5 x 25-45 min interviews, MLAT
Personal statement, grammar/translation tests; pre-reading and analysis; speaking in German; describing a photo in German, speaking about the books mentioned in personal statement
Books, literary analysis, critical discussion, speaking German
Past papers, grammar revision, sessions with teacher
Don’t feel pressured to answer immediately and rush - give yourself time to take a breath and talk them through your thought process as they will care more about seeing how you work through problems than if your answer is right or not!
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.
Test taken: Modern Languages Admissions Test (
Number of interviews: 5
Time between interviews: It varied - at least 3 hours between them, and they were spread over 2 days
Length of interviews: 25-45 minutes, not including prep time
Online interview: No
My first interview was based around my personal statement and a few grammar/translation tests - they asked me why I was interested in German, about some books on my PS, and then gave me a few sentences to translate into English and asked me to talk through my process. My second interview was based on the two bits of pre-reading I was given (1 in English, 1 in German) - we talked about my impressions of them/a bit of analysis, and then I was asked about books on my PS. My 3rd interview was at Somerville and was based around translating poetry/the differences between the German and the English translation. Had to speak in German for quite some time - about if I’d ever been but also about stuff on my personal statement (which I hadn’t prepared at all!) and they asked me to read the German poem to see my pronunciation. I felt more comfortable in this interview than my first 2, as I’d sort of got used to the routine of them. My 4th was at St Edmund Hall and followed a similar pattern, but alongside the English text and German poem given, I also had to describe a photo in German (kind of like at GCSE so not too hard). This was by far my favourite interview as the atmosphere was very relaxed and I felt confident analysing the texts. My 5th interview was at St Hilda’s and was centred around a Brecht poem - I was given half of its translation + had to work out the rest myself. I found this very hard and felt the interview had gone badly. They also asked me to speak about the books on my personal statement (both in English and in German), and then asked me what I liked reading in general.
Read over all the books (and any key ideas) in my personal statement and made notes of what questions I thought they would ask, thought abt answers to key questions (such as ‘why do you want to take German?), practised my literary analysis skills on texts and poems, practiced talking through ideas and discussing my thoughts on texts critically, practised spoken German
Past papers from the Oxford Weblearn site, intensive grammar revision from basics to A2 content,
I would definitely recommend reading around any books you mention on your PS - context, the author’s life, society at that time etc. Also if you get the chance to turn the conversation towards something you are very interested in, do - try to show as much as possible that you are passionate about your subject and have interests that aren’t on the A Level spec. If doing a language practice some speaking skills before, but prioritise learning to discuss ideas about books/movements/history, whatever you’re interested in. Don’t feel pressured to answer immediately and rush - give yourself time to take a breath and talk them through your thought process as they will care more about seeing how you work through problems than if your answer is right or not!