2x 20-30 min interviews, all in same day
English: poem given beforehand, personal statement; Italian: translated poem given beforehand, 5 minute chat in Italian
Practised speaking about subject in shower and to everyone
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Don't worry about learning everything.
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.
Tests taken:
Number of interviews: 2
Skype interview: No
Time between each interview: 1-2 hours
Length of interviews: 20-30 minutes each
English — I was given an unseen poem and 10 minutes in exam conditions to annotate it and think about its use of language/themes. I then went into the
Italian — I was given a translated Greek poem (in English) and 10 minutes in my room to read and annotate it. Then I went to the interview and discussed the poetic devices used in it and how I could apply the poem’s content to my existing knowledge of Italian literature/culture. We chatted briefly in Italian for 5 minutes at the end about where I’d like to visit in Italy.
To prepare for the test, I took practice papers; did language practice from A-Level textbooks (translation etc.); and revised grammar
I went through my personal statement and tried to think of a question for each sentence they could ask me. I looked up sample questions and practised answering those too. I practised speaking aloud about my set texts and wider reading in the shower, in my head on the way to school, to my mum, my teachers who were willing, etc. I printed Shmoop summaries of the texts that I had referenced in my personal statement and brought them to the interview with me to read calmly the night before.
My prep was good for calming my nerves and making me feel confident. I also read some TLS/Guardian literature articles and listened to some iTunes U lectures to familiarise myself with current events in the literary world.
I had a
The tutors were more encouraging and reassuring than I expected, and I felt pleasantly challenged and academically stimulated. They were looking for flexible and lateral thinking rather than knowledge of the entire literary canon.