Test taken: TSA

Number of interviews: 2

Time between interviews: 1 day

Length of interviews: 20-30 minutes each

In my first interview I had three people interviewing me, and each interviewer had a different specialisation within Human Sciences as it's quite a broad course. They took it in turns to ask me questions which related to their specialisms, but it felt more like an informal chat that an interview with a rigid structure. They began by asking me about something I'd written in my personal statement about technology and then proceeded to ask a question relating to evolution. When asked the question about evolution I didn't know what one of the words in the question meant, so I had to ask, and then there was a pause while I thought about my answer. The atmosphere in the room was very relaxed, so I didn't feel nervous asking for clarification and they were more than happy to make sure I could understand the question so I could answer it as best I could. I also had to complete a short statistics problem sheet during the interview, which I was talked through.

In my second interview I was interviewed by three different people at another college, and again each had a different specialisation. The atmosphere of this interview was even more relaxed and I definitely felt more comfortable this time. I was asked about my hobbies as an ice-breaker and then I had to answer a question relating to a map they showed me, which I hadn't seen before the interview. This interview concluded with me getting to ask each of my three interviewers a question, which was a really nice touch as it made the whole interview feel like even more of a conversation.

I watched the video explaining what the TSA was on the Oxford University website. It had some really useful tips in it, such as that you need almost no prior knowledge to do the test. I completed a couple of past TSA papers from the Oxford website before I sat my test, so that I was familiar with the format of the paper.

I spoke to my A level teachers who were really helpful and gave me books to read on subjects that I was interested in. They even did a practice interview with me. I know lots of people read a few academic journal articles around particular topics, but I didn't know academic journals existed at that point so I did not do this.

One of the best things I did for preparation was reading the official university website advice for interviews, where they tell you to relax and that you don't need to have lots of prior knowledge, just enthusiasm for your subject - and the interviews are only to see how you think as the university wants to get a complete view of every student. The books that I read before my interview were basically useless because there wasn't a suitable opportunity to bring them up during interview anyway!

Looking back, I would advise applicants to know which part(s) of their course they are most looking forward to studying, and it definitely can't hurt to read around them, but don't spend too much time on it if you have other things to do. The most important part of the interview is showing the interviewers your thought processes and how passionate you are.