SAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
We thought you'd like to see a few of the interview questions that have actually been asked at Oxbridge interviews. When reading these, remember that no two interviews are the same. Each candidate will be asked different questions and will respond in a different way. There is no linear scale of what is right and what is wrong. Many more questions and discussion of candidates' answers are found in the book 'How to get into Oxford and Cambridge: Beating the Boffins'.
Biological Sciences
Why don’t animals have wheels?
Why do leaves have their stomata on the lower surface?
Economics
Discuss perfect and imperfect competition.
What was new about the ideas of Milton Friedman?
Should the reduction of inflation be a major goal of government policy?
Engineering
Use momentum to explain how an aerofoil works.
If a lorry carrying a cargo of birds passed over a bridge but was just ten kilograms too heavy, could the driver overcome this obstacle by beating the side of his lorry with a stick?
Maths
Each room in a house has an even number of doors leading out of it. Prove that the exterior of the house has an even number of doors. [Hint - consider equipping the house with door handles].
Philosophy
Great leaps in thinking are often made almost simultaneously by independent people - what do you think?
Can faith in quantum physics and invisible forces tie in with faith in an invisible god?
Social and Political Sciences
What is the future of socialism?
Does the welfare state trap people in poverty?
Will the Kyoto summit have any real consequences?
Does the response to the death of Princess Diana represent media hype or a genuine recognition of grief?