Biology @ Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford in 2017

Interview format

3x (max) 20 min interviews, over 2 days

Interview content

All interviews: personal statement, explaining graphs

Best preparation

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Advice in hindsight

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Final thoughts

Read around subject and attended talks. Know your personal statement; show interest at interview.

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: 3

Skype interview: No

Interview spread: 2 on first day, 1 on second day

Length of interviews: 20 minutes, maximum, each

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

The first questions tended to be about something on your personal statement, then the rest was going over 1 or 2 graphs and having to say what they showed. It had a friendly, chatty atmosphere.

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 read around the subject and attended talks to show interest. Then, for the actual interview, there wasn’t much that could be done other than just knowing your personal statement. I spoke to teachers and people at open days. I had some practice interviews but I don’t think they made a massive difference.

I wouldn’t have changed much but something I know now is that a key thing they want to see is that you are genuinely interested, so coming across interested in the interview probably helps.