Your Oxbridge Interview

1. Your Oxbridge Interview The Facts

2. Urban Myths When I walked in for my interview at the more academic of the two Oxford colleges I was hoping to join, I knew straight away that I was in trouble: beside the deep chintz-covered armchair containing a don ostentatiously reading his newspaper, stood two other interviewers, each armed with a fire extinguisher.  My whole strategy had been undermined. They already knew what I had planned as a response to the inevitable opening gambit from the fellow hiding behind the Telegraph: "Do something to surprise me." There was one course of action open to me. Rather than the table, I set fire to myself instead. The next day, after obtaining my discharge from the burns unit, I turned up only slightly late for the interview at the sportier of the two colleges. Here, I knew, nothing could go wrong. As I walked in to the room, a don would throw me a rugby ball, albeit at a tricky height: if I caught it, I would win my place; if I passed it back, an exhibition; if I drop kicked it into the wastepaper basket, a scholarship would be mine.  The door opened, the object flew at me from an unexpected angle, I took it cleanly, shimmied past the elephant's foot umbrella stand, sidestepped the Don standing by the window with a lampshade on his head and placed a perfect drop into the fireplace.  Sadly, the scheming academics had substituted a medium-sized Ming vase belonging to the Warden for the ball and it, along with my hopes of a brilliant Oxford career, shattered into a thousand pieces on the grate.

3. The Interview • Interviews are just ONE part of the admissions process • Admissions decisions are based on: • Predicted A-level or equivalent grades • AS grades and UMS • GCSE grades • UCAS reference • UCAS personal statement • Submitted work (where requested) • Test results (where applicable) • Interview performance

4. How we do interviews… • Around 85-90% of applicants called to interview • Overnight stays available for those that need them • Interviews usually take place in December with subject tutors in the College • 1 or 2 interviews, each around 20-40 minutes • Academic and subject based • Some students are called back for second interviews in January at other Colleges, through the Pool

5. What does it involve? • Focused and challenging questions, typical of teaching and learning at Cambridge • Interviews are likely to involve discussions on: • Recent academic work • Relevant wider reading • Work experience, where relevant • Issues related to the subject in the wider world • Newscenarios in which to apply knowledge • For some subjects, tests may also be sat whilst here for interview

6. What topics might an interview be on? • Could be anything! A discussion can evolve from some things you can know about in advance: • Submitted written work • Academic interests stated on Personal Statement • Recent school or college work • And some things you can’t predict: • Unseen material… • Written, graphical or mathematical problem-solving

7. An example from Law… “A person shall be guilty of an offence if, without having the consent of the owner or other lawful authority, he takes any conveyance for his own or another’s use or, knowing that any conveyance has been taken without such authority, drives it or allows himself to be carried in or on it.Have X, Y and Z committed any offence in these scenarios?”

8. How can you prepare? • Re-read your Personal Statement • Know the course applied for! • Use websites, articles, books to read around your subject beyond what you have to do for school/college. • Complete relevant work experience, if appropriate • Look at sample papers for tests (see the University websites) • Get used to talking about chosen subject

9. Any questions?