Biology @ Somerville, Oxford in 2017

Interview format

2x 30 min interviews, 1 day apart

Interview content

Discussion of objects (e.g. graphs, pictures, biological specimens)

Best preparation

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Advice in hindsight

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Final thoughts

Know your course well, but don't worry about knowing a whole lot; practise with someone if possible.

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: 30 minutes each

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

Neither interviewer asked about my personal statement. The general theme was that I’d be handed an object (graph, picture, biological specimen) and asked questions about it. I had done work beforehand but in the moment didn’t remember much- I found it easier to just concentrate on what they were asking me.

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 did a lot of preparation, but I don’t feel that it helped very much. It’s important to know your course well, but I felt that any extra information I had wasn’t useful. It’s better to stay relaxed and get used to thinking on your feet.

If you can find someone to practise with, then that’s a good way to start. The interviewers want to see how you think and see your love for biology (not what you know already).