Unusually, due to a timetabling issue, my 2 interviews were spread out over 2 days. I arrived about 2 hours before my first interview with the Politics fellows. All the interviewees were seated together in a room, with current students manning a registration desk and directing everyone. There was a piece of reading to get through before the interview - a "long read" article from the Guardian about WW1 - that we were sent to a separate, silent room to read. You were only allowed 30 minutes for the article which was not too bad. I then returned back to the original room and was escorted to my interview by a current student. The interview was based in one of the fellows' office. For my second interview with the History fellows, there was no pre reading, so I arrived the next day about 45 minutes in advance, went to the interview and then left for home. There were vouchers available for free meals both days, but I met up with friends in Cambridge instead and spent less time in the College than other interviewees.

For the Politics interview, it began with me summarising the article I was given and then using some points in it to start a discussion. There were two fellows present, but one was largely silent and took notes. Several times, I was asked to think of examples to back up my points but I wasn't really expected to have any prior political history/theory/philosophy knowledge or know specific thinkers. The interview was generally quite laidback and lasted less than 25 minutes and I left thinking it had gone well.

My History interview was more based around set questions - the type you see when you google "Cambridge interview questions" rather than the discussion in my Politics interview. They also asked me about my personal statement whereas my Politics interview ignored that completely. There were a couple times where I felt the fellows led me to an answer, but none of the questions were too difficult or based around specific historical knowledge. They were very keen to know about books I had disagreed with or that had interested me so it was very lucky I had downloaded some Hobsbawm PDF files onto my phone for the coach journey as otherwise I wouldn't have had much to talk about! Both fellows asked questions this time, but the interview felt quite formulaic and I don't think I performed as strongly.

Keeping up to date with the news and engaging with my A Level content, as well as reading a couple relevant books (or chapters on the bus ride over!) that interested me. I had no mock interviews and was completely fine, so don't worry if your school doesn't have the resources to offer one. Just take your time and pause before launching into an answer, and try not to second guess yourself! Keep going with your train of thought, but, equally, if you do want to switch up your answer you can. For example, I began discussing one book I disagreed with before realising I'd be better off talking about a different article. I told my interviewers that, and then changed track completely to discuss the article and they seemed fine with it.

When originally applying, it should be made clear that the photo submitted for the SAQ is the one used for your Cambridge ID! It was a bad surprise for me! (Not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things, but still)