Biochemistry @ St Peter's, Oxford in 2016

Interview format

2x 15 min interviews, 1 day apart

Interview content

Interview 1: article given beforehand, diagram, personal statement, motivation; Interview 2: problem sheets

Best preparation

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Advice in hindsight

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Final thoughts

Looked briefly at books; talked to teachers; had some interview prep at school.

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.

Interview Format

Number of interviews: 2

Skype interview: No

Time between each interview: 1 day

Length of interviews: 15 minutes each

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

First interview: I was given article to read before and then asked to summarise it in five points. Then we discussed it in the interview. After that, I was asked questions on a diagram given. Lastly, there were questions about my personal statement and reasons for applying.

Second interview: There were no questions on my personal statement. All the questions were A-level style questions/problem sheets, which were then discussed and extended. There was a more relaxed atmosphere in this interview.

How did you prepare?

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What advice do you have for future applicants?

Looking back, what advice would you give to your past self?

I had a brief look at books and discussions with teachers at school. Some interview prep with a biology teacher, which was the best prep I had, prepared me for problem sheet style questions.

The interviews were slightly more relaxed than I expected. They had a lot less focus on the personal statement than I had thought.