Philosophy, Politics And Economics @ Corpus Christi, Oxford in 2016

Interview format

3x 30 min interviews, over 1 day

Interview content

All interviews: general discussion; Economics: data given beforehand

Best preparation

Book of practice questions

Advice in hindsight

-

Final thoughts

Had a practice interview; looked at advice online

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: 30 minutes each

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

There was a general discussion to start with, covering a few specific parts of my personal statement (with follow-up questions), followed by 3 or 4 set questions. For the economics interview I was given the data that I would be questioned on 10 minutes before I went in. I was expected to talk through my thought-process for each question, justifying my answer. The atmosphere in the room was quite intense, with 3 interviewers in the first and 2 in the second, but they made a clear effort to put me at ease, and at no point was I made to feel like I didn't deserve to be in the interview or that I had said anything stupid - although I'm sure I did!

How did you prepare?

I used a book filled with practice questions.

What advice do you have for future applicants?

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

I did a practice interview with a teacher at school and researched lots of interview advice online.

I'm not sure the online advice was particularly useful, but I would strongly recommend practice interviews - provided that you do not expect them to be in any way similar to the actual interview - as they were a great way of seeing how you act when put on the spot in such a situation.