2 x 25 min interviews
Puzzling things out, and they help you and prompt you whenever you stall!
Reviewing of school topics I thought might be important,
Know a bit about some things you love so far, the stuff on your personal statement, and be ready to go with the flow!
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.
Test taken: None
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: a day ish
Length of interviews: about 25 minutes
Online interview: No
I really loved my first one at Merton; after describing and figuring things out about a biological item they gave me, it was like a series of initial questions that went on to involve some learning and problem solving. It was really satisfying puzzling things out, and they help you and prompt you whenever you stall! They will always take you to the edge of what you know and watch how you think, so there's no way you could ever 'be right' and know everything. That's reassuring in a way. My second was fine too, a bit more open-ended discussion, including asking what I would do a project on if I could study anything! That threw me but I just picked something that sounded cool I'd only heard of in passing (tree root networks with fungi and stuff), and it went fine, she asked what applications it might be relevant to.
I did a little reviewing of school topics I thought might be important, but tbh it wasn't comprehensive revision at all - interviews aren't really about the content! I had my school's version of EPQ presentation the week before, which was a little stressful but actually great as it was one of the biggest things on my personal statement fresh in my mind - that said, neither interview mentioned my personal statement at all! I'd recommend spending some time filling the gaps you feel most wobbly about - read a summary of that book you talked about, etc. Try to do a little bit of practice talking about your subject too. Not constructing fancy sentences or rehearsing anything, but even just imagining phrases in your head to show you're thinking out loud ('well, at first I thought it was x but then I realised y so it can't be that...' 'oh, I hadn't thought of that! Would that then mean that z...?') might help them come to mind when you're talking.
Go for it! It's a pretty invigorating experience thinking on your feet with some (friendly) real experts, and it's all about whether you find your subject exciting and don't dislike grappling to understand parts of it; prepare in whatever way makes you feel calm, but don't think of it as a challenge to 'learn it all' - it's not an exam and the information is indefinite, so don't worry. Know a bit about some things you love so far, the stuff on your personal statement, and be ready to go with the flow!