2x online interviews
Interview 1: questions on a source sent out beforehand; Interview 2: discussion of submitted essays and personal statement.
Hold on to longer drafts of your personal statement so you have extra material to return to!
Keep up with the news and never just refuse to answer a question because you aren't sure, always give it a shot!
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.
Test taken: None
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 1 day
Length of interviews: 15 minutes for the first, 30 minutes for the second
Online interview: Yes
My first interview was based around a source sent to me half an hour before the interview, which was a newspaper article. If you know you will be given a source then maybe have a think about what's been in the news and in the public eye recently as it may well come up, or you could at least reference it in your answers.
The first half of the 15 minute interview was specific questions about the source, and the second half was more general questions on very broad/vague topics that were very open ended, so don't go in too closed minded, there could be a question where you can link knowledge you had prepared specifically for interview with stuff you just know randomly that happens to be relevant.
My second interview was based on the two essays I had submitted, and my personal statement, though they only actually asked like one question on the personal statement from lack of time. This style I found more difficult, as the questions basically took something I said in the essay, and applied to a broader context ie. they asked about one paragraphs point, and asked me to discuss that point but in a different time period or about a slightly different topic.
The essays were a starting point for more broad questions, which was harder than the first interview but also gave me more options to bring in stuff I knew that wasn't directly in the essay i.e. stuff from other parts of my A-Level courses and wider knowledge. I would say
I had
I also made sure that I knew enough about my personal statement that I could pivot back to it if asked a difficult question. Keep previous drafts of your personal statement to hand because you may have written things that had to be cut for length but could be great to say in interview!
Keep previous drafts of your personal statement to hand because you may have written things that had to be cut for length but could be great to say in interview! Keep up with the news as you may want to bring in something contemporary that you have a good point on but don't just regurgitate something you saw in an article. Mention something you saw on the news if you have a good critique or counter to it, that makes you seem up to date and critical. If you aren't quite sure of a particular statistic or data point, either try to find a way to avoid it or
If you know you have a source then maybe have a think at what's been in the news and in the public eye recently as it may well come up, or you could at least reference it in your answers! Don't go in too closed minded with a list of set topics to discuss on their own, there could be a question where you can link knowledge you had prepared specifically for interview with stuff you just know randomly that happens to be relevant, or between different topics you had prepared, throw everything you know in response to questions as this makes it likely something you say will really stand out. If you have an interview based on submitted work, know the A-Level syllabus fairly well so you can link to stuff you put in the essay, and be creative with your answers!
Research your interviewers, they all have information posts on the uni website, check what their specialism is or their main areas of research and