Philosophy, Politics And Economics @ Christ Church, Oxford in 2017

Interview format

2x 20 min interviews, 1 day apart

Interview content

Interview 1: International Relations, graph; Interview 2 (philosophy and economics): ethics, economic measures

Best preparation

Past papers, guide book

Advice in hindsight

-

Final thoughts

Try not to feel intimidated or inadequate; don't worry too much about personal statement.

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: TSA

Number of interviews: 2

Skype interview: No

Time between each interview: 1 day

Length of interviews: 20 minutes each

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

The two interviews were divided into two ten-minute sections. The first interview was split between International Relations, with no question sheet or extra material, and questions focussing on a graph.

The second interview was divided equally between Philosophy and Economics, with the Philosophy section dealing with some of the ethical issues a society may face when setting up a moral code. The Economics portion addressed different ways of comparing countries' wealth and the problems that they face.

The interviews started off intimidating, but I managed to relax into it and the tutors did the best they could to make them more conversational and try to get the best out of me.

How did you prepare?

I did several practice papers and studied a book designed to help prep you for the TSA.

What advice do you have for future applicants?

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

Try not to feel intimidated or inadequate when compared to the people around you. The very fact you are at the interview means that you were hand picked by the people interviewing you, and you have exactly the same opportunity to get in as anyone else.

Also, don't worry too much about your personal statement, as at least at Christ Church they didn't put too much stock in it.