Test taken: Cambridge Law Test (CLT)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 2 hours
Length of interviews: 35 mins
Online interview: No

Part of my interview was based on a piece of legislation that I was given before the interview and had 30 minutes to read and annotate. Annotating this thoroughly and understanding it well beforehand was important, because the interviewer could approach it from an angle that you had not thought about, so understanding the basis of the text will help you get to grips with other ideas. I was very nervous since the interview room was at the top of a very narrow high staircase but they were welcoming and the atmosphere was much more like a conversation than a formal interview as we went further into it. I am a naturally chatty person so I didn’t want to appear too nervous and I just spoke as I usually do.

When we finished speaking about the legislation, they asked about different legal scenarios. They weren’t tricky at first but they kept on adding things to the original scenario to see if I was going to maintain my original answer and carry that same logic, this was slightly difficult but I took a second to think properly before I answered. If my answer was not something they were looking for they would push me slightly towards the right direction, and if I was right they would say that that is what they were looking for. So I wasn’t left in the dark wondering if I was right or wrong although there isn’t a right or wrong answer necessarily if you can back it up.

I had two mock interviews at my school. If you cannot do these formally, the best thing would be to practice with a friend or family member. You could ask them to find legal scenarios online and asses you on them. Since you don’t need legal knowledge, the main thing the professors are looking for is someone that can quickly assess and reach a conclusion that they can defend. I think that being part of my school's debate team helped me practice this over time, so hobbies like that could really benefit you. Other than that, if you’re a fast speaker like me definitely practice speaking slowly and calmly in your everyday conversations, I tend to speed up in interviews because of nerves so I practised slowing down a lot.

I did the practice questions that were available online, although not many are. Every week I would revise a different area of law - this wasn’t very thorough, just to give me a good understanding of what it is. Within this revision I would create one double sided sheet on each area of law. This is not necessary because you do not need prior legal knowledge, but it made me more comfortable in both interviews and the test. I used an CLT book which had lots of past papers with real exemplar answers, some with higher marks others not. Although the questions from this book did not come up, I really benefited from seeing the style of the high scoring essays and this is what you need to practice. The fact that I do essay based subjects for A-levels helped in my essay preparation but I still did quite a few essay plans. This is very important because the essay relies on your writing skills since no legal knowledge is required. As well as doing plans, doing actual essays is also very important. I would recommend getting someone else to read it and if they are unsure what you are saying, it isn’t clear or structured enough. Make sure you are detailed and evaluative, rather than being persuasive.

Looking back, I would be a lot less nervous. Although I did get into Cambridge, when applying I would only think about Cambridge and made myself think that it would be the end of the world if I didn’t get in. This is not the best mentality because there truly are so many other options and I am a firm believer in the power being in the individual, not in the institution because you can be great at any university. I would also say that consistency is KEY, make sure that if you are revising, follow a strict routine and do this everyday. This is so much better than having to do 8 hour study days at the end of the year because you weren’t consistent from the beginning of the year. This is what helped me manage my time.