At your interview

Interviews will be conducted by experts in an aspect of the degreecourse for which you are applying. You may be interviewed by two or more tutors at a time. If you are applying for a joint course, with two or more subjects, you should expect to be interviewed by tutors representing each of the subjects. For some joint honours courses you may be interviewed separately for each course.

Purpose of the interview

The interview is designed to assess your academic abilities and, most importantly, your academic potential. It provides tutors with a valuable opportunity to assess your potential beyond your written record. The interview allows them to evaluate your understanding of and aptitude for your subject, and to give you the opportunity to explain why you are committed to studying it. Tutors make their decisions based on your academic abilities and potential, not your manners or etiquette, appearance or background.

Click below to see two examples of how interviews may start. You will see the tutors introduce themselves, and explain the format of the interview.

Part One

Part Two

Tutors want you to be yourself in the interview, and to allow you to demonstrate your skills and abilities. They will probably ask you a few simple questions to begin with to help you feel at ease.

For example, the Law tutor in this interview asks the student about interests that she mentioned in her UCAS personal statement.

They will then move on to questions about your subject, and questions that will help them to assess your suitability to study at Oxford. Depending on what is relevant for the course you are applying for, you may be given a piece of text, a poem, a graph, a diagram, or an object, and then asked to answer questions and comment on it. You may be given these before the interview, and will be advised if there is anything in particular on which you need to focus.

In this Law interview, you will see that the student is given a statement to read.

You may be asked factual questions, especially in science subjects. The basis for this discussion will probably include the subjects you are currently studying at school or college; for courses that require written work, this may also be used. However, you may also be offered opportunities to show whether you have read around the subject and to demonstrate your interest beyond your school or college syllabus. 

The student in the Law interview discusses her understanding of the statement she has been given to read.

In many ways, your interview will be like a mini tutorial. If you don’t know the answer to a question, you may wish to explain that you haven’t covered that topic yet, but do try to work out the answer if you can. Allow the tutors to guide you, if necessary, and ask if you don’t understand a question. Many questions are designed to test your ability to apply logic and reason to an idea you may never have encountered before. The questions may seem difficult, but don’t worry: this does not necessarily mean that the interview is going badly. The tutor will be seeking to stretch you in order to assess your potential. Remember that tutors are not necessarily so concerned with what you know, but how you think.

Read more sample interview questions.

What tutors are looking for?

A good deal of the teaching in an Oxford college takes place in small classes or tutorials, and your interviewers – who may be your future tutors – are assessing your ability to study, think and learn. This depends both on how carefully you listen to questions and how sensibly you answer them. Clarity, and concise and relevant arguments are all-important. Tutors are looking for your self-motivation and enthusiasm for your subject. They are looking for evidence that you are thinking independently, that you are willing to engage with new ideas, beyond the scope of your school or college syllabus, and that you are committed to your subject.

Are there right or wrong answers?

Interviewers are not going to ask you trick questions, but many of the topics you will cover do not have simple ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers. The questions are designed to encourage you to think for yourself and develop an argument. Be yourself and ask for help if you need it.

In this Biochemistry interview, you will see that the student does get an answer wrong at first.  Don't worry if this happens to you!  The tutor will guide you. In many areas there may not even be a right answer.

Interviewers are not trying to make you feel ignorant or catch you out. They are looking for evidence of how well you can explain what you do know, and whether you can think your way through a new problem or argue your position. If you don’t understand something, do just ask.

Are extra-curricular activities taken in to account?

Please remember that tutors make their decisions based on your academic abilities and potential alone: extra-curricular activities do not form part of the selection criteria in any subject. However, they may ask a question or two about your extra-curricular activities, particularly at the start of the interview, as you are settling in. They may ask you why you enjoy a particular activity and what you have learnt from it. They may also be interested in how you have balanced your time between studies and other activities.

Here's how one English student showed demonstrated that she had applied her extra-curricular activities to help her with her studies.

At the end of the interview you may be given the chance to ask your own questions. This is not the place for detailed discussion of the course syllabus or other details, as you should have explored the course information before you applied. However, it is the time to ask about any points about your own academic work, or perhaps about one of the questions you were asked in the interview.

Make sure that you keep checking the notice board or information desk in your college.  You may be asked to go to attend further interviews.