I had my interview/ assessment day in the middle of December 2015 after a direct application to Robinson.

Students met me at Porters Lodge and took me to the waiting rooms and then to each room for my interviews and tests.

1) Written test (1hour)

2) First interview with a law professor and a law fellow. (45 mins)

3) Reading exercise followed by an interview to discuss it (15 minutes reading, 30 minutes discussing)

1) Written test (1 hour). I was given two judgements from cases and I had to compare them. You didn’t need to know any law, it was about reasoning and how you articulated your thought process and arguments. It wasn’t difficult to understand so don’t worry. It’s only an hour so it’s time rushed but as long as you write something which is literate and shows some independent/creative reasoning then it’s fine!

It changes every year I think. But same basic premise.2) First interview with a law professor and a law fellow (45 mins).

The first half focused on my A-Level subjects (English Lit, History, Maths, Biology) and what I’d enjoyed in my studies/further research. The second part was a few legal scenarios where I had to answer questions, and explain my reasoning/analysis. They were fairly simple (e.g. theft) and what you thought the legal consequences should be. They would then alter the scenario after you had answered to see how this affected your thinking and to see if you can respond to changes well.

3) Reading exercise followed by an interview to discuss it (15 minutes reading, 30 minutes discussing).

I was given a piece of legal material which was short and not too complicated and then also given a list of scenarios which you had to apply the legal material to. In the interview (with 2 different law fellows that the first interview), we went through the questions on the sheet that you’d been reading one by one and they asked what your thoughts were for each one and then maybe altered it to see how this changed your answers.

Then they asked some other questions based on an area of law that you are not expected to know anything about. No prior knowledge needed they just want to see how your brain works and how you analyse situations and concepts.

I read: What about Law (Barnard/Goymour/Virgo); Letters to a Law Student (McBride); Eve Was Framed (Kennedy); Is Eating People Wrong? (Hutchinson). I also read legal press and news. I made lots of notes of the topics that I’d discusssed in my personal statement (like feminism and the law and my EPQ). I read very brief overviews on the first year subjects that a law student at Cambridge would study and made sure I was familiar with the syllabus etc.

Just in general I made sure I new what was happening in the news and engaged with current events.

I went to a free Cambridge Law summer school at Trinity the year before and several law open days / masterclasses [Editor's Note: The university and colleges run free open days and workshops for most subjects. If you find the travel cost prohibitive, get in touch with the university / college as they can sometimes support students with the cost]. I also did a Debate Chamber summer school in law on a full bursary for a week in London.

If you look online there’s loads of stuff. Maybe get work experience in your local solicitors? But not necessary. Just try and show an interest outside of school studies.

Didn’t really discuss my personal statement at all.