History @ Peterhouse, Cambridge in 2016

Interview format

History Admissions Assessment (HAA); 2x interviews

Interview content

Interview 1: personal statement, SAQ; Interview 2: personal statement, unseen text

Best preparation

Take notes on books while reading

Final thoughts

Be kind to yourself!

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: History Admissions Assessment (HAA)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 5 hours
Length of interviews: 30 minutes each
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

Both interviews worked off my personal statement, one more than the other. They asked a few questions about the books I said I'd read, and a lot about my EPQ, which I was working on. The pieces of work I'd submitted were used as springboards for discussion, as was the unseen text. The unseen text was on something I knew nothing about, but it turned out to be fine as they gave me some prompts and I compared it to things I did know about.

How did you prepare?

For the test I did a practice paper that my history teachers looked at, but as my year was the first for the tests, there wasn't a lot I could do! Looking back, I think it would have been a good idea to take notes about the books I was reading as by the time the interview came around, I'd forgotten a lot of the details! If anyone from your school got in or applied the year before, don't be afraid to ask them questions. They were in your place not long ago and probably are more up to date on the process than your teachers.
 

Looking back, what advice would you give to your past self?

I worried way too much about the interview, so though it's easier said than done, be kind to yourself and remind yourself that this really isn't the be all and end all!