HOWZAT

Your interview time will be posted on the college notice board in the college entrance and in the Junior Common Room. The times of these can change at the last minute and if you are required for another interview the only way of finding out is to check the board. Some colleges will take your mobile number and ring you to let you know of any changes - but it’s best to check it every couple of hours just in case.

6. Don’t be put off by other candidates

“Don’t be too intimidated by everyone else and what they know – it is your interview and you will be the only one in the room – not them – so be confident in your own abilities,” says Laura O’Connor who got into Jesus College Oxford to study Geography.

In the interview

7. Choose where to sit with care

The interviews are usually held in the tutor’s office and you will often have a choice of seats ranging from a plastic chair to a college heirloom which had seen better days when Henry VIII made a visit.

Kate Rushworth, who read English and German at Oxford says “I remember sitting on the sofa as instructed and it being so old and flat that I ended up practically sitting on the floor with my knees around my ears.”

Your choice of seat isn’t a test but it’s better not to be distracted by it. So pick a seat that looks half stable and try not to sit in such a way that your leg goes to sleep and you have to limp out of the room when you leave.

8. Make eye-contact

Murad Ahmed, now a journalist says: “It's a confidence thing. If you've got an interview, you've got the grades to be there.” He says tutors he’s spoken to are looking for something more than grades. “I took that to mean, that somehow we could ‘add’ to the institution. I think quiet confidence is what you want to try to evoke, and making eye contact is key.”

9. Don’t be intimidated by the tutors

“But be aware that they know everything you know - and a hell of a lot more,” says Rhiannon Evans, who studied Politics Philosophy and Economics at Oxford and is now studying for a PhD. “They are trying to explore your thought processes. Therefore make it obvious. Don't just jump it with your final answer as this suggests a lack of reflexivity. You're not on Family Fortunes. Fully articulate your evaluation and argument.”

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