What are Admissions Tutors looking for?

You’ve got a idea now of the kinds of questions you might be asked but what are Admissions Tutors and interview assessors really looking for?

In the video above we asked some of our academic departments to give us the low down on what they want to see from a candidate’s answer within an interview.

To delve into this a bit deeper, you may be best placed to think about and practice how you could show the following within your answers:

• Enthusiasm for the course and to learn.
• Giving detailed and in-depth answers but no waffle!
• Articulating your thought process and having clarity of thought.
• How you might think on your feet should you be asked something you hadn’t considered, as well as acknowledging uncertainty and being honest.
• Proactively responding to interviewer prompts or further probe questions.
• Showing a good attitude and curiosity – interview assessors want to see that you can go beyond learning what the answer should be.
• Using and understanding relevant terms appropriate to the subject area.
• Expressing a balanced viewpoint – being able to articulate “why do others think what they think?” And “what and why do I think or feel a certain way?” Showing respect for difference and diversity is also key.
• Using examples! Interview assessors need evidence! We’ll come on to this more in our next step How should you structure your answers?

How do you feel about some of the points raised by our academic departments? Would you have thought about including these in your answers prior to this course?