What are university interviews?

A university interview is a chance for a department to get to know you better, as well as for you to find out more about the course and the department itself, and decide whether it’s the right fit for you – it’s a two-way street!

An interviewer is going to want to learn more about:

• Your abilities, experience and knowledge
• Your interest in the course
• You as a person – your interests, motivations and ambitions

Since COVID-19, university interviews may still be online, or could be back to their original structure of face-to-face – make sure you know what format yours will be taking and what will be be required of you. We’ll be covering this more in the Understanding your Invitation to Interview step.

Typically courses that interview are Medicine or other Health courses such as Dentistry and Nursing, Teaching courses, Art & Design or Creative Arts courses as well as some STEM courses such as Physics and Mathematics. Oxford and Cambridge interview all their applicants, regardless of course choice and some other London-based institutions are starting to follow suit.

Different institutions will structure their interviews differently, but for more information on what to expect from a university interview at the University of York, have a look at our preparing for a university interview webpage.

Many universities will do as much as they can to support those invited to interview, so be sure to check out individual institution webpages to see what they have to offer! That’s why here at York we’ve created this course!

If you’ve already been invited to a university interview, how many have you been invited to, and for which subjects? It would be great to hear some experiences across the community!