History @ Emmanuel, Cambridge in 2016

Interview format

2x interviews (20 mins)

Interview content

1st interview: personal statement; 2nd interview: article given weeks in advance

Best preparation

Mock interviews; thinkng about questions; watch practice interviews (on Cambridge & Emma websites)

Final thoughts

Don't worry about getting stuck - talk through it

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

I had two interviews of about 20 minutes, each with two interviewers. The first was based around my personal statement and the second on an article we had been given a week or two beforehand. There was a bit of time in between the two interviews, where we could sit in the waiting area but I found it a bit stressful so went to a nearby cafe instead.

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

The personal statement interview was tricky - a few times one interviewer kept asking me the same question, trying to get me to get to a specific answer (which I never did - what's probably more important was that I tried). They also asked me about things I'd written in my SAQincluding topics I'd done in English (I'd argued in my personal statement about the importance of literary texts as historical sources) so be just be aware of that!

The article interview was better I think - I'd really recommend preparing for this one quite a bit, as there's a lot you can think about in advance: try thinking about what's the article arguing, what sources does it use and how does it use them, do you have any criticisms of the article etc. You're allowed to bring the article to the interview so highlight things and make notes in the margins (I didn't look at them much but it really calmed my nerves knowing they were there). I got a relatively normal historical article but some people got some weird ones - don't be thrown off!

How did you prepare? Think of what questions they might ask you based on your personal statement/article. I had two practice interviews with History teachers at school - they were really useful, although I was very nervous in those ones so I also got an older sibling to do mock interviews with me.

Also definitely watch the History interview videos on the Cambridge and Emmanuel websites!

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

If you're stuck don't worry about it - I got stuck loads, but as long as you try and explain your thought process that's just as good as getting the 'right' answer.