History @ King's, Cambridge in 2016

Interview format

2x interviews (c. 45 mins each)

Interview content

AS-level History topics

Best preparation

Reading over personal statement books; practice interview

Final thoughts

Take time over your answers

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

2 interviews in one day, each lasting roughly 45 minutes. The interviewers did not expect me know the answers to everything and deliberately challenged me by suggesting new theories or schools of thought I hadn’t come across. They looked for an ability to consider new information, take time to think it through and then form an opinion.

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

I was given a time and place for each interview where I was quizzed extensively on my AS level history topics and the books I had mentioned in my personal statement. Since there was no test, the interviews were very important. I was interviewed by two fellows in the first interview and three in the second. I had also been asked to submit two examples of marked written work, unfortunately I had thrown away my AS work as I did not realise it would be required, so I only had two essays that I’d done in class, one of which was of low standard so I felt the need to compensate in interview. I had not particularly revised my AS history as I did not realise I was going to be asked so many questions on it (so I would recommend looking over past work).

Because I studied them at school, we discussed the civil rights movement, WWII and James I!

How did you prepare?

Read over the books I’d mentioned in my personal statement and had a mock interview with a teacher at school.

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

Take time to think about the question and be confident in your answer!