History @ Homerton, Cambridge in 2016

Interview format

HAA; 2x interviews

Interview content

Interview 1: source, EPQ; Interview 2: general discussion

Best preparation

Past papers, personal statement feedback, reading

Final thoughts

Be honest

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

Test taken: HAA
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: About one hour
Length of interviews: 20 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

I was pretty nervous when I walked in, but it wasn't as bad as I thought! For the first one, they gave me a primary source to read before hand. They asked about the origins of the source, when I thought it might have been written, and what kind of person might have written it, for example. It was from a period I had never studied but I mentioned that I had read a similar text from about two hundred years later in my EPQ, so I mentioned that and then we started discussing that, which I was more confident with. They didn't seem to mind what we were talking about, so we also discussed my plans for my gap year (working mostly!) in a very informal chatty way.

The second interview was about the relevance of history in the modern world to begin with, and then a bit about the Vietnam War because I mentioned it. I remember actually having a laugh in that one!

How did you prepare?

I practised for the admissions test using the past papers available online for both the Cambridge HAA and the Oxford HAT. My history teacher also had a read through my personal statement which was helpful - ask them for feedback because the worst they can say is no! Personally, I felt more confident having read two popular history books on a time period that interested me. It was the same period I had studied for my EPQ, so I was able to use that knowledge as a base for the first interview. In both interviews, we ended up discussing subjects I had brought up in the conversation - I genuinely believe they don't mind what you talk about as long as you have something to say!

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

Don't be afraid to be honest! I had started a 32 hour beginner's German course and I was halfway through, it was on my personal statement so they asked "do you speak German then?" I very quickly said no! I was surprised when they said, well if you are here you can start new languages, and talked me through the language course options. Don't worry about trying to impress with what you know, but try and show your enthusiasm!