Interview

Aim

The Oxbridge interview is not an assessment that can be prepared like a curriculum test according to a fixed syllabus. Schools may give a few mock interviews which, for most applicants, is not enough. The Oxbridge interview needs to be adequately prepared with much time investment to be able to satisfy the following.

“Is this student academically excellent beyond A-Level/IB/AP?”
“Can this student tackle and find the solution to an unseen problem with enquiring and passionate attitude”
“Can this student logically communicate one’s own thinking process in the Oxbridge tutorial discussion format?”

Training students to acquire the above qualities takes a few months of interview practice with the right resources. We have the right resources plus the curriculum and can successfully train students to perform to one’s full potential in the interview.

Curriculum

It takes time to develop the problem-solving and communication skills needed for a successful application. Therefore we start interview training from early summer to develop students’ intellectual skills over an extended period of several months of 6 to 12 months.

Past interview question solving

Discussion on concept/topic that has been mentioned in student’s personal statement or from high school to university 1st/2nd year level followed by past interview question work through to improve “orally” expressing thinking process in a logical way and learn advanced concepts/topics that may come up in the interview

Mock interview

Mock interview with actual questions from past Oxbridge interviews in real interview conditions, i.e. start with an easy question, and then gradually increase the difficulty level, that is followed by detailed performance feedback

Past Interview Questions

Below are some of the subject specific past interview questions

Oxford Math

Adriaan

You play a game with a coin not necessarily fair. If you throw heads, you get 1 and throw again. If you throw tails, you get nothing and the game ends. What is the average amount of money that you will get from this game?

Engineering Cambridge

Madeleine

On a clear day, you are on an aeroplane which is at 38,000 ft above the middle of the Pacific Ocean taking the radius of the Earth to be 6,400km, what is the approximate distance between you and the horizon of the Earth? (1 ft = 0.3048m)

Biochemistry Oxford

Harry

Given that the selectivity filter is lined with carbonyl oxygens, how might K⁺ channel allow K⁺ through but not Na⁺ when Na⁺ is smaller?

Aim