Test taken: MLAT

Number of interviews: 5

Skype interview: No

Interviews spread across 5 days

Length of interviews: 30 minutes each

I had interviews for both the German and Arabic side.

For Arabic, I had three interviews. Arabic is taught centrally, so my main interview was at the Oriental Institute. I was given a passage (in English!!) to read, written by a historian, and asked to discuss what we could learn and understand from reading it. We also talked a little about Middle Eastern culture and religion, the intense structure of the course, and how I felt about learning a new language.

I was interviewed at another college which also followed a similar structure: discussing a passage followed by my own interests, particularly my EPQ.

For my college interview, I was asked if there was anything I personally wanted to talk about, and we had a great chat about feminism and the role of women in the Middle East.

I was quite worried before, particularly with the Arabic side, as it was a subject I was quite unfamiliar with, but the tutors really were just looking for you to have a go, be enthusiastic and willing to learn and engage.

I had two German interviews. In both of them, I was asked to speak in German for about 5 minutes, just talking about holidays or describing a poster. Before both of the interviews, I had been given a passage in German to read over. We then discussed this, what was going on, and the use of language, just like an English literature analysis. In one interview, the tutors had a copy of my MLAT and we went over some of the grammar mistakes and corrected them together. We also discussed some of the books I had mentioned in my personal statement.

On the way down to Oxford, I was incredibly nervous, not just about the interviews but all the other candidates as well. When I arrived, everyone was lovely, and I ended up having a genuinely brilliant time. The interviews seem scary but I did enjoy them in the end, and if you try your best then that is all that's needed.

For the MLAT, I began by looking over all the German grammar I had already studied, before moving on to the more fiddly parts with my German teacher at the time. We looked at lots of translations and exercises, before moving on the the past papers.

For the OLAT, I was encouraged to talk to my Maths teachers to look at problem solving, and work with new languages to look at the different parts of speech and how to put them together. For this one, I didn't feel too prepared; it's more about an engagement and enthusiasm, getting an idea how it works more than anything else.

I think my main piece of advice would be to use your subject teachers! I was really lucky to have a brilliant German teacher, and I would go along to his office on lunchtimes and breaks - we would talk about the current news, a poem, story or article I had read, lots of things like that. This helped so much with my confidence and really got the ideas going.

My school also arranged interview support for us, so we had one practice interview with another teacher at the school. I don't think this was particularly helpful content wise, but it did help to get a feel for talking to someone and expressing yourself as clearly as possible. But don't worry - lots of private schools polish their candidates - my school really didn't! They don't want someone who is perfect, just someone eager to learn and enthusiastic, so don't put on or feel the need to put on a false self!

I think the best advice would just be to explore and be creative with your subject - there is so much more than just the classroom!

As for the actual interviews, of course you will be nervous before and that's completely normal. Accept that and go with it, and try your best to enjoy it. The tutors really are just people after all!