As the season of interviews approaches, I thought a post on how our summer school prepares our students for university entrance, particularly interviews, would be helpful and interesting.
It is worth beginning by saying that interviews at Oxford and Cambridge are not just about checking the knowledge of the students. The interviews are designed to mimic the tutorial system, as tutors are concerned with how the students will learn once at university.
The experience which our students have of tutorial learning through the summer school helps them to prepare for this environment and to develop important analytical skills. Most school students will be extremely familiar with expressing their ideas in writing, so the transition to oral learning at university can be a challenge. The small group tutorials on the summer school allow the students to practise presenting their ideas and arguing in a more fluid way.
As well as the tutorials, we provide interview practice and personal statement help to our students. This gives students a chance to get ahead with university applications before the beginning of the winter term. Our training consultant Barbara Shellard has worked with us to design a course appropriate for students earlier in the year and which complements the courses they are doing with their tutors.
Our personal statement session looks at what types of things tutors are looking for, how the personal statement should be written and especially on the all-important first paragraph. Our interview session introduces students to how interviews work and how to answer particularly difficult question. Most importantly, all our students have a practice interview, with written feedback, so that they can familiarise themselves with the process and learn which areas they need to work on.
For more information on how we can help you start preparing for interviews early, see our website.
