I’m Charlotte, an Educational Consultant at Libra Education. I studied English at the University of Cambridge and successfully interviewed there and at UCL. One of the most nerve-wracking parts of the Oxbridge and G5 admissions process is the interview. Taking the time to begin preparation for this during the busy October half-term will be crucial for the moment you step into the interview room. For Cambridge, most colleges will offer two interviews in one day. For Oxford, you may interview at multiple colleges over a few days. My interview experience taught me a few things that would have taken some pressure off, had I known before.

1.       Know your personal statement inside-out

Your personal statement is an opportunity to show the University who you are, introduce them to your interests and demonstrate that you are passionate about your subject. Personal statements are short and do not give you space to expand your opinions and ideas as far as you would have liked. For this reason, interviewers will often interrogate your personal statement, challenging your ideas and asking you to develop them further. For each line of your personal statement, ask yourself What could I be asked about this? What could be the counter-argument? You can ask trusted friends or family members to ask questions about your personal statement as they will bring a different perspective. Ensure you are familiar with any theories, books or essays that you have mentioned in your personal statement and think carefully about why they are relevant today. Read an additional article in preparation for the interview that you didn’t mention in your personal statement to show you are still researching your interests.

2.       Be a flexible thinker

It is natural to be nervous when discussing your subject in front of two senior academics, however, it is a fantastic opportunity to stretch your understanding through the Oxbridge supervision style. The job of the interviewers is to encourage you to deepen your understanding and challenge your arguments further. Whether it is a point you have made in your personal statement or in response to an unseen article, the academics are likely to propose the opposing argument or give you additional information that may challenge your argument. In this situation, you may think you have to defend your argument however this is not always the case. If you can see that the information they have offered weakens your argument, say so! You are demonstrating that your opinions are informed by the information you receive – this is a crucial skill. Likewise, do not feel that you must agree with the academics; if you feel your argument is still strong, defend it and explain why you are still taking this position.

3.       Think about how all of your subjects relate to your degree area and each other

You will be interviewing for your chosen subject but you will likely be asked about your other A level, IB or AP courses. It is important to think about how these courses inform your study of your chosen course and how your subjects interrelate. For Medicine, Engineering and Science degrees, you will have studied particular subjects and this will be more obvious. However, if you are additionally studying a humanities course or a creative course, think creatively about how studying art has made you a better engineer! If you are applying to study a humanities course, consider transferable skills and overlapping modules across your A level subjects. 

4.       Breathe and pause to think before you answer a question

Under pressure, we often forget to do the most obvious thing – breathe! When given a difficult question, it can be tempting to rush into an answer. However, when we do this, our response will likely be unstructured. The interviewers do not expect an instant answer and will always prefer a reasoned response. Taking a few seconds to breathe will help you process the question and think about your response. If you are unclear about the question, do not be afraid to ask the interviewer to repeat it. Having a water bottle can also be handy; you may want to take a sip of water too at a particularly difficult question, but don’t do this too many times!

5.       When given an unseen article or problem, think out loud

When I did my interview, I was most nervous at the thought of being given an unseen piece. For a humanities course, you are usually given 20 minutes before the interview to read and annotate an article before discussing it with the academics. With no essay question to direct you, it can be difficult to know what is worth discussing. For this, think about your initial impressions – what seemed immediately intriguing or peculiar? If something stood out to you, it is probably important. The interviewers will be interested in your process and how your thinking developed over the 20 minutes you spent reading the piece or working through the problem. You may be given the unseen element of the interview on the spot, too. If this happens, verbalise your thoughts as you go along. Even if you reach the wrong conclusion, the interviewer will be able to credit your thought process; they don’t know what you’re thinking unless you tell them!