History @ Fitzwilliam, Cambridge in 2019

Interview format

History Admissions Assessment (HAA); 2x interviews

Interview content

Interview 1: discussion of pre-reading, personal statement; Interview 2: submitted essays, abstract question

Best preparation

YouTube videos about interviews

Test preparation

Practice papers

Final thoughts

Try to relax and be passionate about your subject

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: 30 mins
Length of interviews: 10 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

In my first interview I was asked about a short piece of reading I read beforehand to assess my skills at just analysing a text and inferring details from it. They also asked about my personal statement and what areas of history I was interested in and why. I felt quite relaxed as I kept talking.

My second interview was about some essays I had sent in and that was very relaxing and easy to talk about. They then asked me an abstract question which was really fun to try to answer and discuss with the interviewers.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

I spoke to my neighbour who used to be the uni officer at a local sixth form and he helped by doing a mock interview with me. There are also some very useful videos from both Oxford and Cambridge that helped give me an idea of what it would be like. I feel like it definitely made me more confident as I had an idea of what was coming.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

I actually did the past papers for the Oxford and Cambridge History admissions tests to practice

What advice would you give to future applicants?

It's not that scary. Yes its nerve-wracking and a big deal, but the idea that it is some terrifying, all-important interview is wrong. You are made to feel at home and are asked to talk about things you like and your own work, so just relax and be passionate.