History Admissions Assessment (HAA), 2x interviews
Both interviews: questions about motivation for applying for a joint degree, discussion of personal statement and related topics
Re-reading written work and personal statement, and reading 'Sapiens'
Going through past papers and finding similar themes
Treat it like a conversation
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)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: c. 2 hours
Length of interviews: c. 45 minutes
Online interview: No
My interviews were quite similar since I applied for a joint degree. One was a history interview and the other was a politics interview and both started in similar fashion, asking me about my motivation for a joint degree.
Both interviews flowed naturally from my answers. There didn't appear to be many pre-prepared/formulaic questions other than one at the end about which piece of legislation I would repeal if I could. There was some discussion in both interviews about my personal statement, mainly about my focus on music history which I think the interviewers found interesting and I remember having a discussion about rap music and what it demonstrated about society. There was also discussion about my A-Level choices since I took 3 STEM subjects and the interviewers were interested about why I wanted to make the switch as well as how history and politics related to them.
Both interviews involved a good cap/bad cop routine with one interviewer asking questions and being supportive while the other one would challenge my points.
I re-read the essay I sent in to make sure I was prepared for any questions asked in it. I also re-read my personal statement, brushed up on the periods of history I referenced, and tried to work out what questions sprang to mind when reading it.
Another thing that helped was reading Sapiens. Other than it being quite interesting, I remember that a lot of points in that book ended up being quite useful for the interview.
I went through the different practice papers before comparing them to find similar themes (e.g., all based around European history, all focussing on the transition to the "modern" era)
I would advise applicants to treat it like a conversation. The interviewers love their subject and want to make sure you share their passion. Engage with their questions and take any points they may make on board, even if it's just to argue against it.