St Anne’s College presents: Oxford Admission Test Prep Session | 28th October 2019

With stress at an all-time high and our admissions tests on the horizon, 5 girls from UG18 were given the opportunity to attend an Oxford-specific admissions test and interview preparation session that helped place everything back on track. And thanks to a volunteer from St. Anne’s College we were able to walk away from the event feeling more confident in our ability to apply to Oxford.

In the first part of the session, we were exposed to different styles of questions that are known to pop up in the TSA and BMAT (two of the various different admissions tests) and given tips on how to address each question type. I found this particularly helpful as breaking down the questions made them seem far less daunting – this was a technique I found useful when taking the actual exam! By working through each question as a group it also highlighted the correct thought-process needed to reach the correct answer.

The second half of the session was focused on interview practice which was the most enjoyable part for me. We were given subject-specific questions which we had to discuss in pairs. A lot of the questions were really fun to think and debate about, for example, should interviews be used for selection? The session helped us all push our thinking further whilst also being conscious of other key skills needed for interviews, such as body language and showing confidence. 

Overall the event was immensely useful and I believe that we all felt assured when taking our admissions tests on the 30th October! A massive thank you goes out to St. Anne’s College and Leanna for organising the event and we hope there are many more in the future!

by Canice Marcel UG18