Arts-Humanities Admissions Assessment (AHAA); 2x interviews.
Interview 1: personal statement, graph interpretation; Interview 2: data analysis, commentary on a quote.
Rereading your personal statement and about your subject, interview workshops, practising talking about your subject.
Practice papers (timed and non-timed), developing critical thinking skills.
Read around, take online courses, and do Cambridge masterclasses if possible. Also remember that the interviewers want you to do well!
Remember this advice isn't official. There is no guarantee it will reflect your experience because university applications can change between years. Check the official Cambridge and Oxford websites for more accurate information on this year's application format and the required tests.
Also, someone else's experience may not reflect your own. Most interviews are more like conversations than tests and like, any conversation, they are quite interactive.
Test taken: Arts-Humanities Admissions Assessment (AHAA)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 90 minutes (enough time for tea and cake with other interviewees)
Length of interviews: 30 mins
Online interview: No
In my first interview, I was first asked about my personal statement and why I was interested in what I wrote about; they played the devil's advocate e.g. asking me "why is your way of viewing education wrong?"
Then, if I'm recalling correctly, there was a graph I was shown and I had to analyse what it meant with regards to education. I had to ask for some definitions of things e.g. OECD (bit embarassing, considering I was applying for education) but they were very nice. That's all I remember. Oh, and they waited until my hands
My second interview was about the 'track' I had chosen in education (the psychology one, but I've changed tracks now). I was asked to analyse some more data to do with education. Then I recall being given a quote about education and having to say my view and what I thought of it. I'm sorry - I remember less about this one.
I read back over my personal statement - they'll most likely start from there. I also read around my subject (I would have done it anyway, because education is great) so I could show my passion and give good answers.
I went to an Oxford
I also spoke to anyone I could find about education, asking them to have a conversation with me, so I got used to having to talk about it in a clear way.
I was also fortunate enough to know
There were some practice papers on the subject page. I did those, both timed and non-timed and gave them to my sociology teacher.
Because I applied for a subject that isn't taught in schools, I focused more on the skills they might be looking for in an essay e.g. critical thinking, questioning, being clear and having an opinion that I can back up.
It is terrifying and it feels like things might fall apart if it goes wrong, but the process does so much for you, develops you so much. The interviewers want you to do well so they aren't tricking you. They want to push you to be your best.
Reading around is important, but online courses are great too - they show passion. If you can go to a Cambridge masterclass, do (and though there is a small cost, the university subsidises this, and transport costs for those who need it)
Do not worry about being 'well rounded' - Cambridge does not care if you were captain of a netball team or head girl. Are you good at this, are you passionate is more the focus