What to Expect in European University Admission Interviews

Who interviews and why

Most European bachelor's programs admit students on grades or entrance exam results alone, without an interview. Interviews appear where a university wants to test something grades do not show: how you think through a problem, your motivation for a specific field, or your fit for programs that involve direct contact with patients or clients.

You will most often meet an interview at highly selective universities, competitive scholarship programs, and fields like medicine, law, and some social science and journalism programs.

Oxford and Cambridge: subject conversations

At Oxford , interviews work as academic conversations about your chosen subject, closer to a short tutorial than a formal interrogation. They typically last 20-30 minutes, and most candidates sit two or three interviews, usually at their first-choice college and at least one other.

Expect a new problem or text you have not seen before. In science and maths subjects, tutors give you a problem to work through step by step, offering hints if you get stuck, since they want to see your reasoning, not only a correct final answer. In humanities and social science subjects, you often get a short text or source to read on the spot before discussing it.

Cambridge interviews follow a similar academic, subject-focused format, also run in December for most applicants. Both universities design these conversations to see how you respond to new material, not to catch you out on facts you should already know.

Sciences Po: the oral exam

At Sciences Po , the admission oral runs about 25 minutes in front of a two-person panel, usually a secondary school teacher and a Sciences Po academic staff member, and covers three parts. You first present your background and your ambitions for the program , then choose and analyze one of two images the panel shows you, then discuss your intellectual interests and motivation with the panel.

The oral is graded out of 50, and candidates need a minimum mark set each year to be admitted. For applicants from international secondary school systems, the interview runs in French or English depending on the track you apply to, and takes place remotely through a dedicated platform rather than in person.

Medicine and other selective programs: multi-station formats

Many European medicine programs, particularly in the UK, use a multiple mini interview (MMI) format instead of one long conversation. You rotate through several short stations, each testing a different skill: ethical reasoning, communication, teamwork, or a role-play scenario with an actor playing a patient.

The format exists because a single interview conversation correlates weakly with clinical performance, while multiple independent stations give a broader picture of how you handle different situations under time pressure. Expect several stations of a few minutes each, with a new assessor at every station.

Remote or in person

Interview format shifted heavily toward remote delivery, and several universities, including Oxford, now run undergraduate interviews online as standard rather than as an exception. Check your specific program's admissions page for its current format, since practice differs by university and by year.

How to prepare

Read around your subject beyond your school syllabus. Interviewers want to see genuine interest, not rehearsed answers, so practice thinking out loud on unfamiliar problems rather than memorizing responses to expected questions.

For MMI-style formats, practice structuring an answer under time pressure across different question types. For subject interviews, review recent work you are proud of and be ready to explain your reasoning, since interviewers often start from something you already know before pushing into new territory.