Stephen Tippen
Director of Higher Education and Careers
Wellington College International Shanghai and Hiba Academy Shanghai had the honour of hosting Cambridge University academics recently as they conducted their annual admissions interviews. In my role as Director of Higher Education and Careers I was involved in helping to coordinate the process in consultation with the international admissions team at Cambridge and key colleagues across the two sites. Overall, it was with pride, and an element of relief, that the whole process operated so smoothly and successfully.
Despite having prepared students for Oxbridge applications for over 16 years, having the interviews on our site certainly gave me a new and valuable insight into the admissions process. I was left with a glimpse into the world of Cambridge interviews, which is far from the horror stories that you often hear in the press.
Cambridge University is incredibly committed to its international admissions policies and is somewhat unique in the way that it sends a group of world-leading academics to carry out admissions interviews overseas. As an alternative to attending Cambridge itself, candidates are able to request an interview at key locations around the world such as Singapore, India (Mumbai), Canada (Toronto) and the United States (New York). As the only interview centre in the People’s Republic of China, candidates travelled from as far afield as Thailand, Australia, and Saudi Arabia to attend the Cambridge admissions interviews at Wellington, as well as drawing candidates from within the PRC itself.
Overall, a team of seven interviewers operated over the two sites from Monday to Thursday, with over 100 pupils being seen on most days. A handful of candidates knew the interview sites better than most. Four of Wellington’s twenty-seven year 13 pupils had applied to study at Cambridge and they were all successful in gaining an interview. They joined the ranks of other candidates waiting nervously to be called into the interview room to face the same 25-30-minute interview with an academic eager to uncover their skills in the relevant subject area.
All of Wellington’s Cambridge applicants certainly went into the interview process fully prepared for what lay ahead. The first advice they were given was to know the intricacies of the Cambridge course they had applied for in detail.
Seann, applying for Land Economy, outlined the approach that he took.
"I was advised to look at the course prospectus and department website for every little detail about the Land Economy course. I even highlighted the papers that I would like to take in the next few years. Then, I researched the key topics on the internet, such as finding out the most recent developments or major breakthroughs that have taken place in the past year."
All four candidates were also given the opportunity to hone their interview skills.
Katia, History applicant, outlined the plan she was given to follow.
"The teachers at school were very helpful in this regard, as all applicants had up to three mock interviews arranged for them. Mr Tippen also hosted a general information session explaining the general expectations he had of us, which helped us identify possible methods of preparation." SeoJoon, Maths applicant, reinforced the value of this preparation.
"My mock interviews were in fact remarkably similar to the real experience and thus incredibly helpful."
There are many myths surrounding Cambridge interviews. One common misconception about this process is that there is a set quota for each international location. Although these interviews take place in regional hubs the admissions process for Cambridge, as with most UK universities, is not assessed in regional pools. The outcomes of the interviews are combined with all other relevant data (assessment test results, predicted IB grades etc.) and compared alongside the candidates who are being interviewed in Cambridge. Therefore, there is no preferential treatment given to someone merely because they are applying from a UK school – regardless of the subject.
Another common misconception involves the interview itself. Some people would have you believe that all interviews take place with an academic who aggressively interrogates the candidates or who spends the whole time ‘stood on their head’. The reality is very different from this rather grim perception. Each interviewer’s sole purpose throughout the week was to assess the candidate’s aptitude for studying their subject and their suitability for studying within the Cambridge supervision system (where learning takes places with an academic in small tutorial groups).
Esther, a Wellington applicant for Natural Sciences summed it up nicely by stating that,
".… rather than a serious interview, it felt more like a one-to-one learning session with the professor. The fact that the interview also happened in my school made it feel like merely an extension of my ordinary science classes."
As the interviews came to a close on Thursday afternoon and the academics made plans to return to Cambridge, I was able to reflect on the privilege of seeing the interview process take place from such an intimate perspective. As well as making me appreciate the work that goes into such an enterprise, I also gained a new respect for the interviewers themselves. The positive enthusiasm with which the academics approached each and every interview was truly remarkable. They were genuinely willing each candidate to do well. This is no mean feat when they were conducting interviews from 9am to 5:30pm each day! Their genuine commitment to international admissions and to academic learning in general was truly inspirational. I, for one, look forward to hosting them once again in 12 months’ time.
Steve Tippen will be hosting Wellington’s annual Introduction to Higher Education on 16th January. Look out for more university-related posts from Steve in the coming weeks.
