Biology @ New, Oxford in 2018

Interview format

3x 20-30 min interviews, over 2 days

Interview content

Biological processes, graphs, and organisms

Best preparation

Try to get mock interviews / practise answering questions out loud

Advice in hindsight

-

Final thoughts

Try to enjoy yourself at interview; think aloud!

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: two consecutively, one on the other day.

Length of interviews: 20-30 mins each.

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

On the whole, I really enjoyed interviews: they were simply interesting discussions on a subject I’m super interested about, but they focused on and made me explore areas I never had deeply thought on before. I was given photos/objects of organisms to discuss; was asked how a biological process may happen and why it happens; was given graphs and asked to draw conclusions from the data, etc.; and all my interviews included at least 1 typical ‘ice-breaker’ question. These definitely helped to relax me and boost my confidence at the start of the interview, but also the tutors aided this as they’re very casual, kind, smiley, helpful and encouraging: in short, you don’t need to be scared of them!

How did you prepare?

If you can, have a mock interview with a teacher at your 6th form because this definitely got me used to speaking in length about biological topics. Also, look at example questions on the internet (there’s loads around!) or at the biology mock interview on Oxford’s youtube account. Practicing answering questions out loud definitely made me feel more confident, even if it’s only to your parent/sibling who’s only half listening or even to your bedroom wall!

What advice do you have for future applicants?

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

Once at interviews, just enjoy the fact you’re getting free food and accommodation in a beautiful city and you have the opportunity to speak around an hour, maybe, talking to leading researchers in Biology. Go see the city, meet new people and definitely don’t stress over reading course content and trying to jam revise because you’ll just worry yourself. You don’t need to say anything amazingly profound or ground-breaking, just be yourself, try to relax and enjoy the experience!

There were a couple of moments when I really was clueless what the tutors were trying to get out of me and I was stuck for what to say, but take a moment to think, think out loud (SUPER helpful!!) and your tutor will help you reach an answer. I wish I hadn’t been so nervous about saying something stupid or wrong, because all tutors want to see is how you think, and less of what you know.