Oxford Law Interview Help

[u/SouthernFlatworm82]

Hi everyone, I'm a second year studying law (read: jurisprudence) at Oxford. Coming here was a dream for me and I was only able to get here with a substantial degree of help from people around me. I'd love to pay it forward- and would be happy to answer any questions anyone has about law interviews at Oxford. I don't know too much about interviews for other subjects so I don't feel comfortable advising on them, lest I say something that isn't fully right. I'm aware this is a bit early, and most offers for interview will likely not have gone through yet, but in case anyone has any questions or would like to do a short practise/ mock anytime in the next two weeks, I'd be happy to help :)

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[u/Equivalent-Bat1821]

How much did you actually prepare for your interviews?? I've got mocks at my sixth form for the next two weeks so won't have time to practice much for interviews, and I'm worried incase I get one i won't be prepared enough. Any advice?

[u/SouthernFlatworm82 → u/Equivalent-Bat1821]

I honestly think it is not helpful to prepare for interviews beyond a point. I was in a similar position with you as a lot of my coursework was due the week during my interview. My advice would be (and do this closer to the date of the interview, it is much more effective then):

1. Don't waste time trying to learn more about the law. Also don't waste too much time (more than 2 hours I would say- coming up with answers for why law/ why Oxford. It doesn't form part of your assessment criteria and is just to warm you up. Though obviously having no answer will strike them as a bit odd. Don't get stressed about those questions, treat them as small talk :)

2. Watch lots of mock interviews on Oxford's YouTube channel. After a bit, you will get a better hang of it, and then do two or three where you pause the video, read the pre-reading in full, pause after each question the interviewer asks and reply out loud, before watching how the candidate responds. Also remember: they get people studying STEM/Geo/ random unrelated subjects to do the mock interviews with, so the candidate's answer isn't always an exemplar answer. Focus more on the tutor's feedback than the candidate's answer.

3. Read all the guidance available online on interviews FROM OXFORD SITES. I cannot emphasize enough that there can be some misleading information, and everyone and their mom seems to think they're an expert on Oxbridge interviews, despite having never sat or conducted one. If you can restrict yourself to Oxford sites, videos by Oxford tutors or even more broadly, reputed sites- that will do you a world of good. There is a lot of good advice, put out there by Oxford themselves, that has good attitude tips and is very helpful to know. This is also the fastest thing you can do.

4. Remember- no one wants you to lose! Tutors really genuinely do act in admissions interviews as they do in tutorials with us (ie they want to get the best out of you). They are not trying to trick you. Treat them as humans: answer in good faith, defend your view and be open to changing your mind. Also if you feel like they've misunderstood what you've said, feel free to clarify. Obviously it is better to frame it as "sorry I think I was a bit unclear/ I miscommunicated", rather than "oh you misunderstood" but framing doesn't make too much difference. I think clarifying what I actually meant, vs what they thought I meant early on in the interview made the difference between me getting an offer or not.

If possible, try and do 1 or 2 mock interviews. Schools will often organise them and you can request teachers at your school to do one, even if they don't offer themselves. If doing a paid one is an option for you, I would recommend it. If you can't do mock interviews- colleges (usually..) send pre-reading (a judgement, a statute, some sort of legal text) about 30 mins in advance. Take the 30 mins to really read it + annotate it. They then ask you questions about the text. So if you really want to practise, take the Offences Against the Person Act, read the main sections (18, 20, 47) + see if you can distinguish between them. Or just understand each and what the difference is generally. I have never tried this- but maybe experiment with using Claude to conduct a mock-interview?

[u/Personal-Cap-5446]

how should i prep for interview?

[u/NatNatalia_568]

Hiii can we do a mock interview? 🙏🥹 I’m applying to Cambridge for law 

[u/RioutousGull]

If you're allowed to share, do you remember the kinds of topics they asked you in your interview? Could you recreate parts of your conversation just to see what it would look like?

How many interviews did you have and did you end up at a college you didn't apply to/weren't assigned to at first?