Test taken: None
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 1 hour
Length of interviews: 30-45 minutes
Online interview: Yes

I had 2 interviews, and both had 2 people interviewing me. The first one was all based on my personal statement, they just picked one sentence in my personal statement and we expanded on that for the whole interview.

Then the second interview was more like a supervision. I was given 2 worksheets to work through for 20 minutes before the break (one was a piano score, the other was a written text on ethnomusicology). The written text was something I had never heard of before, but that doesn't matter as they are assessing how you react to new knowledge and create your own ideas from it, so it doesn't matter at all if you haven't heard of it before.

Re-reading my personal statement and asking myself questions based on what I had said on my personal statement. I also did lots of reading around my interests as they like to ask you what your are interested in that's not part of your A level. Also, read books that cover lots of areas in your subject e.g. the Oxford Short Introduction books. Don't just read books though, watch documentaries about things you are interested in and if there are Cambridge/Oxford ones then even better. Try and attend taster sessions (online and in person) as sometimes the content in mock lectures can come up in the interview.

For advice, ask your teachers even if they have never helped anyone with an Oxbridge application before as they can help suggest resources and might even give you a mock interview. Apply to Apply: Cambridge which is a great programme that helps you through your personal statement but also more importantly interviews. This was definitely my best resource as they schedule for you to have a mock interview with a Cambridge interviewer in your subject (for me it ended up being the same person who did one of my actual interviews!).

When they ask you a question you don't know, don't panic! Just take a moment to think and collect your thoughts until you get the right answer (it's better to take an extra few seconds to get the right answer than straight away guessing a wrong answer). That being said, always say what's in your mind even if you are not sure as you don't want to not say something in fear of it being wrong when it was actually right! Don't speak too fast, make sure your thoughts are concise and frantic, although that's easier to say when you're not in the interview. Also, I would say that however bad you think the interview went, I guarantee it went better than you think even if you don't end up getting the offer! (I remember for my 2nd interview I thought everything was over and I had completely embarrassed myself, only later to find from my Director of Studies that I did really well).