Test taken: English Literature Admissions Test (ELAT)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 2 hours 30 minutes
Length of interviews: 30 minutes
Online interview: Yes

The first thing I would say is, try to remember the tutors interviewing you are human too, and want you to do your best. They’re not trying to trip you up or ask questions that require extremely specialist knowledge that you may not have. They just want to see the way that you think and to try out whether you’d be a good teaching fit for them and the tutorial system.

The interviews are basically a practice tutorial, so use the time to voice your thoughts aloud and really talk the tutors through how you arrive at your answers (and always take a breath before answering! Take your time, don’t rush and even if you take 10 seconds just to think it shows the tutors that you’re really considering the questions they’ve asked you).

In my first interview, I had a poem to analyse that I hadn’t seen before- I read over it for a few minutes (during the interview) and then talked through it with the tutors for around 10 minutes. The second half then focussed on my personal statement and a text I had mentioned; after that, we talked about what I had recently been reading and then I was asked some questions about it.

My second interview was of a similar structure; I read an extract and discussed it with the tutors for the first half, and then was asked about some of the other texts on my personal statement. Overall I found the atmosphere really friendly and relaxed! I was a bit nervous about it being online but actually, I think I found it easier being in my own space and familiar surroundings. I was also terrified of having technical difficulties, but there turned out to be some small technical issues on the tutors’ side which actually really helped put me at ease because it was a really nice reminder that they’re human too! I think because I felt more at ease I was able to answer better than I would’ve done if I felt as nervous as I did before they started, but it really did just feel like a conversation about books with people who love books and are experts in their field, so love talking about literature!

The first thing I did to prepare was to make sure I was as comfortable as I could be when talking about any of the texts I’d mentioned on my personal statement. As I wasn’t sure which ones (if any!) might be discussed in an interview, I tried to re-read some of the texts I’d read less recently so everything was fresh in my mind. I also spent some time looking at each text and tried to note down interesting things I could say about them or things about them that I would enjoy discussing if asked. For me, this involved making an A4 sheet for each of the texts I mentioned with interesting themes, literary techniques, characters, structure points etc that I could then have at the forefront of my mind when discussing them.

The British Library articles were absolutely invaluable here, as it helped me consider aspects of the texts I hadn’t considered before and gave me loads of really useful extra knowledge. In terms of finding out extra information on your texts, lectures/podcasts are also always a great way to find out more details that will help you stand out if you can use them to further understand a text or form new opinions on it.

Another thing I found really useful was trying to prepare questions based on what I’d written in my statement, and forming links between the texts I’d mentioned. Picking my statement apart in this way made me feel like I’d was at least prepared for some potential questions and it really helped me by talking through my answers aloud so I got used to verbalising my thought process, which is key in interviews!

I did a few practice papers but not too many, as I mostly used them to make sure I knew the timings I needed to adhere to and so I was familiar with the exam format.

I mainly focused on analysing unseen texts (I found these on the internet, random books/poetry collections, and the ones on past ELAT papers), with a mixture of prose, poetry, fiction and some non-fiction too! Whilst I think it’s helpful for you to feel as comfortable and as confident as you can when sitting the ELAT, remember it’s only one part of the application process so don’t let it stress you out too much! :)

My advice would be to try and enjoy the interviews as much as you can. Try to see it less as a terrifying time of being grilled on your personal statement and what you like reading, but rather as a chance to talk to leading academics about a subject you love that they love too.

If you can do anything to calm yourself down before the interviews that can really help, as I think being as calm and relaxed as you can is key. Even if you are nervous however (and I certainly was at the beginning of my first interview) the tutors understand that and will be trying their hardest to put you at ease so you can show them the best of your ability.

I also got some good advice at the time from a friend: Remember, it’s also a chance to see if the tutors and the tutorial style of teaching are right for you- it can make it seem less daunting to see it as less of a one-way interview. Practice talking through your thought process and when you are asked questions, take a pause to really think and then give your answer. And if you need further clarification of the question, ask for it! The tutors won’t mind at all and if their putting it a different way makes it easier for you to give a better answer then they will want to do that.

If I could do one thing differently, it would be to really think aloud with everything I was thinking- I was struggling to identify the form of the unseen poem because I had misread the number of lines. Had I voiced that mistake aloud the tutors could have helped me re-check and correctly identify the form. But if you do make a mistake (as I definitely did) don’t worry! One mistake won’t pull down an otherwise good interview, and we also tend to be our own worst critic, so don’t try and judge how you’ve done- just be very proud you’ve got to this stage in the admissions process, it’s a huge achievement!