The range of subjects for which university interviews are being held is remarkably wide, with students looking to study Art, Biology, Classics, Dietetics, Linguistics, Maths, Medicine, Paramedic Sciences, etc. The practice interviews I have been involved in have been very enjoyable, as it is a pleasure to hear young people speak with genuine passion about their future plans and explore in detail the subjects they are hoping to study.

I want to briefly consider one question that has been raised a few times outside these practice sessions: What’s the point of interviews? To answer the question, I will consider two things:

1 – Last week, three Year 12 students were successful in reaching the second round of the English Speaking Union’s Schools’ Mace Debating Competition. Miley D, Sonya M and Tess H fought off three other teams to make it through, having argued persuasively for facial-recognition cameras in public spaces (as ever, this side of the argument may not reflect their personal views!). One of the strengths of the Schools’ Mace format is that it promotes “points of information” and spontaneous responses to previous speakers. As a result, while one team is speaking, members of the other team are carefully listening and, often, furiously taking notes or conferring with one another before interjecting. As one of the judges highlighted in her summary, what is going on during these debates is not so much the performance of an argument (cf. courtroom dramas), but the demonstration of thinking. In a Schools’ Mace debate, participants are listening intently, evaluating on the fly and then trying to construct a logical, targeted response in a matter of seconds. An interview calls for a similar set of skills, although in a collaborative, rather than confrontational manner. An interview, in other words, allows universities to probe not so much a student’s ability to retain and recall facts, but their ability to demonstrate how they think.

2 – In Technology and Learning (2024), Rosemary Sage and Riccarda Matteucci argue that “now machines implement life routines, there is a need for better human thinkers and communicators”. This is increasingly important in the workplace and in the wider world, as “technology reduces direct talk [which is] essential for thought”. The emphasis here is as much on listening as on speaking, with antagonistic debate replaced by collaborative problem-solving. In a productive interview, the interviewer establishes a rapport with the interviewee that brings out their best qualities and allows them to demonstrate how they will study, think and work alongside others.

So while the current rounds of interviews are indeed challenging, they do serve a useful purpose that is in our students’ best interests. Of course, it is helpful to practise specifically for different interview formats, but it is also worth noting that our students should be reassured that all the dialogue and discussion in the classroom, all the (good-natured) arguments in the Common Room about competing psychologists’ theories are ways of developing their thinking and collaboration skills, qualities that will shine through in interviews now and in the future.

Best of luck to those who have interviews over the coming days and fingers crossed for the Year 11 students who competed in the ESU Public Speaking Competition yesterday!

Mr Viesel
Director of Sixth Form