Free Interview Resources
Free practice questions, preparation advice, and expert insights for Classics and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies interviews at Oxford.
Real Classics and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies interview questions in the style Oxford asks. Try answering each one aloud before you reveal the hint.
How would you approach a short passage in Latin or Greek with an English translation: what would you discuss first?
Close-Reading & Passage Analysis
What can a photograph of an inscribed pot tell us about its owner, use and social context?
Close-Reading & Passage Analysis
Choose a classical text you have enjoyed: which details in it could support an interpretation different from your first reaction?
Close-Reading & Passage Analysis
If shown an archaeological object from Pompeii, what could it reveal about diet and quality of life?
Close-Reading & Passage Analysis
When reading Virgil in translation, are you reading Virgil, the translator, or both?
Close-Reading & Passage Analysis
Tutorial-style interviews with subject-specific problems, often involving unfamiliar material.
Oxford interviews typically take place at the college you applied to. You will usually have two or three interviews of around 20-30 minutes each, sometimes at different colleges if you are pooled. The atmosphere is meant to resemble a tutorial: the interviewer gives you a problem and watches how you reason through it.
Interview Invitation
Late Nov
Arrival to Interview
Early Dec
Technical Question
Mid Dec
Decision
Early Jan
Interview Invitation
Late Nov
Arrival to Interview
Early Dec
Technical Question
Mid Dec
Decision
Early Jan
What would you look for in a short historical or poetic extract before making a claim about its significance?
What explains Dido's suicide in Aeneid 4, and why is returning to her old life not straightforward?
Why does the Odyssey devote so much space to Odysseus' return to Ithaca rather than only to the adventures at sea?
Is Achilles or Hector the real hero of the Iliad?
Is Aeneas an ancient hero, a modern hero, or neither?
Are history and myth compatible?
How civilised was the Roman world?
How many cultures are being grouped together when people use the label China?
Can archaeology prove or disprove a sacred text, and what changes when the evidence is literary rather than material?
Romans watched gladiators in arenas: what can we learn about Roman society from that evidence?
What evidence would you use to judge whether the film 300 is historically accurate?
What evidence would help decide whether Alexander deserves the title the Great?
Give a brief case study from Middle Eastern politics or history that interested you: what evidence made it persuasive?
If the Classics faculty library and collections disappeared, what could still be studied and what would be lost?
If you were making a film of the Odyssey, would you include Poseidon, and what would change if you omitted him?
Which classical text have you most enjoyed, and which passage would you want to discuss closely?
Apart from set texts, what have you read in the original or in translation, and why did it matter to you?
What aspect of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies most excites you, and how have you followed it beyond school?
Why did you choose the independent project or EPQ topic mentioned in your personal statement?
12+ weeks
8-12 weeks
4-6 weeks
1-2 weeks
the week of
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The Complete Oxford Classics and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Interview Guide
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Practice with a Oxford Classics and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies graduate who's been through it.
Book Mock Interview →Watch & Learn
Course-specific overview video; use with caution because the official page notes some video information may have been superseded.
Useful for understanding the AMES side of the course and language range.
Shows the tone of Classics interview discussion and how tutors probe reasoning.
Useful preparation for Classics interview expectations.
Helps applicants understand what AMES tutors may value in interview.
All videos are the property of their respective creators.
Further Reading
by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson or another scholarly translator
Useful for narrative structure, heroism, return, divine agency and reception questions.
by Virgil, translated by Sarah Ruden, David West or another scholarly translator
Directly relevant to official Oxford sample-question themes around Dido, heroism and authorial construction.
by Herodotus
Excellent for thinking about Greeks, Persians, ethnography, evidence and story-telling across cultures.
by Mary Beard
Accessible model of Roman historical argument and evidence handling.
by Eugene Rogan
A broad introduction for applicants exploring Middle Eastern history beyond school syllabuses.
by University of Oxford
Official source for interview-question style and tutor explanations.
by Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford
Primary source for written work, language interviews and Classics interview criteria.
by Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford
Primary source for AMES interview process and selection criteria.
by University of Oxford
Useful for extending subject knowledge without relying on paid resources.
by University of Oxford
Canonical source for requirements, structure and route distinctions.