Test taken: CAT

Number of interviews: 1

Skype interview: No

Time between each interview: a few hours

Length of interview: 30 minutes

In my first interview, I was given a poem beforehand to read and make notes on, and then discussed it with my interviewers, with them going through my initial thoughts and then leading me down a few different paths to things I hadn't picked up on during my first reading. We then moved on to discuss the written work I had submitted, as well as pieces of classical literature I had read both at school and independently. I was several years out of school while doing the interview, so my knowledge in places was patchy at best, but they encouraged me to engage with a few of the texts in ways I hadn't previously considered.

My second interview was on language, and was a reasonably short one. I had missed the deadline to complete the CAT before applying, and had only just taken it before the interview, so I did not have as much to go over with them as other students would have - they gave me a problem sheet beforehand and we went through a couple of answers, and discussed what language learning I had done at school (nothing beyond GCSE) and how I might reuse those techniques while studying Latin or Ancient Greek.

My final interview was on Philosophy and Ancient History, two subject areas I had minimal experience with. I was given an image and some text to process beforehand, and we spent most of the interview discussing those, as well as Aristotle's Poetics, which I had indicated I had read in my personal statement.

I had a brief look at the example paper.

Make sure you are comfortable talking about everything you have mentioned in your personal statement. If possible, brush up on any relevant texts you have studied they may ask you about, even if you're just using SparkNotes.

As someone applying as a mature student several years out of school, the best thing I did was make an effort to read several new works in the months leading up to my application and focusing on those, so they were reasonably fresh in my mind and I wasn't defending opinions I had held and let rust several years prior.

When given something to work with for an interview, view it as an aid rather than something to be tested on - they are giving you something concrete to talk about for at least the first half of your interview. Don't be afraid to put even your more basic ideas down, as it can give you something to talk about and build on - the interviewers are not there to test your knowledge, but more how you think and how you can be led to think about new ideas or from new angles.

Most importantly, don't panic.