There were 2 interviews, each with 2 interviewers one of which was with my now Director of Studies. There was also some pre-reading before the first, just an article and they allocated around 20 minutes for that. I had around 3 hours to kill in the time between the interviews but spent that grabbing some lunch and chatting to the other applicants/helpers instead of attempting to prepare and getting stressed! I had already done the admissions test before arrival but I know a couple of the other PBS applicants did it on the day, just before they had their interviews.

The first one was heavily focused on research methods and statistics. I was handed a couple of graphs to interpret that were quite challenging but I felt comfortable enough to ask questions on things i didn’t understand (e.g. what a certain symbol meant). I was also asked to relate the information to real life situations. The other interviewer asked me questions about my personal statement, in particular about my EPQ and its purpose which was nice because I was currently working on it at the time of the interviews. They used that to set the basis for some of the more theoretical questions later on so I had some knowledge to apply.

The second was definitely a lot more relaxed - this may have been because I was a lot calmer but also the interviewers were a lot younger and good humored. They even gave me some chocolate at one point. There were more method questions but also a discussion related to the article I had previously read, evaluating the methods used. They gave me a couple of research scenarios and I was asked to interpret the aims, identify the variables etc. The final task was to design my own experiment with just a couple of props placed in front of me. I asked a couple of questions before talking them through my answer which they were happy to answer but also tried to push me to get to the answer myself.

Just re-reading my personal statement, EPQ, the books I had read/mentioned on my PS as well as a couple of articles online. I also found a few (not many because PBS is a relatively new course) interview questions online and talked through what my answers would be if I had been given them in an interview. This was great for helping me learn to think out loud and communicate my ideas more clearly. I did read over my A level notes but this wasn’t really helpful. Most of the research method questions were just application of common sense. I would definitely brush up on some basic stats if you aren’t doing A level maths - nothing too advanced.

Do something mindless before the interview. I redid my makeup and played candy crush which made me feel less nervous going into the interview than I had been throughout that entire week.