Admissions tests and interviews: what they are really checking

Selective courses attract far more applicants with top predicted grades than they have places. Tests and interviews exist to separate candidates whose grades look identical on paper — which means they deliberately ask things school has not covered.

The tests you might meet

• UK subject tests for medicine, law, maths and sciences — typically sat in the autumn, before offers are made. Names and providers change every few years; check the course page for the current cycle.
• The SAT and ACT in the US, optional at a large number of universities but still useful evidence for an international applicant whose school system is unfamiliar to the reader.
• English proficiency — IELTS, TOEFL or an equivalent. Often waived if your schooling was in English, but the waiver has to be confirmed in writing, not assumed.

How to prepare for a test that is not about content

Most admissions tests assume only school material but ask it in unfamiliar shapes and under time pressure. So preparation is mostly about the shapes: do full papers under real timing, mark them honestly, and study the questions you got wrong rather than doing another fresh paper. Two or three timed papers a week for six weeks beats daily half-attempts for six months.

What an Oxbridge-style interview is actually for

The interview is a short simulation of a tutorial. The tutor gives you a problem you have not seen, then watches what you do when you are stuck. Saying "I do not know, but here is how I would start" is a good answer. Silence is not, and neither is a confident wrong answer defended to the end.

1. 1Say your reasoning out loud, including the false starts.
2. 2Ask for clarification when a question is ambiguous — that is part of the skill being tested.
3. 3Take a hint when it is offered. Hints are how a tutorial works, not a sign you are failing.
4. 4Re-read your own personal statement the night before; everything in it is fair game.