Geography @ St Hilda's, Oxford in 2016

Interview format

2x 20 min interviews, 1 day apart

Interview content

Both interviews: Source-based questions and discussion

Best preparation

Did past papers, went through questions with Maths teacher

Advice in hindsight

-

Final thoughts

Watch videos about interviews on uni and college YouTube channels; revise course; try to relax; have confidence!

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: TSA

Number of interviews: 2

Skype interview: No

Time between each interview: 1 day

Length of interviews: about 20 minutes each

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

I was encouraged to interact with a few different sources (texts and images mainly), giving descriptions of physical geographical processes and opinions on certain scenarios involving different groups of people. The questions were quite open in both interviews, encouraging me to take the discussion where I felt necessary. In my first interview I wasn't asked any follow up questions to my answers but was pressed much more in my other interview.

I really enjoyed my interviews, it was so exciting to be able to talk about the subject I loved with world leading experts who genuinely seemed excited to talk about Geography with me. I relaxed into it quite quickly and I think the most important thing I did to make that happen was to remind myself that I had nothing to lose. Sure, getting in would be great, but I also had applied to a load of great universities across the country where I knew I had the same potential to thrive and enjoy myself.

How did you prepare?

I completed all of the available past papers, and talked through the answers I didn't understand with one of my maths teachers.

What advice do you have for future applicants?

Looking back, what advice would you give to your past self?

Go on the YouTube pages for the official University interview guidance videos and look for similar videos on different colleges' YouTube channels too. Hearing advice from tutors and successful students definitely helps to normalise the whole idea of the interview.

I'd definitely advise revising your course before the interview, so you are able to draw on relevant theories and principles during your interviews.

Try to relax, think about what's the worst that can realistically happen and go into the interview with an open mind.

If you walk in convinced you're not going to get in, the chances of that happening are a lot higher. Believe in yourself, they've asked to interview for a reason, because they want to speak to you. Go in there and give it all you've got - and then whatever happens next, happens.