Test taken: None
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 1 day
Length of interviews: 25-30 minutes
Online interview: Yes

One of my interviewers spoke A LOT which made me anxious since I knew we had little time. I had to interrupt at one point and go off on a bit of a rant about something I'd studied the week before, to demonstrate my knowledge. They asked me a few Qs based on personal statement and a location I'd mentioned in there, which I found tricky.

Asked me very open/broad Qs where I had to make a decision - I found that I tended to go back and forth a lot on these, and I think they really liked to see me changing my mind, as well as my thought process. Didn't get asked to look at any images/interpret anything. WiFi was quite bad and couldn't always see the interviewer.

I felt very tense throughout the whole thing and had no idea how it went truthfully - I thought that the first one was OK, but it all hit me after the second one and when it ended the stress/relief made me burst into tears. My interviewers were very friendly though, with a mix of men and women, which I think helped. Had to think on my feet a lot but, looking back, I enjoyed what a challenge this was since my A-Level Geog teacher couldn't always challenge me in such a mixed-ability class.

I found that my interviews didn't really have a theme - we jumped between lots of different topics. Sometimes I didn't understand the questions, but I tried to just jump in and start speaking what came to mind first.

Did a mock interview with my geog teacher, asked Head of Sixth form for advice, went on the Student Room to see what previous interviewees said.

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Best thing I did was just thinking of what kind of thing they could ask me, as well as reading up on current affairs and the news. I re-read the book I put in my personal statement which helped too. Found it hard to prepare since I went to a state school with limited Oxbridge support, so did a lot of fumbling around on the internet - occasionally found a useful blog.

Didn't actually do much prep since I didn't have much time during A-Levels and assumed I wouldn't get into Oxford anyway, so didn't wanna get my hopes up.

Re-read my personal statement and thought about what Qs they could ask me based on this. Tried to continue reading around my subject, as well as listening to Guardian podcasts and finding what really interested me.

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I wouldn't worry too much about researching colleges, since you don't really know what the vibe is like until you get there. Make sure you seriously research the course though, since you might be better suited to a slightly different degree at another Russell Group uni - just because Oxford is one of the best unis in the country, doesn't mean its the best uni for you! I would've done more research looking back, although I feel very lucky to have ended up at Mansfield in such a welcoming small community.

I now understand that interviewers just want to see how passionate you are about your subject, because you can't do an Oxford degree without truly loving what you're studying. They want to see that you've read around your subject and have expanded upon stuff you've learnt in the classroom in your own time, independently (since uni is all about independent work!). I thought the interviewers would be old white men - they weren't, and my lecturers and tutors now are incredibly progressive, kind, approachable and diverse.