Geography @ Jesus, Oxford in 2021

Interview format

2x interviews, each 20 mins; TSA

Interview content

1 human and 1 physical; screen-based resources.

Best preparation

Practised talking out loud; kept up with current affairs; re-read personal statement

Test preparation

Past papers; online videos about the TSA

Final thoughts

Give every question a go!

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.

Interview Format

Test taken: Thinking Skills Assessment
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 1 day
Length of interviews: 20 minutes each
Online interview: Yes

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

One human and one physical geography interview. Mostly based on resources that they shared with me on the screen that I then had to analyse. The time passes very quickly!

How did you prepare for your interviews?

Just practicing talking about the subject out loud to get more comfortable discussing geographical concepts. Keeping up to date with current news. Re-reading personal statement. 

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

Past papers and Jesus college Oxford youtube video on 'how to ace the TSA'!

What advice would you give to future applicants?

Don't be scared to say something because you think you'll look stupid- better to give the question a go and work from there than say nothing at all. Try to stay calm and don't expect the interview to go perfectly