History Admissions Assessment (HAA); 2x interviews
Interview 1: given sources; Interview 2: submitted essays, EPQ
Read over submitted essays
Past papers to get used to structure
Its easier to show your passion if you're relaxed in the interview!
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:
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 1 hour
Length of interviews: 25 minutes
Online interview: No
One of my interviews was based on sources given at interview, and the other was based on essays I had previously submitted. My personal statement was pretty much not mentioned at all (bar my
I made sure I knew all the books on my personal statement in case they asked, and read over my personal statement in full a good few times as well as my essays that I had submitted, trying to think of bits and pieces where it was likely they’d question me (e.g. if I’d made a particularly bold claim).
I just did past papers on the Cambridge website! It’s useful to just be aware of the structure of the exam.
I would try to worry a bit less - obviously it’s easy to say in hindsight, but especially in an interview setting, if you can try and relax a bit more it’s much easier to show you are passionate about a subject and to make sure you show the best side of yourself!