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Practice Interviews
In addition to Interview Preparation Sessions we also provide practice interviews.Interviews at Oxbridge are designed to test
potential. There is no magic secret to a perfect interview, and no tricks or
lines which will guarantee you success.
However, you can practice in the situation, to give
yourself a better idea of what to expect
and what will be expected of you at
interview.
Our interviewers recreate as closely as possible the
experience of a real interview, and will give you feedback on your level of
subject knowledge and your ability to communicate your thoughts effectively
in the high pressured interview environment.
There are two skill sets which Oxford and
Cambridge interviewers are looking for:
-
How you can discuss, expand on and adapt your existing knowledge and areas of study in an interview
-
How you can respond quickly and intelligently to a completely new topic or material.
We offer two types of practice interview to
allow you to practise both skill sets:
Personal Statement Interview
All applicants will have to submit a Personal Statement
on the UCAS form, and this is an opportunity to present your motivation,
interests and knowledge to your interviewers.
All students will be asked to draw upon their existing
knowledge in interviews. The Personal Statement interview gives you this
opportunity, and to prove that what you have worked on and read is genuinely
your own.
If you are still in the process of drafting your
Personal Statement, we highly recommend sitting a Practice Interview based
on your statement in its current version. This will give you the opportunity
to see how it stands up to rigorous examination by someone who does not know
you. Feedback will focus both on the content of your statement as well as
your interview skills.
Subject Interview
This interview will give you the opportunity to
practise responding to a completely new topic. This aspect of the interview
is designed to see how candidates think, particularly when on the edge of
your comfort zone. Your interviewer may set you a 15 minute exercise before
your interview, and your response to the text or problem will form the basis
of the conversation.
This interview will be conducted by
one of our subject specialist interviewers
who studied your subject at Oxford or Cambridge, and will present a rigorous
subject specific debate.
If you are applying to a Joint Honours Course, we recommend you speak with one of our team as to which subject(s) you sit this interview in. Many courses will ask you to interview with tutors or dons from each faculty, and we can also arrange for separate interviews.
Duration
Feedback
The feedback session encompasses oral and written assessment of your performance, along with practical recommendations of how to improve.
During the interview, your interviewer will fill in our feedback form (specially designed for us by an Oxbridge don) which will assess your performance against selected criteria that Oxbridge colleges look for.
At the end of the interview, your interviewer will review this with you in depth, advising on areas of improvement.