2x interviews
Both interviews involved a psychology question linked to A-Level knowledge, questions derived from the personal statement, and questions testing analytical ability.
Making colour-coded mind maps of the personal statement. (The interviewee also stated they wished they'd done more numerical/data questions.)
Enjoy the opportunity to have a discussion with an expert in the field. Be yourself and show off who you are.
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.
Test taken: None
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 30 minutes
Length of interviews: 20-25 minutes
Online interview: Yes
In both of my interviews, there was a set structure whereby my interview was divided into three parts. Initially I was asked a psychology question which was more linked to testing my A-Level knowledge and proving I thought about things in a psychological way. The second part moved onto more abstract and challenging questions which were to test my critical thinking abilities. These questions were derived from my personal statement but were not always directly linked. It was here that I was really tested and put on the spot and to show that I could respond, listen and interpret the interviewer's question and to show I was teachable. It was here that I found I was able to use the questions to develop my own unique take on what I had previously prepared. Finally I was tested on my ability to analyse information which was presented graphically or through images. For example, this was related to things covered in my A-Level course but wouldn't have been anything I've seen previously.
By the end I was asked if I had any questions. I took the opportunity to ask these Cambridge professors something which had really been bugging me about psychology! They found this challenging themselves and would throw the response back and forth to each other! I found this rather amusing and even caught myself giggling to myself. Overall it was a very rewarding experience... almost fun.
The thing I found most useful was to make mind maps of each aspect of my personal statement. I truly believe these were essential in helping me to recall what I had learnt in order to respond to the interviewer's question under pressure. I colour coded these too and wrote down essential facts, key speakers and things I found interesting. I made sure I knew my personal statement well but I also did some things beyond what I had even mentioned, such as listening to podcasts. One thing I wish I had done was to look at more numerical and data questions.
My advice would be to try and enjoy it and use this as an opportunity to have a scintillating discussion with an academic who is an expert in their field. It's very rare (at least for me it would have been) to be able to talk to someone who is almost famous and has published research and taken part in TED talks so I found this very cool. I