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Watch – click on image

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Why do they interview?

Almost all candidates predicted at least AAA* or equivalent

Almost all have excellent references and strong personal statements

Applicants are from diverse educational backgrounds

Allows university/college and applicants to assess suitability of course and university/college

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College interviews �at Oxford

Applicants probably interviewed by college of preference, or the one allocated from open application.

Tutors from different colleges exchange information to consider everyone applying to for their subject, to ensure best candidates get places, whichever college they chose

Some application may be referred to another college if a college is oversubscribed for the subject that year.

In some subjects all candidates will automatically be interviewed at a second college.

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For other subjects, there may be the opportunity for an interview at a second or third college. This does not mean a place will not be offered at the first college.

Students should be prepared to stay for up to two days in Oxford. Interview dates in prospectus

25% get offers from a college different from first choice

Colleges work co-operatively to ensure all applicants for a subject, across all colleges, can be compared, ‘in order that the very best people get Oxford places’.

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College interviews �at Cambridge

Most interviews take place in the first three weeks of December (though some may be earlier) Unlike Oxford no timetable is published in advance
The exact form and length varies from College to College, and between subjects
Typically there will be two interviews of 20-45 minutes each.
The college will send full details and if the student is asked to stay overnight, they will provide accommodation.
Stay night before!

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The Winter Pool at �Cambridge

Following admissions interviews in December there are three possible outcomes:

A place will be offered, normally conditional on A levels or equivalent

The application is unsuccessful

The applications is forwarded to the Winter Pool for consideration by other Colleges

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What happens �during the Winter Pool?

Takes place over a two-day period in early January

Colleges seeking further applicants in a subject will have the opportunity to scrutinise an application and the option to re-interview or to offer a place without further interview.

Admissions Tutors also use the Pool to look at applicants from other Colleges before confirming all their offers.

Therefore a small number of pooled applicants may receive an offer from the College that interviewed them in December.

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Typical data about �the Winter Pool

29 colleges pooled applicants

3358 applications were pooled (16,000

applicants for 4,000 places in all)

469 pooled applicants were re-interviewed

840 pooled applicants were made offers

615 received a direct offer without returning for Pool interviews

225 received offers following a Pool interview

94 pooled applicants received offers from the College that pooled them

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The Summer Pool �at Cambridge

In most cases applicants not meeting their offers will not get places and Cambridge (and Oxford) not involved in Clearing or Adjustment

In a few cases, applicants who haven't quite met the conditions of their original offer may still be offered a place, either at their original College, or at another College following a small 'summer pool'.

50 would be a typical figure

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Typical success �rates at Oxford

Medicine * 12% versus Chemistry 37%

Economics and Management 8% versus Engineering 23%

Law 18% versus History 26%

Full applications/ acceptance data for both universities in prospectuses

* Only 30-35% of medical applicants get to interview

Oxford Applications increased by 82% in last 10 years.�

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Typical applications to �places: Cambridge

Architecture 13

Medicine 6

PPS 6

Philosophy 6

Vet Science 5

Maths 5

Engineering 5

Law 5

Natural Sciences 4

English 4

History 4

Music 3

Theology 2

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Typical Short-listing for interview: Oxford: Arts

Source: University of Oxford

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Sciences

Over 80% overall

interviewed

at Cambridge

Intake 12

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What are they �looking for?

Self motivation and commitment to subject

That you have done more than your syllabus

demands

That you can think critically and independently

Ability to think conceptually and can engage with ideas

Similar to supervisions in approach

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Subject specific �interview

Challenging discussion

Issues covered in recent academic work

Issues in application/personal statement

Apply existing knowledge to new situations

What you think rather than what you know

If you don’t understand say so

Usually no right or wrong answer

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How can I prepare?

Think about obvious questions

Read widely

Take a critical view of ideas and arguments

Re-read personal statement and written work submitted

Bring copies to the interview

Remind yourself the selection criteria for the course

Arrange a practice interview

Dress: ‘...whatever you feel comfortable in. Most tutors do not dress formally.’

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At the interview

May be two or more interviewers at a time
May be given something to read before interview especially in arts subjects
Like a ‘mini tutorial’
Test ability to apply logic and reasoning to new ideas or problems
‘The tutor will be seeking to stretch you in order to assess your potential.’
Judging academic potential, self motivation and commitment ‘not your manners, etiquette, appearance or background’
‘....not seeking to make you feel ignorant or catch you out.’

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http://www.emma.cam.ac.uk/admissions/video/interviews/

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Computer Science interview has explanation from tutor at beginning

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History interview best for illustrating key points to all applicants

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Short video clips on Oxford website

Who will interview you?
Purpose of interview
What to expect
What tutors are looking for
Are there right and wrong answers?
Are extra-curricular activities taken into account?
Your questions

http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/interviews

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Oxford Sample Interview questions with pointers

http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/guide/interviews

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Good source of 60 admissions interview questions with answers:

‘How would you measure the weight of your own head?’

‘What happens if I drop an ant?’

'What percentage of the world's water is contained in a cow?‘

Why are fierce animals so rare?

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Spend minimum of 20 hours preparing

Anticipate obvious questions What ifs?

What did I get from the books I have read, from work experience, conferences or field work. What insights?

Prepare clear examples to illustrate your answers about yourself and what you have read, done and think

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Make it a conversation

Pause before you answer and don’t speak too quickly

Think out loud. Show how you think about a problem

Show the different angles/alternatives to a question

Don’t be afraid to ask for pointers if you get really stuck

Rehearse interview skills and serious intellectual ‘talk’ with other students in your subject:

‘How do I know what I think until I see what I say?’

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Advice for schools and colleges �or how to get your school �\or college to help you!

Try to use interviewers who are not known to the students

Do an exchange with another school. You interview their students, they interview yours

Over coached students are seen through

Not necessarily a good idea for students to pay for advice and training

Interviewers increasingly use prompts that cannot be prepared for eg a tea bag in a recent Cambridge anthropology interview

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Get students used to questions which challenge their views

What evidence is there for that?
I disagree with that because.....?
You are not taking account of .....?
Doesn’t that contradict what you said earlier.......?
Wouldn’t x’s ideas/theories argue against that?
Would you be able to apply that kind of thinking to.......?
Can you explain how you came to that conclusion?
On the other hand, couldn’t you say that......?
The problem with what you are saying is.....?
There are limitations to that argument aren’t there......?

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Subject teacher �support is crucial

Make it clear to subject teacher what is being looked for

Emphasise thinking skills. Give interviewee something to analyse or think about or get them to think forward based on what they already know in the relevant subject

Supply lists of interview questions and video clips

Give them interview debriefing sheets for their subject from past students

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Give two or three subject specific questions as pointers

Provide answers/analysis from ‘Answering Oxbridge Questions’ activity and sample questions on Oxford website

Encourage them to focus on these questions with lots of follow up questions and discussion

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English: examples to �give to subject teachers

Would you rather be a novel or a poem?

Why do you think an English student might be interested in the fact that Coronation Street has been running for 50 years?

Why might it be useful for an English student to read the Twilight series?

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Analysis

‘There's several reasons I might ask this one. It's useful in an interview to find some texts the candidate has read recently and the Twilight books are easily accessible and popular. Also, candidates tend to concentrate on texts they have been taught in school or college and I want to get them to talk about whatever they have read independently, so I can see how they think rather than what they have been taught. A good English student engages in literary analysis of every book they read. The question has led to some interesting discussions about narrative voice, genre, and audience in the past.’

Lucinda Rumsey, Mansfield College