Music @ King's, Cambridge in 2017

Interview format

2x interviews (30 mins each; 2 interviewers each); 2x pre-interview tests (30 mins each; 1 text-based, 1 music-based); 1x test

Interview content

Interview 1: based around the pre-interview text; Interview 2: submitted essays, compositions

Best preparation

Read around topics that interest you; practise technical skills

Final thoughts

You don't always need to have the 'right' answer; don't worry about difficult interviewers

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

Two interviews and one academic test. Each interview with two interviewers. We had half an hour to study a text for one interview and the same time for a short piece of music for the other.

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

The first interview was based around a text, while the second was based around my personal statement and submissions (composition, essay etc.)

Often my answers to questions would be challenged in the next question, while some questions were definitely expecting me to bring in knowledge that they knew I had from my personal statement and essay.

How did you prepare?

Just general reading in areas that interest you. I had done a significant amount of reading over the summer around authenticity, which I was able to link to many questions.

Practising technical skills is very important as well, such as analysing music quickly, writing figured bass and harmonising Bach chorales.

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

It's important to realise that you don't need to get all your answers "right" to get an offer. Especially in a subject where it isn't clear what the right answer is.

You also shouldn't be surprised (or worried) if the interviewers slightly play devil's advocate with you. This is why people often think their interview went awfully, despite it being absolutely fine. So don't overthink it!