Preparing for Oxbridge Interview - how much help is needed?

[rickyrickygrimes]

Can students prepare for Oxbridge interviews on their own? I am getting involved in university guidance at my workplace, and we have quite a few kids on our books who are looking at Oxford. Our previous UG counsellor went to Oxford herself and her DH was an admissions tutor there as well, so she was very well-equipped to provide practice interviews. I didn't go to Oxford (though I was RG and have a PhD) so I don't really know what it involves. We recently had a presentation from an admissions college offering, among other things, practice interviews though it's expensive.

What do you think? The college made a big deal out of how challenging the interviews can be and how much difference a bit of inside knowledge can make. Is it something that I can learn to do for them? Or does it require actual experience of the process / place?

DC1 had a successful Oxford interview this year. She had a practice interview at her (state, non selective) college, which according to her wasn't much like the Oxford interview but good practice for an academic-ish one-to-one with an adult you don't know. She also watched the example interviews available on YouTube and found them pretty representative in terms of the format.

The second of her two interviews was much harder and subject content heavy than she thought it might be, but the interviewers remains positive and redirected her when she didn't know, and she was able to be flexible and follow their direction.