2x interviews (20-30 mins each; 2 interviewers each), 1x test (40-60 mins)
Interview 1: discussion of personal statement; Interview 2: morphological problem-set, discussion of sample setences
Further reading; masterclasses; mock interviews
Interviewers want you to do well, and don't worry if you're nervous
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.
My interview was in early December. I had two back to back subject-related interviews with two interviewers; each lasted 20-30 minutes followed by an hour break. Then I had an admissions test which lasted 40-60 minutes.
The first interview was focused on discussing the languages I had discussed in my personal statement, especially in relation to the books I had read. I was asked to relate my reading to my personal experience and knowledge of those languages.
My second interview included a morphological problem-set in a language I was unfamiliar with, as well as a semantic/pragmatic discussion of a few sample sentences. I had to discuss similar types of sentences for the admissions test and then write two essays.
'The Language Instinct' by Stephen Pinker and 'Through the Language Glass' by Guy Deutscher were both really good introductions to the innateness debate in linguistics which came up on the admissions test and then in my interview. My school also
I found that my interviewers did as much as they could to put me at ease. Still, I was so nervous that I subsequently didn't recognize one of my interviewers when I met him again, which was embarrassing when he turned out to be my