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More than 50 students from state schools were given Oxbridge interview practice thanks to the Wellington College Student Alliance.
Students in Year 13 who had secured interviews at either Oxford or Cambridge were helped by teachers and tutors with expertise in their chosen subject. This year for the first time, the WCSA invited tutoring company PATH Education to deliver the mock interviews.
The teachers covered more than 20 different subjects, conducting 56 interviews online and then giving verbal or written feedback to help the students prepare for the real thing.
The mock interviews followed an online session in November delivered by Dr Ruth Lexton, Oxbridge co-ordinator at Wellington, and her colleague David Rea, who talked students through the interview process and gave advice on the different technologies used.
One of the students said: “I just received my Oxford offer today for the course that I originally applied to; French and Spanish.
“I wanted to thank you and especially extend my gratitude to my interviewer. He was amazing and he helped me even after the interview and recommended to me resources that I had looked at and mentioned in my actual interview.”
Another added: “I found the mock interview incredibly helpful in knowing what to expect, especially with the technical questions around my subject.
I found it really helped me to practise explaining my passion for my subject and my reasons for wanting to study the course. Thank you so much for the opportunity.”
The mock interviews are just one part of a series of Oxbridge support events offered to schools in the WCSA. Other events include online sessions on Super Curricular (how important it is in supporting a student’s University application), Personal Statements (How to balance your PS and what should or should not be included), and Next Steps (upcoming deadline, how to make your PS stand out, selecting written word as examples to include in the UCAS application).
