Human, Social And Political Science @ Downing, Cambridge in 2017

Interview format

2x interviews (30mins)

Interview content

A number of areas of focus, starting easier and getting harder

Best preparation

Watching & reading online advice; Mock interview

Final thoughts

The interviewers understand you don't know everything

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 interviews took place at the end of November. I arrived at 9am for my first one with two fellows and we discussed the things I had mentioned in my personal statement. It lasted around 30 minutes. At around 11am, I had my second interview, which was very similar to the first.

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

Meritocracy, imperialism, intersectionality, human rights, neo-colonialism, objectivity in the social sciences and more. Questions were all fairly easy at first, but got more difficult.

How did you prepare?

Reading tips online, watching advice videos, having alumni visit my school for mock interviews

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

Interviews are there to test how you think- nothing more, nothing less. Your interviewers understand that you don’t know everything and they don’t expect you to, because you’re going to university to learn! Just go in there, smile and make eye contact as you are talking.