offset caught me a little off guard. I didn’t even get the gist of the passage for the most part, but I think what they liked was the fact I kept trying and came up with some original ideas. In the second half, we talked about my personal statement. We discussed my train of thought in some of the statements I made and then I was asked questions leading on from that. The interviewers, throughout, were incredibly welcoming and certainly recognised that I was a nervous 18-year-old in a high-pressure scenario. I found I definitely eased into the interview- and by the end of it I was really enjoying myself.
My second interview was for history. For the first half we discussed ‘general historical questions’ and the second half was about my personal statement. All of these questions were incredibly conceptual, and I found them very difficult. However, it was made clear that there was no right or wrong answer and they merely just wanted to see how I thought about things. We had a bit of a debate about certain topics, I was asked to use an example of somewhere I’d been to highlight a point. I found that they weren’t interested in my reeling off facts at all - it was all about original thought and enthusiasm for the subject. I came out of both interviews tired, but having really enjoyed myself.
I found the most useful thing was reading over some of my notes of books that I’d read and creating a mind map to link together my ideas between certain books and philosophies. I also watched some documentaries, which I found to be one of the most useful things to do - and the most time-efficient! I also tried to engage in as much ‘academic conversation’ as I could, with whoever I could find. Thinking about the ideas that really excited me in my subject area also helped.
Looked at practice papers and got them marked by a
Thé interview is really a chance to show off your enthusiasm. The questions are meant to be challenging, and my top advice would be going into the questions and the interview itself with the mindset that you’re there to show them how you can think and your enthusiasm for the subject. Be enthusiastic, don’t be afraid to double back on your answers, and try and relish the challenge!