Free Interview Tips & Guidance

Everything you need to know about Oxbridge interviews — from tutors who've given them. No expensive coaching required.

The Difference Between Knowing and Thinking

School teaches you how to know something: how to learn facts and recall them. Oxbridge interviews are fundamentally different—they want to find out if you can think.

This is a profoundly different skill. We want to see if you can take what you know, understand it at a deep level, and apply it to situations you've never encountered before. The interview is not a test of memory; it's an exploration of your intellectual potential.

Think of it this way: you can't read the answers to groundbreaking research in a textbook—those answers don't exist yet. What we want to see is whether you can hypothesise your way towards an answer, or at least in the direction of an answer. It's about the process, not the destination.

How to Approach Any Interview Question

The best way to approach interview questions mirrors the scientific method:

  1. Gather information — What do you know that's relevant? What are you given?
  2. Form a hypothesis — Based on what you know, what might be true?
  3. Test your hypothesis — Does it hold up? Are there counterexamples?
  4. Iterate — Refine your thinking based on what you discover.

This process should be visible to your interviewer. Think out loud. Share your reasoning. If you hit a dead end, say so and try a different approach. This is exactly what researchers do every day, and it's what we're looking for in future students.

Expect to Be Challenged

Questions should be unfamiliar, but not unfair. You should encounter problems you've never seen before—if you don't, the interviewer hasn't done their job properly.

This isn't designed to trick you or make you feel inadequate. It's designed to push you to the edge of your understanding, so we can see how you handle genuine intellectual challenge. The best candidates are those who remain curious and engaged even when they don't immediately know the answer.

Remember: being stuck is not failure. Giving up is. Keep thinking, keep talking, keep exploring.

Building Blocks: How to Think in Any Subject

Think about mathematics. We learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. These four operations unlock an enormous amount of problem-solving ability. Then we learn differentiation and integration, and suddenly a whole new world of problems becomes accessible.

Every subject has its equivalent building blocks—fundamental concepts that, once truly understood, allow you to derive almost anything else. The most successful interview candidates are those who have internalised these foundations so deeply that they can apply them flexibly to new situations.

Each subject page on this site explains what these building blocks are for that discipline. Master them, and you'll be able to think your way through almost any interview question.

Practical Interview Technique

Think Out Loud

The interviewer can't give you credit for thoughts they can't hear. Vocalise your reasoning process. "I'm thinking that...", "This reminds me of...", "I wonder if..."

Embrace Silence Productively

It's okay to pause and think. Say "Let me think about this for a moment" rather than filling the silence with waffle. But don't stay silent for too long—share your thinking even if it's incomplete.

Ask Clarifying Questions

If something is ambiguous, ask. Good questions demonstrate engagement and can help you understand what the interviewer is really looking for.

Be Honest About Uncertainty

"I'm not sure, but my best guess would be..." is infinitely better than confident nonsense. Intellectual honesty is valued highly.

Stay Curious

If you find a question genuinely interesting, let that show. Enthusiasm and curiosity are infectious and memorable.

How to Use Our Free Resources

For each question in our mock interviews:

  1. Read the question carefully and make sure you understand what's being asked.
  2. Attempt an answer yourself first — write it down or say it out loud.
  3. Spend at least 5-10 minutes thinking before revealing the model answer.
  4. Compare your approach to the model answer. The exact answer matters less than the reasoning.
  5. Identify gaps in your understanding and review the relevant concepts.

The reveal button is there to help you learn, not to give you answers to memorise. Use it wisely.