Law @ Jesus, Cambridge in 2017

Interview format

2x interviews (20-25 mins); 1x test

Interview content

1st interview: case study; 2nd interview: human rights

Best preparation

Discussing law problems with parents

Final thoughts

They're not trying to trip you up

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

My interview was in mid December, I took the Law test the day before and then stayed overnight and had my interviews the next day.

I waited in the candidate waiting room and got taken to the pre-reading room where I had an hour to read a case study. Then I went to my interview across college which lasted 25 minutes.

Then I had a two hour wait, after which I went to the pre-reading room again and did a reading for 20 minutes and then had a 25 minute interview. In both interviews they made it clear that my opinions and interpretations weren’t what was being judged but how I justified them.

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

My first interview was on the case study. They asked me to distinguish between two charges, and also asked me to decide whether I thought the defendant had committed one or the other.

My second interview was on human rights. They asked me lots of different scenarios and asked me whether it was a certain human rights violation. They then asked me a philosophical question.

How did you prepare?

There was very little they asked that I could prepare for, but I had conversations about similar stuff (euthanasia, murder, abortion etc) prior to the interview with my parents (who are both lawyers) and this was helpful.

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

A lot of the time if they are asking you hard questions it’s because they want to see how you can react in that situation, and they think you can answer them. Don’t think they are trying to trip you up, they are just trying to push you to see what you can do!