What happens at an Oxford or Cambridge interview?

Oxford and Cambridge interviews have a reputation for strange questions and intimidating tutors. The reality is usually far more ordinary, and more useful to know about. Both universities describe their interviews as being like a teaching session: a conversation about your subject in which tutors see how you think, how you deal with new ideas, and whether you would get on well with their style of small-group teaching.

The format

• Interviews usually take place in December, after shortlisting.
• Most applicants have one or two interviews, sometimes at more than one college.
• Each is fairly short, usually with one to three tutors who teach the subject.
• Many recent interviews have been held online. Your college will tell you the format, platform and timings, and whether there is anything to read or prepare beforehand.

Arrangements change between years and between subjects. Always follow the instructions from your college and the university’s admissions pages.

The kind of questions

Most questions are about your subject, and many start with something you have never seen: a short text, a graph, an object, a data set, a problem, a scenario. The question builds as you go, and the tutor will push you a little further each time you answer.

• Medicine and sciences: a graph or experimental result to interpret, or a question like “Why do you think we have two kidneys but one heart?”
• Mathematics and physics: a problem worked through on paper or a shared screen, with hints when you get stuck.
• Humanities: a passage or source to discuss, or a concept to define and test.
• Social sciences and law: a principle applied to a tricky case, then the case changed slightly.

There may also be questions about your personal statement, especially anything you said you had read or been interested in. Be ready to talk about it in depth.

What tutors are looking for

• How you think, more than what you know. A wrong turn reasoned clearly can impress more than a right answer pulled from memory.
• Thinking out loud, so they can follow your reasoning.
• Using hints well. Tutors will often nudge you. Pick up the hint and run with it.
• Willingness to change your mind when given a good reason, and to defend your view when you still think it holds.
• Genuine interest in the subject beyond the syllabus.

How to prepare

1. Practise thinking out loud. Take unfamiliar problems in your subject and talk through them, even alone. It feels strange at first, and that is why it needs practice.
2. Go beyond your A level syllabus in one or two areas you are genuinely curious about, and be able to explain them simply.
3. Reread your personal statement, and for every book, topic or idea you mention, prepare to go deeper.
4. Practise being stuck. Get used to saying “I am not sure, but my first thought is…” and then reasoning forward.
5. Do a mock with someone who will push, ideally someone who knows the subject.

Our Oxbridge interview practice page has subject prompts to practise on.

Myths worth ignoring

• “They try to trip you up.” Tutors are trying to see you at your best thinking, which means taking you somewhere new.
• “You must know the answer.” Many questions do not have a single answer.
• “It went badly, so I have been rejected.” Applicants who feel they struggled often receive offers. Struggling with a hard problem is the point.