30th October 2015 3:00
By Blue Tutors
Over the coming weeks, tutoring agencies will begin to receive requests from parents wanting tutors to help their children with Oxbridge applications. For many, this is a new experience and they are not sure what to ask for. Oxbridge entrance isn’t as simple as revising a subject; although Oxbridge interviews are notoriously clandestine, many parents and applicants are aware that broader skills are required. Tutors who help students with Oxbridge applications do not simply revise subject material. They offer a comprehensive service, from advising on personal statements and essays, to practicing for the interview.
Parents requesting a tutor for Oxbridge entrance often say that they want a tutor to talk with their children around the subject, and this gets to the heart of what is necessary in order to prepare. Interviewers are not interested in whether students know their subjects inside-out, rather they want to see how applicants think. This is much more difficult to prepare for, but there are ways to ensure that students perform to the best of their abilities. Talking with students around their subject is the best way for tutors to get their students used to interview conditions.
Firstly, and very importantly, it demystifies the process, and makes it far less likely that students will feel put on the spot if asked a question that doesn’t relate to their A level syllabus. Interviewers aren’t out to trick applicants. However, the questions can seem strange, especially if students aren’t used to thinking in an abstract way. That is where tuition for interviews can help enormously. Tutors have been through the process themselves, and can ask their students practice questions that give them the opportunity to start thinking more widely about their subjects, get them used to talking around their subjects, and used to thinking on their feet.