Test taken: History Admissions Assessment (HAA)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: several hours
Length of interviews: 30 minutes (plus 30 minute pre-interview exercise before second one)
Online interview: Yes

In the first interview, one interviewer asked about my personal statement, the other about my submitted essays. In the second interview, one asked about the pre-interview exercise I’d just done, the other had general questions.

Overall, the interviewers were very nice, and I tried to think of it as a ‘fun’ experience as best as I could. I was smiley and positive and I think that helped. Don’t be afraid to say the wrong thing (I definitely did!) and also just to be a bit lighthearted about it all. I made jokes about Strictly Come Dancing and Boris Johnson and they still let me in!

My school was not particularly set up for Oxbridge (from a large cohort, about 15 of us applied and I was the only person to get a place), so we didn’t really have any ‘training’ that some people I know here from private schools had. So I had to actually look for people to help me myself. My history teacher was extremely helpful, conducting what was essentially a practice interview so I was familiar with the sort of questions asked. A friend’s dad, who is also a history teacher, also gave me an online practice interview, much more similar to the Cambridge format. These were so helpful, making the process seem more familiar and approachable. Do these practice interviews, and find people (anyone!) to give them to you if your school doesn’t provide them. Listen to the constructive criticism but also to the praise you get given - it’s genuine and can help you feel more confident and positive about the interview itself!

For the History Admissions Assessment, no prior knowledge of content is needed so my history teacher recommended that I just do a couple of practice papers, which I then sent to him to mark. He stressed the importance of ‘extrapolating big ideas’ above all - but here are some other things he emailed me for feedback:

'As a template for any source comparison - I would say a structure of three big thematic paragraphs with a very short intro and slightly longer conclusion would help keep a tight and concise answer.’

Don’t think of provenance in the way you necessarily would at A level, but in terms of bigger traditions (ie what the author represents, rather than who the individual is). 

Take practice papers not to over-revise and stress, but to ‘prove to yourself that you can do this’.

And in the immediate run-up to the HAA: ‘You can 'over-train' for these things. Have a night off. Have some fun. Seriously.’ He’s very wise :)

Don't stress! Enjoy the experience, and realise that you’re applying to Oxbridge because you’re good enough to apply to Oxbridge. Just be yourself - don’t pretend to be anyone else. I made silly jokes, I don’t always speak with the right grammar and I don’t sound posh or serious or academic - and they let me in! Also after the interviews, give yourself a break. Everyone will understand that this is a big deal and let you be a bit tired for a few days - you’ve been running on adrenaline! I’m a humanities student and I had put so much effort into the interviews that my brain couldn’t process writing essays for a week. Sometimes this happens - it will come back!