5x 20 min interview, over 3 days
Extract given beforehand; personal statement
Past papers
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Read around subject; annotated every idea on personal statement; practised with past questions.
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:
Number of interviews: 5
Skype interview: No
Interviews spread across 3 days
Length of interviews: 20 minutes each
I got given an extract beforehand and had to analyse it under exam conditions. Half the interview was spent discussing my thoughts on that, and the other half on my personal statement. Between the two interviewers in the room, one would choose the personal statement and the other the extract to talk about. It was slightly daunting but once the discussion got going I was able to play off their ideas and questions, especially when talking about my personal statement.
I used the past papers.
I read a lot around the subject so I had a good grasp of various texts they could ask me to analyse. I also went through my personal statement and annotated every idea I included to make sure I had something to say about it.
It’s a good idea to