History And Politics @ Christ Church, Oxford in 2018

Interview format

2x 20 min interviews, 1 day apart

Interview content

Interview 1: set of questions on two topics, each unrelated to personal statement and written work; Interview 2: written work, personal statement

Best preparation

Have something to say about texts in personal statement beyond what you've written about them in the statement

Advice in hindsight

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Final thoughts

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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: HAT

Number of interviews: 2

Skype interview: No

Time between each interview: 1 day

Length of interviews: 20 minutes each

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

My first interview was a politics interview, focusing on set questions the interviewers had. The first 10 minutes were about one topic and the second 10 were about another, neither of which was related to my personal statement. I was given a graph to look at and interpret and a conclusion from the graph to criticise. The interviewers were quite strict about time and about going off topic and neither were willing to do so.

My second interview was a history interview and began with a focus on my submitted essay, which only one interviewer had read. I was asked to explain my argument to the other three and defend it. The rest of the interview was spent by looking through bits of my personal statement and questions beginning from the topics raised. However, while questions were topic based, they all had wider implications about the practice of history more generally. I.e. questions about John Stuart Mill as a historical figure had implications about how one should treat individuals in the practice of history, which seemed important to not miss.

How did you prepare?

I read through all the practice papers, annotating all of them (the Q3s from the old style HATs) and writing out a couple in timed conditions. Trying to learn a bit about all of history is pointless, just focus on the mark schemes and try and understand what interviewers are looking for.

Read, read and read about your reading. Put a load of books in your personal statement and don't focus too much on extra-curriculars (only weave them in when relevant). Make sure you have something to say about each book that you read - something in addition to the opinions you put across in your personal statement, to show that you had been continuing to think about the issues raised.

A good way to practise this is to get an informal "mock interview" from anyone you trust. Just talking through the books you read, explaining ideas and answering questions people may have is a really good way to prepare. Interviewing your friends/peers, even those who are taking a different subject, is a good idea as a fresh pair of eyes on your personal statement is a good simulation of the real thing for HisPol.

What advice do you have for future applicants?

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

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