3 interviews, TSA
Philosophy extracts pre-reading to summarise, discussion about ideas; psychology experiments pre-reading, problem solving
Rereading the books I’d mentioned in my personal statements with a critical eye, mock interview
Practice questions and short essays
They are trying to see how your mind thinks, looking for potential, not what you already know.
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: Thinking Skills Assessment (
Number of interviews: 3
Time between interviews: Hours! But it varies, I had two on one day and one the next day!
Length of interviews: I can’t remember!
Online interview: No
In my philosophy interview I was given philosophy extracts for pre-Reading. I had to choose one to read before hand and summarise the points! In the interview I then was asked my view on my extract and the whole interview was spent picking up on different ideas presented in my extract. In psychology, for my interview at Univ, I was given two psychology experiments to read a pre-Reading. In both my psychology interviews however, they seemed more focused on problem solving and then we briefly touched on synthesising the pre-reading.
I mainly prepped by rereading the books I’d mentioned in my personal statements, and trying to read them with a critical eye. This meant not just reading and accepting the views/ ideas presented but trying to challenge views and then try to challenge my own arguments- making counter argument! I found this really helpful in my interview as this felt like a key skill they were looking for! I also did a
I got a practise paper book which had really useful practise of the multiple choice questions. I also practised doing short essays in half an hour, and how to manage that! In order to do this, I thought about how it was better to go into one argument in depth, with my own spin (from my real life experience, or one of philosophy and psychology) and with daily examples/ comparison if I couldn’t think of any unique spin on the essay questions! I found this super useful as it stopped me trying to cover everything I know!
Don’t stress about trying to know everything and anything! Make sure you know what you’ve written on your personal statement, and get used to speaking with clarity, out loud. Just relax when you are in there, they are trying to see how your mind thinks, looking for potential, not what you already know.