Geography @ Newnham, Cambridge in 2014

Interview format

2x interviews (30-45 mins each)

Interview content

First interview: personal statement, subject-specific topics; Second interview: discussed pre-read article, graph analysis

Best preparation

Practice interviews

Final thoughts

It's important to think aloud

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.

Interview Format

There were two interviews. The first one was with the admissions tutor and was more general. The second was with the geography fellows. You had to read an article beforehand and then the interview itself was around 30-45mins (I think...). Members of the Junior Common Room looked after you throughout the day and took you to the right place.

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

General interview: discussed some things from my personal statement (e.g. work experience). Then we looked at some material that was in the field of the interviewer (archaeology and anthropology). Discussed some maps on old English settlements.

Geography interview: had to read an article about geoengineering and then answered questions on it, including doing a summary of the article. Then looked at some graphs and had to answer questions on them (e.g. about trends).

How did you prepare?

Practice interviews with my school geography teacher/tutor. They asked some tricky questions to put you on the spot and think creatively about answers. In the end the actual interview wasn't that interesting..!

Looking back, what advice would you give to your past self?

It's hard to do your 'thinking aloud' but important too, so the interviewers know that you have ideas and aren't just blankly staring into space