Tests taken: MLAT, Philosophy Test

Number of interviews: 2

Skype interview: No

Time between each interview: 1 day

Length of interviews: 25 minutes each

For my languages interview, we had to prepare a poem 30 minutes before the exam and think about it in relation to some questions. I was really nervous and I had to wait outside the room for half an hour because they were running late.

The first thing we did in the interview was discuss this poem very generally (I wasn't asked any of the questions I'd prepared!). Then I was asked some more specific questions about certain words, etc. After that, I worked through some grammar exercises, which were basically translations from and to English. This was out-loud, without a chance to write anything down. Importantly, the only bit in French was some of the grammar and a few questions at the end about my personal statement; we talked about the poem in English.

The philosophy one was a lot more chilled and we discussed two very broad questions which didn't require any philosophical knowledge. This was comforting as I hadn't done philosophy A-level. They are trying to test how you think and construct an argument, not what you know or how much philosophy you've read (although this wouldn't hurt your chances).

To prepare for the test, I used practice papers. I think the MLAT ones are all on WebLearn, so I made sure I'd done all of them. For the languages stuff, I could mark a lot of it myself, but for the philosophy essays I made sure I got someone to look at it. I was too awkward to ask a teacher at school, so got my sister to mark them, but being proactive and making contact with teachers at school is the best way. This is really important, as it is very hard to critique yourself, especially if you're not used to this kind of writing.

To prepare for the interview, I made sure I was happy talking about everything written in my personal statement in depth. So if I mentioned a text, I was confident with discussing its themes and ideas. This didn't turn out to be that useful to be honest, but perhaps on another day they would ask more questions on this kind of thing.

My recommendation is to be really sound on your grammar. Don't just know something is conjugated or written in a certain way, but try and know why. This shows understanding of grammatical concepts and a rigourous approach to your language studies.

They are not expecting a native's vocabulary or accent, so don't stress too much about speaking. After all, everyone has had vastly different experiences with regards to oral practice; it would be unfair if the person who spent last summer in France got in just because they could speak more fluently.

Ultimately, most of my preparation felt superfluous. They were really trying to test how you think and not what you know or if you've memorised some really clever-sounding phrases.

Essentially, just remember they are not trying to catch you out at all. They also don't expect you to be perfect at all. You don't have to be an expert already. Just be enthusiastic and show that you have the potential to learn well.