THE article ‘How to make the grade in an Oxford University interview’ (Oxford Mail, Friday December 2) provides ‘expert tips’ from an educational consultancy on how to negotiate the Oxford interview process.

While some of this information – such as Oxford seeking the brightest students regardless of background – is absolutely correct, other pieces of advice – for example, that prospective students should be prepared to answer ‘irrelevant’ questions during their interview – are absolutely not correct.

There are no tricks in the Oxford interview, which is simply an academic conversation about a candidate’s chosen subject area, designed to assess how students think about their subject and respond to new information or unfamiliar ideas.

We know there are still misunderstandings and misconceptions about the Oxford interview, so we release as much information as possible to allow students to see the reality of the process.

Teachers asked for more example interview questions, and we have now made lots of these available to help students familiarise themselves with the types of questions asked at interview, as well as what the process is – and isn’t – about.

All of Oxford’s outreach work, including our efforts to make the interview process as transparent as possible, is free of charge for those who take part in and benefit from it.

Dr SAMINA KHAN

Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach

University of Oxford