Philosophy, Politics And Economics @ St Hilda's, Oxford in 2019

Interview format

TSA; 2x interviews.

Interview content

Interview 1 (Politics): discussing theories and contemporary issues; Interview 2 (Philosophy and Economics): discussing content, simple maths, why I wanted to study at Oxford.

Best preparation

Wider reading; re-read notes; kept up with current affairs.

Final thoughts

Prepare by having meaningful critical discussions with people; be able to think well on your feet and think out loud.

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

Test taken: Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: Approximately 1 day.
Length of interviews: 30 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

In my politics interview we first spoke about different political theories and then about the underrepresentation of women in politics. Then in my philosophy and economics interview we spoke briefly about 3 common systems of morality, then I had to do some simple maths on a white board for economics, and finally we spoke for about 5-8 minutes about why I wanted to study at Oxford.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

I read one or two introduction to philosophy books, and reviewed economics notes from past and current coursework. I also made sure to keep up on any political news and think critically about it in the context of what I had studied in the past.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

I did a few practice papers; probably should have done a couple more in hindsight.

What advice would you give to future applicants?

Get comfortable speaking at length about what you think is true and why. It’s ok to admit you don’t know something, as long as you can take what they give you and run with it. The interviewers want to see that you can have a constructive discussion, think quickly on your feet, and effectively communicate what’s going on inside your head. Preparing for that could be as simple as spending some time every day having a meaningful discussion about current events with a friend.