Test taken: Modern Languages Admissions Test (MLAT), Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA)
Number of interviews: 4
Time between interviews: I stayed at college for 2 nights, I had a 9am, 11am and 5pm on the second day, and a 4pm ish on the third.
Length of interviews: Probably 20-30 mins each
Online interview: No

My first interview at Brasenose was on philosophy - which I wasn’t expecting as I applied for psychology & linguistics! Most colleges don’t do this, but it is to compare applicants across PPL and experimental psychology. They don’t expect you to be an expert though, and we focused on philosophy in relation to psychology e.g. memory and the distinction between the mind and brain. For linguistics, I was asked a little about my relevant EPQ (essay project) which I had written about in my PS. I was then given a data set on the spot - I had a minute to read it and then we discussed the language on there and its differences to English. In my  Psychology interview, I was asked about how I would set up a study in different scenarios. I was a bit worried as I hadn’t studied psychology before, but I didn’t need much subject knowledge- it was more about how I think logically. I was also asked a couple of statistics questions but they explained the concepts to me beforehand.

I looked at the course structure and made sure I knew what each first-year module was about so I could think about what areas they might focus on. Make sure you know what you put on your personal statement - and have read the books on there! The best practice I had was learning to think out loud and answer unexpected questions on the spot, as you can’t prepare for all eventualities. Practice with any other Oxbridge applicants you know, the questions don’t have to be subject-specific as it’s about getting to know the interview format.

TSA - contrary to what some people believe, you definitely can revise for the TSA and learn how to do well. For most subjects, you should focus more on part 1 (I only did one part 2 practise essay as I don’t think it matters too much for most subjects). For part 1, I didn’t buy any critical thinking books or online courses. My best advice is to brush up on your GCSE maths skills if you’re not doing Maths A-level/ equivalent and to do as many practice papers as you can. Read the specification on the TSA webpage which details what to expect for each command word, and go through every question on the practice papers to make sure you understand why it was that answer. Some people struggle with the timing so make sure you can complete it within the time limit! MLAT - I did the linguistics section, but I’m not sure if this is being continued. The MLAT language aptitude test and also the Cambridge linguistics admissions test can be useful for practice as, frustratingly, I couldn’t find the answers for a lot of the past papers. Focus more on the TSA part 1 if you’re applying for PPL as I believe that matters more for most tutors (but that obviously varies). For the linguistics MLAT, learn the basic grammatical relations and word classes etc. such as subject, object, verb, determiner. Do lots of practice as I know that it looks scary at first!

The interviewers were looking for how I think, not what subject knowledge I know. I didn’t expect to have half an hour of pre-reading before one of my interviews so prepare for that possibility. Overall, you can’t prepare for most of what the interview will be therefore prioritise looking after yourself, getting enough sleep etc. and over-revising! Try to distract yourself between interviews e.g. talk to the student helpers and other applicants in the JCR (sorry if yours are online, distract yourself with stuff at home instead!)