Questions based on a Theology-specific lecture; 3x interviews.
Discussion of pre-interview readings, prior coursework, personal statement, and other sources/prompts.
Mock interviews with people involved in Theology; be familiar with your personal statement; listen to podcasts.
Timed practice paper.
Keep calm and enjoy the interview; it will be challenging so don't be upset if you feel you didn't do well.
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: Theology-specific lecture with some questions
Number of interviews: 3
Time between interviews: 3 hours or so
Length of interviews: 30 minutes
Online interview: No
Two of my interviews had some reading before hand, one of which was a historical source and the other was about evaluating philosophical statements. We only talked about both of them for around 5 minutes so don’t panic if you have nothing to say. I was asked to expand on bits of my personal statement at times, particularly my history coursework since it was on witchhunts. The atmosphere felt oddly informal with all three of them taking place in studies with me sitting on sofas. Lots of them used prompts, including a picture that I was asked to discuss.
One of my interviews I felt went absolutely awfully, but I still got a place, so don’t let a bad interview knock you off your game for the rest of them.
I had to submit some marked work as part of the application process but this didn’t come up in the interview.
I had a couple of
The most important thing is to practice speaking about Theology with friends and family to get good at articulating the things that interest you. It can be helpful to have read an additional book after submitting your personal statement so that you have new things to say, but also make sure you’re familiar with the content of your statement and ready to bounce conversations off it.
I really recommend using podcasts as a fun way to expand your knowledge of the subject, particularly as it takes on verbal form rather than a book.
I went to the faculty website and found an old past paper and practiced it to time. I only did one and found it plenty, but I know others found more than that online. I didn't do the Religious Education A Level but you didn’t need any knowledge just to be able to engage in the lecture that you watched.
My advice would be to keep calm and enjoy the opportunity to speak to academics about something you’re both passionate about. They have to challenge every candidate to find out where your limits are, so don’t feel upset if it feels like you’ve not done so well.