Free Interview Resources
Free practice questions, preparation advice, and expert insights for Classics and English interviews at Oxford.
Real Classics and English interview questions in the style Oxford asks. Try answering each one aloud before you reveal the hint.
Read this short unseen passage and explain how the narrator's voice shapes your first impression of the speaker.
Close-Reading & Passage Analysis
In this Virgil passage, why might Aeneas be weeping, and how far does the poem invite sympathy for him?
Close-Reading & Passage Analysis
Read this poem in English that contains classical references; what do those references add to the poem's meaning?
Close-Reading & Passage Analysis
After reading this Odyssey extract, what can you infer about Odysseus' characterisation?
Close-Reading & Passage Analysis
Read this scene from Roman comedy; what might it suggest about slavery, and how far should we trust a comic text as evidence?
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
Look closely at the opening of this literary work you mentioned; how does the beginning teach the reader how to read the rest?
What reasons might Dido have for dying in Aeneid 4 besides simply being abandoned by Aeneas?
Why might the Odyssey spend so much narrative energy on return and homecoming rather than only on sea adventures?
If you had to argue that either Achilles or Hector is the more important hero of the Iliad, which case would be stronger?
How might writing for children change a writer's choices compared with writing for adults?
Is Aeneas better understood as an ancient hero, a modern hero, or neither?
Are history and myth compatible ways of making sense of the ancient world?
What makes tragedy tragic, and does the answer change between Greek drama and modern literature?
What makes a book written today become a classic?
Which details in Aeneid 4 would you use to argue that Dido still has reasons to live?
What evidence would you need before claiming that Greek or Roman culture has had the greater impact on the modern world?
If you say Ovid is funny, what examples of wordplay or narrative technique would prove your point?
What would count as evidence that a translation is also an interpretation?
If a Greek tragedy had no chorus, what would be lost from the drama and what might a modern staging gain?
If you adapted the Odyssey for film and removed Poseidon, how would the story's meaning change?
Tell me about a literary work from your personal statement, but focus first on form rather than plot.
What are you reading at the moment, and what is one thing you admire or distrust about it?
Your EPQ uses The Penelopiad to think about classical reception; how does Atwood change what we notice in Homer?
Why do you want to study Classics and English together rather than either subject on its own?
12+ weeks
8-12 weeks
4-6 weeks
Unlock the full guide
Free Resource
The Complete Oxford Classics and English Interview Guide
Enter your email to unlock the full question bank, worked approaches, a week-by-week prep roadmap, and the mistakes that cost offers.
Practice with a Oxford Classics and English graduate who's been through it.
Book Mock Interview →Watch & Learn
Shows the tone and structure of an Oxford Classics interview.
Explains qualities Classics tutors assess.
Demonstrates English Language and Literature discussion.
Student-facing guidance on preparing for English interviews.
Student testimony for personal-statement and unseen-text discussion.
All videos are the property of their respective creators.
Further Reading
by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson or Robert Fagles
Core text for discussion of language, character, return and meaning.
by Virgil, translated by Robert Fagles or Seamus Heaney
Core Classics text with strong English-literary resonance, especially for Aeneas and Dido.
by Sophocles, translated by David Grene or Reginald Gibbons
Essential Greek tragedy for thinking about plot, dramatic irony, chorus and reception.
by William Shakespeare
English text with classical references, useful for comparing dramatic technique.
by John Milton
Renaissance engagement with classical form and epic inheritance.
by Margaret Atwood
Modern reception of Homer, useful for adaptation and feminist reinterpretation.
by Barbara Graziosi
A concise overview of classical texts, themes and historical context.
by Blakey Vermeule
Supports deeper thinking about emotion, character and literary interpretation.
by Stephen Harrison, editor
Broadens understanding of Greek and Roman prose fiction.
by Richard Seaford
Clear introduction to tragedy, performance, chorus and ancient drama.
by John Lennard
Practical training in close reading, metre, form and precise description.
by University of Oxford
Oxford-recommended lectures, essays and ebooks for English applicants.
by University of Oxford
Useful for Greek drama, performance history and reception.
by University of Oxford
Official starting point for Classics and English supercurricular exploration.
by BBC Radio 4
Accessible scholarly discussions supporting wider classical context.
by University of Oxford
Research database for visual culture, material evidence and reception.