We asked one of our top tutors and legal experts to answer them using the kind of knowledge that is expected at Sixth Form level. In this resource, it is important to remember that the answers written out are not the answer, but a good way of beginning to approach interview questions. In many cases the Admissions Tutors would help you reach conclusions like the ones our expert comes to. The key is always to think aloud.
We asked one of our top tutors and English experts to answer them using the kind of knowledge that is expected at Sixth Form level. In this resource, it is important to remember that the answers written out are not the answer, but a good way of beginning to approach interview questions. In many cases the Admissions Tutors would help you reach conclusions like the ones our expert comes to. The key is always to think aloud.
Keeping the end goal in mind can help you stay focused on all the other factors that are important for achieving the result you want.
Think about your breathing, think about your strengths and think about how you’ve prepared. Don’t think about what could go wrong, don’t imagine failure and don’t give in to despair. In other words, stay focused on the things that are real and you’ll find it so much easier to find your zone.
Then stick to it. We all know how easy it is to get into a habit and how hard it can be to break one. Use this to your advantage. Have some songs you listen to before every major event, or the same meal for breakfast. It can make all the difference between staying in your comfort zone or panicking and choking.
Think about what you do well, what you’re not so good at and what you can do to do improve. And then do it.
Back when you first started, you enjoyed every minute of it. You had passion. Try to get back to that.
Practise, practise, practise, then practise some more.
Everyone has a low day where they feel they can’t possibly be good enough. Just focus on what you’re good at and your confidence will come back.
We believe that the key to a successful interview falls into three categories: knowledge, academic potential and communication skills. Whenever we organise a mock interview for a student applying to Oxford or Cambridge, we give them feedback on these three crucial points:
This includes the following:
Knowledge surrounding the subject matter to be studied on the course. For example, if you are applying for Medicine you ought to know a lot about human anatomy and be able to answer very taxing questions on it, likewise for Law applicants it is important to understand key elements of the UK judicial system so you can pull them into your arguments if necessary.
You should also be able to comfortably provide verbal evidence of further reading. Rather than just studying, say, the English literature syllabus at school, what have you stayed up pouring over into the night and why? What was so thought provoking about it?
It is also important to demonstrate your commitment to spending the next few years immersing yourself in your chosen subject. Expressing your commitment to, and passion for, your subject in the way that you speak about it when approaching interview questions will prompt your interviewers to acknowledge your academic and personal investment in the course you’ve applied to. To begin thinking about your commitment, consider how you spend time outside class and any niche academic topics you’ve researched.
It is also crucial to know your sixth form syllabus back to front where appropriate and to have looked into and read everything you’ve mentioned on your personal statement and in your submitted work. For applicants to any subject, your interviewer may ask questions pointing to any of these and expect you to know enough to express your opinion or make a particular argument. For applicants to Humanities and literature-based subjects, this may take the form of a discussion of a particular piece of work or scholar from your syllabus, personal statement or submitted work. Applicants to science subjects will benefit from this background knowledge when it comes to tackling formulas and equations.
You don’t have to know the answer to everything they ask you, however. If you get stumped on a question that is quite normal, you are not expected to be as versed in the subject as an undergraduate student, yet. Learn to be able to say ‘I don’t know…’, but always see if you can offer up an alternative suggestion, or something akin to ‘…but is it something to do with…?’ This shows a willingness to learn from the tutor, which demonstrates a maturity and a hungry mind eager to devour more knowledge.
Our Interview Preparation Days include subject-specific tutorials to increase the depth of your knowledge.
In an interview, you are often given new material to work with. This could take the form of an article, a source, a text, a prop, an image, some graphical data, a map, a puzzle, an equation – and the list goes on.
The tutors get creative each year so that they can see you respond to something interesting and often relevant, that you will not have come across before. Whilst many people think that this is a test of what they know, in actuality Admissions Tutors want to see how you work with this new information and witness your lateral thinking skills in action. Be prepared to not understand certain words in the article, or think of when the image could have been taken or where the graphical data came from. When you are studying at undergraduate level you will not have all the answers either, and will have to grapple with the same kinds of challenges on your own in the library, so get used to it now – this is the kind of exciting academic puzzle that should make you want to go to university in the first place. This test is therefore a good judge of how you will respond to new work and how you will do in your degree when you are at the university.
So what do they want you to do with this new material – decide who wrote it/ what the important themes or arguments are/ why it is significant/ analyse it/ answer it /define it? Normally the tutor will guide you by starting you off with a question or command such as ‘How would you describe the tone in this poem? Compare these two images – what can you conclude? What are the potential problems in this case? What does this data tell us about cervical smear testing on the NHS in 2015 vs. 2016?’ In turn, what questions might you need to ask in order to understand and reach conclusions about this new and unfamiliar material? How are you going to talk about it? What do you think about it? Learn to engage and respond, and don’t be nervous – just collect your thoughts and start from the beginning with your initial response. It can only go up from there. If you are struggling, talk through your thoughts and, believe it or not, the interviewer will guide you on your way. They are there to help you demonstrate your brilliance – not catch you out.
Our Online Interview Sessions include interview questions based on unseen material.
Interaction between the tutor and student in an Oxford tutorial or Cambridge supervision is in fact very similar to interaction in the interview at the application stage. The intimate style of teaching at Oxbridge requires students to learn through discussion and to find their own answers – and enjoy the process. Therefore, your ability to do this in the interview is an important skill on which you will be judged. If you are just looking for the correct answer and to learn facts, then Oxbridge probably isn’t for you. If this interactive style of learning excites you however, then you need to be able to prove you feel academically comfortable and confident enough to hold your ground and… interact.
Confidence can be a problem for some of those who are slightly more timid. Be aware that you may be more used to learning in big groups and not in this focused environment – but there is no one else to put their hand up and offer an alternative answer in the interview. That is OK – as you can learn how to do it well. You may want to practice this form of highly academic discussion in small groups or in a one-on-one setting to ensure you will perform your best on the big day whilst under pressure.
It is also worth considering what a question at interview is asking you to do so that you can communicate your answer in the most appropriate way. Should you give a balanced argument or argue down a line, do you need to ask for clarification or definitions, or indeed make your own definitions known before you approach the question or material? Do you need to jump up to the board and draw out an equation or diagram, find the appropriate formula, pull out the most interesting parts of the question or material to examine, do you need to identify literary devices?
A good candidate will structure their answers clearly so that they do not get in a muddle or confuse the interviewer, so learning to compose yourself and your answer and not jump in is important. Clarity is proof of a logical mind, so try not to ramble or go off track as you and your interviewer might lose your way. Also, why not try to build a rapport with their interviewer to help you demonstrate that you will learn and thrive in a tutorial environment. Ensure that tutor remembers you, your abilities, your curiosity and ability to interact. Make an impact.
Our Online Interview Sessions help you communicate effectively about your subject at interview.
Sometimes, after your interview the college or PPH you applied for may decide that they lack the space to take you, but believe you are a strong applicant. In this situation, you may be “pooled” to another college.
3,874 applications at Cambridge were pooled in total
20% of applicants at Oxford pooled each year.
Over 94 UMS across the board? You’ll be auto-pooled by Cambridge. Call us to find out more.
Pooling at CambridgeWhen you make an initial application to Cambridge, you may choose to apply to a particular college. If you submit an open application, a college will be allocated to you.
If called to interview, you will be interviewed at the college your specified on your application form. You also may be pre-pooled to a different college for your interview. When these interviews are completed, all students return home. You are very likely to only be in Cambridge for one day.
Each college then decides which applicants they want to accept and which, being less strong, they feel are not suitable candidates. However, there may be a collection of students who were strong candidates but that college has now run out of spaces to accept them. These candidates are placed in what is called the ‘winter pool’.
At Cambridge, pooling happens in January, after the application cycle. If your application has been placed in the pool, you will receive a letter informing you of this in January and might be called for another interview at a different college. This does not necessarily mean that you have an offer. These pooling interviews usually take place in the first week of January.
The majority of pooled students are not recalled to interview but simply informed that their application is currently under consideration by other colleges, however you may be called to be seen by whichever college has chosen you in the pool. You will hear later in January whether a college has made you an offer or whether your application has been unsuccessful overall.
Pooling at OxfordThe Oxford pooling system is different from the Cambridge pooling system in one key way: Pooled applicants remain at Oxford and have further interviews at other colleges.
When you make an initial application to Oxford, you may choose to apply to a particular college. If you submit an open application, a college will be allocated to you.
If called to interview, the majority of students will be seen at the college of their choice. However, some colleges are extremely over-subscribed and you may be pooled pre-interview. If so, you will receive a letter from a different college saying that your application is now under consideration there and your interview will be conducted at this college instead.
Once your initial interview(s) are completed, you will either be allowed to go home or informed that you need to stay in Oxford for further interviews. You may be told in a variety of ways of further interviews, so make sure to check the noticeboard on the JCR (Junior Common Room) of your chosen college. You may be interviewed at one or even two further colleges. One student we know was interviewed at 4! The amount of further interviews that you are given in no way reflects the quality of your application.
Colleges are in constant communication and you are quite likely to interview at several colleges in December. This may not even mean that you are ‘pooled’ – your first choice college may have decided to accept you and is simply seeking a second opinion from another college to confirm they have made the right decision. This helps the university to regulate the standard of applicants that gain a place.
If you are pooled, it may be that your application is strong, but the college you applied to doesn’t think you are the right fit for their particular college. It may also mean that you are a great candidate but unfortunately the college you applied to are oversubscribed with good applicants.
Once you finish the interview period you will not be asked to return for further interviews. However if you are ‘post-pooled’ this means you will receive a guaranteed place through an over offer, and will be assigned a college later.
Our Oxbridge-graduate consultants are available between 9.00 am – 5.00 pm from Monday to Friday, with additional evening availability when requested.
Oxbridge Applications, 14 – 16 Waterloo Place, London, SW1Y 4AR
Click the link to the right to investigate some questions from interviews in Law or Land Economy (a subject that is heavily law-based) that have been asked in the past at Oxford or Cambridge. Have a go… how would you approach them?
Click the link to the right to investigate some questions from interviews in English Literature and Language that have been asked in the past at Oxford or Cambridge. Have a go… how would you approach them?
