History @ Corpus Christi, Cambridge in 2020

Interview format

2x interviews

Interview content

Questions about personal statement, then broader questions

Best preparation

Wider reading, and talking about the subject

Final thoughts

Interviewers aren't testing how much you know but want to see how you think things through

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: None
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: a couple of hours
Length of interviews: about an hour, maybe less
Online interview: Yes

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

The interviewers started off asking me some questions about the topics I mentioned being interested in in my personal statement. They then asked me broader questions around the same theme. They also asked me about some work experience I had mentioned in my personal statement, I think to do with what I learnt from it. I was really nervous at the beginning but definitely got more settled as the interview went on and it started to feel more like a conversation.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

The most useful thing I did to prepare for my interviews was find a topic I was interested in and wasn't learning about in school and read around it, then talked about it with friends and family. The people I talked to about it didn't need to know anything about the subject, it was just helpful to have some practice giving my opinion and thinking about any questions they asked me.

What advice would you give to future applicants?

I think I would say not to try to answer all the questions quickly in the interview - for broad questions it's ok to think out loud, describe both sides of the question and say you aren't sure either way. They aren't testing how much you know but want to see how you think things through!