Test taken: An at-interview assessment on the day of my interviews, which lasted an hour
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: One day
Length of interviews: I think around 25 minutes.
Online interview: No

In my interview for my ab initio language, we firstly discussed in English the novel I had read (in English!) on my personal statement and any other parts of the country's culture I was interested in. We discussed my holidays to places in which the language is spoken and what parts of the culture had struck me while being on those holidays. The interviewers then asked me to speak some of the language (I knew hello and that was it, so in hindsight it would have been useful to know some of the basics, e.g. speaking in present tense). Although this part was daunting, they were encouraging and I think it was my willingness to try (and make mistakes!) which is what impressed them.

For my second interview in my post A-Level language, I was given a news article to read which was then discussed in that language in the interview. The interviewer then went through and asked about every single relevant part of my personal statement in English, so make sure you're clued up on it! However, it was not done in an intimidating way, but rather like a friendly chat between two people who are passionate about the language!

To prepare, I made sure I could talk confidently about everything on my personal statement, recapping the plot/key themes of any fiction books I had read, while recapping the content of any podcasts I had listened to.

I also practiced key grammar points in my post A-Level language which I thought would be useful to go over, for example the use of the subjunctive.

In my at-interview assessment I was given a newspaper article and I had to summarise it in my post A-Level language (Spanish) and then had to write a piece in response to the article in the post alevel language too.

As prep, I practiced summarising newspaper articles online, familiarising myself with the style of language found in newspaper articles while also practicing my summarising skills.

If you're applying for an ab initio language, it's useful to know some basics, e.g. the present tense, before the interview. If you get asked to speak some of the ab initio language in the interview then go for it and have a go, that is really admired! Better to do that and make mistakes than be unwilling to try!

I think in either interview, have a 5 second think before you answer any questions you are asked, just to compose your thoughts, and speak through your thought process. If you're not sure about something, if you can speak through your thought process then they can see how your mind works and your willingness to try which is really important.