Test taken: HAT

Number of interviews: 2

Skype interview: No

Time between each interview: 1 day (both at about 09:00)

Length of interviews: 45 minutes each

My first interview was about an essay I’d submitted on Benjamin Disraeli’s foreign policy, and the interviewer asked me questions about it and I had to argue my case and explain why I’d composed the argument I’d written. We discussed Victorian politics more broadly, and I talked about some books I’d included in my personal statement that were relevant. The interviewer was friendly and didn’t ask me anything that was too complicated or that I wouldn’t be able to figure out, which made me feel at ease, because I was nervous.

For my second interview I was very nervous because it was an unseen passage from a historical source. I had 15 minutes to prepare outside the interview room. I was invited in and the interviewers were really friendly. They asked what I had been doing on my gap year to help me relax a bit. The interviewers looked at my personal statement and said they’d seen a book on there that would make an interesting comparison with the passage, so we talked about that, and what the passage/book could show about the ways of life of the different people they represented.

I looked at past papers and did a practice test.

I read academic books that I would be comfortable to talk about at interview. My history teacher advised me which ones to read, and the ones I liked best I included on my personal statement.

I made notes on the books and debated them with my teacher for preparation, like a mock interview. Knowing the books well was a big advantage, because I was able to talk about them confidently.

Learning the arguments and counterarguments for my essay was very useful to help anticipate the sorts of questions/talking points that might come up. Reading around my subject was important because I was able to show I was enthusiastic and it made me feel more confident with the interview.