History And Politics @ Sidney Sussex, Cambridge in 2016

Interview format

2x interviews (30 mins each + 1x 30 mins pre-reading)

Interview content

First Interview- unseen text and school work; Second interview - personal statement

Best preparation

Reading articles and watching videos online. Reading over personal statement and essay.

Final thoughts

No

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

My interview was in the beginning of December. The porters showed me to a waiting room. It began with half an hour of reading of an unseen text which I would then discuss with the interviewers. I had to find my way to my interviews using a map. I had two interviews each with two interviewers, and each were half an hour long. All three of these took place immediately after each other.

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

In the first interview we discussed the unseen text and a piece of my school work - on Brexit and Northern Irish government.

The second interview was based around my personal statement - we mostly discussed the book I read on Nazi Germany, and also one about the US constitution. The first interview felt like a discussion while I found the second more intimidating.

How did you prepare?

I tried reading articles online/watching videos about students experience. I didn’t know any current students and while my school was very helpful with my personal statement etc there was nothing organised with regards to interviews.In reality I did very little prep specific to the interviews - I just read over the stuff in my personal statement and essay.

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

No