2 interviews in 1 day. Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) test [now scrapped].
First interview: focus on article and conceptual questions. Second interview: more quick-fire conceptual questions.
Practice interview and critical reading.
Good to know about HSPS specifically.
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.
Two interviews, both in one day. The first was one-on-one, and the other was with two other fellows in different areas of HSPS.
I also took the
Before my first interview, I was given an article to read whilst I was waiting, on Nelson Mandela. Not everyone had the same article. I didn't know anything about Mandela really, but we discussed ideas at a general level and I referred to examples from doing history at school and general knowledge. The interview went really quickly, and felt very much like a conversation about interesting things with very intelligent, knowledgeable people!
My second interview was a bit more rapid-fire, more short-answer questions, but still not too intense. I wasn't asked about my personal statement at all, and I think one of the books I put on the
I had a practice interview with school, which was really useful and I would definitely recommend if anyone has the opportunity.
Otherwise, just reading a lot and trying to engage critically with the ideas you come across.
For HSPS the really important thing is to explain why you're doing that degree specifically - it's an interdisciplinary degree, and they want to know why you want to do that, rather than straight politics or a different combination of subjects. Be prepared to have an answer to that question, and also be prepared to think in different, interdisciplinary ways in the interview.