Oxford interviews explained

Over the next two weeks Oxford will welcome thousands of prospective undergraduate students as they take part in the University's annual admissions interviews. Most candidates will have at least two interviews, depending on their chosen subject of study, and will stay in Oxford's colleges for the duration of their subject interviews, at no cost. Each year, the questions asked are subject specific, and give the candidate an opportunity to show their interest and passion for their chosen subject. Students applying for Modern Languages may be asked about why it is important to still learn French or Italian, in a world where the dominant language is English, while aspiring engineers could well be asked to explain and sketch the physical forces behind velocity, that determine the process of kicking a football, from being at rest to up in the air. Regardless of the question asked during your interview, it is important for candidates to remember that getting the answer 'right', is not necessarily the overall goal, as Professor Nick Yeung, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, and Tutorial Fellow at University College, explains: 'In every interview I want to get to a point where the person doesn't immediately know the answer. Because one of the really important things that we want to look at is, how does the person think when they don't already know the answer.