2 x 30 minute interviews (1 French, 1 Spanish). 1 x 60 minute admissions test.
French interview focused on poem that was given as pre-reading on interview day. Spanish interview about a poem given in the interview. The interview ended with questions asked in Spanish.
Actually read the texts in your personal statement. Research the course in advance so you can refect you understand it in your personal statement.
It's fine to leave knowing you could hae done better!
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.
Two subject interviews, one per language, lasting thirty minutes each. One interviewer for both (with an additional
In my French interview, almost the entirety of it focussed on my analysis on the poem I had been given 45 minutes in advance to read. The poem's central theme was death, however I insisted that it was instead nature. Naturally, the interviewer humoured me. At the end, he asked me why I wanted to study languages at Cambridge. The poem had one verse that mentioned a dream so he asked me how I knew I wasn't in a dream, which was terrifying, as I didn't remember applying for Philosophy!
For Spanish, the interview starting by asking my about my personal statement, explaining why I was interested in the texts/historical periods mentioned. She then moved onto asking me about a love poem. Again, I totally messed up, just not identifying the references to race in the poem (and I'm not white, the embarrassment!). She gave me a moment to reassess my analysis after telling me what the double meaning in the title was, and then ended the interview by asking me some questions (still about the poem) in Spanish.
Actually reading the texts in my personal statement (I hadn't finished them all at the time of applying!). I also think it's important to justify your choices and interests, why you enjoy that particular author, genre, or period, for example. Researching the course is also really important, across all languages, MML is very broad, covering disciplines that people even study as one degree alone: film, literature, linguistics, history, and the actual languages stuff. If you can reflect that in your personal statement, that's great.
It's fine to leave the interview feeling like you could've done better. I still remember the bench on King's Parade where I had my post-interview cry! [Editor's note: Remember this interviewee still got in!]