Free Interview Resources
Free practice questions, preparation advice, and expert insights for History (Ancient and Modern) interviews at Oxford.
Real History (Ancient and Modern) interview questions in the style Oxford asks. Try answering each one aloud before you reveal the hint.
Who would you say is the most important person in this picture?
Close-Reading & Passage Analysis
What makes you say that the person in blue with the furry hat is the most important person?
Close-Reading & Passage Analysis
What do we think the necklace is made of?
Close-Reading & Passage Analysis
Anything more you want to say about the other things made of gold?
Close-Reading & Passage Analysis
How do you think we might work out who this person is?
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
Now we know that the phrase is in medieval French, how does that change what we think is going on?
What kinds of aspects of history do you think you might be able to write about or analyse using this source?
Is violence always political?
Does political mean something different in different contexts?
To what extent does Germany unify at all?
Germany is sometimes seen as an example of nationalism working, but also as a state that never quite coheres; where would you place yourself in that debate?
What do you need in order to make a nation?
What factors would you want to identify in deciding whether a nation has been made?
What could you do as a state to combat religious division?
What might you do to replace religion as a unifying force if it is not working as a unifying force?
What would a historian find interesting about the place where you live?
What can historians not find out about the past?
How does Bismarck manage religion?
How does news of a military victory thousands of miles away reach people in a tiny village, and how would they realise it has anything to do with themselves?
Imagine we had no records about the past at all, except everything to do with sport – how much of the past could we find out about?
How do you make the nation real in a village in Bavaria?
Which person, or sort of person, in the past would you most like to interview, and why?
How did your essay fit within the course, and what did you study around it?
How has thinking about the past shaped your interpretation of your local area?
What material you have read, listened to, watched, or places you have visited from your application would you most want to discuss, and why?
12+ weeks
8-12 weeks
4-6 weeks
1-2 weeks
the week of
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Book Mock Interview →Watch & Learn
Shows the style of source-led and written-work-led questioning applicants may encounter.
Useful for observing how tutors prompt applicants to explain and refine their thinking.
Directly relevant to applicants considering the ancient-and-modern combination.
A concise overview of the Oxford History course environment and expectations.
A compact example of accessible ancient-history discussion that can prompt further reading.
All videos are the property of their respective creators.
Further Reading
by E. H. Carr
A classic starting point for thinking about historical evidence, interpretation, and the role of the historian.
by John Tosh
Useful for applicants who want a clearer vocabulary for method, evidence, causation, and historical debate.
by John Boardman, Jasper Griffin and Oswyn Murray, editors
A broad, Oxford-linked introduction to ancient history and culture, helpful for applicants without a classical-language background.
by Mary Beard
Accessible, argumentative, and useful for thinking about Roman evidence, citizenship, political culture, and historical narrative.
by Chris Wickham
Good bridge material for applicants interested in how ancient and medieval worlds connect, change, and get interpreted.
by University of Oxford Faculty of History
Course-adjacent official guidance on what History interviews may involve and how to prepare.
by University of Oxford
Contains official History prompts that show the open-ended style of Oxford interview questioning.
by Balliol College, University of Oxford
Useful for applicants seeking ancient-world reading suggestions from an Oxford college.
by BBC Radio 4
A broad source of historically rigorous discussions that can help applicants practise summarising arguments.
by University of Oxford
A structured starting point for building subject knowledge beyond school specifications.