13 October 2021
Mr Matthew Tait, Head of Oxbridge
Woldingham held its inaugural Oxbridge Preparation Weekend on 9 and 10 October to help Upper Sixth candidates ready themselves for their upcoming interviews and written assessments. Whilst the students have been collaborating with their subject tutors for many months to hone their applications, the preparatory weekend offered the opportunity to put all other distractions aside and solely focus on the next stages.
On Saturday, the focus was interviews, specifically students’ ability to articulate about their subject with clarity, concision, and flair. Students were grilled on their personal statements and asked to answer challenging interview questions.
On Sunday, we tackled the pre-interview assessment papers taken in early November, such as the Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) and the BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT). Students participated in a workshop breaking down essay topics and producing detailed essay plans within five minutes on questions such as ‘Are there moral questions that science can help us to answer?’ The students next focused on critical thinking before completing a past paper under exam conditions.
The Oxbridge Preparation Weekend is a valuable part of our process to support applicants to Oxford and Cambridge. No doubt, it will continue to grow in scope and ambition in the coming years.