What are Oxford and Cambridge looking for in candidates to read history? How should candidates prepare for the admissions process?
It is critically important for applicants to realise that Oxbridge looks for potential in its candidates – not at current levels of achievement. The students who win places at Cambridge and Oxford are generally the ones who can show their interest in the past goes well beyond what they have been made to study in school – and then demonstrate that they have done more than simply read quite widely, and have actually thought about the problems and the implications of the things they’ve read.
What this means in practice is that it is important to be able to demonstrate – in both the personal statement and at interview – that you’ve gone well beyond the school curriculum, and have looked into some other times and places that interest you. Where and when you choose to explore doesn’t so much as your ability to show you have pursued a clear line of enquiry, encountered a problem or two, and tried to surmount them. At least part of your job in this respect is simply to make yourself memorable if you can. Interviewers meet dozens of people each year who can talk to them about 20th century dictators, but will probably encounter only one who wants to talk about the Aztecs or Imperial China.
Much the same goes for periods of the past. Remember that interview teams very frequently encounter students who seem to be interested in a nothing but the 20th century. Since the history courses offered at Oxford and Cambridge require students to take papers in the mediaeval and early modern periods, it can help to show that you would enjoy and welcome chances of this sort, not take them grudgingly because you’re being forced to.
Read our article on super curricular recommendations for History
Reading widely, taking notes, making connections, thinking thoughts… All of these are characteristics of the sorts of students that Oxbridge colleges want to admit to read history. The very first thing that many dons ask at interview is for candidates to summarise the key ideas and positions of books that they have read, so make sure that you have thought about these issues. Finally, do bear in mind that Oxbridge colleges are looking for students who are interested in History-with-a -capital-“H”. By this I mean that they like candidates who can discuss the problems of being a historian, and of dealing with the issues that historians encounter on a regular basis – be it scarcity of sources or problems of interpretation. It’s a good idea, then, to read historiography as well as history. And if the historiography you read is up-to-date, so much of the better. There may be nothing wrong with talking about E.H. Carr – but you will certainly stand out better if you can debate more recent takes than his on the historian’s craft.
Tackling all of this in a systematic way can also help, not least because doing so makes it easier for you to draw connections and reach conclusions in the pressured environment of an interview. Keystone suggests that students embark on a guided reading course in summer if they can. If you take this advice, one that introduces different sorts of history, acknowledges varying approaches, and looks at case studies from across the world is to be preferred to one strictly based on school A-level papers.
Finally, the high likelihood that you will be asked to do live source analysis, in front of some highly competent historians, means it remains a good idea to tackle some unseen sources against the clock before you head to interviews. Past HAT and HAA papers make excellent practice materials, not least because they mimic the way in which Oxford and Cambridge colleges set papers about times and places that they know their candidates will know nothing about – and then require them to answer without drawing on existing knowledge, using only the evidence they have before them in the text and in any information on its provenance.
Tips for writing a great History personal statement
Candidates for Oxbridge are guinea pigs this year – not only because they are facing a new admissions environment stripped of written tests, but also because they have to submit a personal statement that confirms to the new format introduced in 2025. This means that, instead of writing a sort of mini-essay, as previous applicants did, you now have to address three core questions – why you wish to study history; how your work at school has helped to prepare you to read history at university; and what you have done outside of school to aid those preparations.
In the past, most personal statements written for applications to Cambridge and Oxford have addressed such questions only tangentially, and despite the presence of the prompts it would probably be a good idea to take a similar approach this year as well. An earnest sentence or two about how fascinating you find the past will do a lot less good than a discussion of how you realised that studying history means solving problems… especially if that part of the statement explains how you have made yourself a better student by tackling some issue that initially appeared to be quite difficult. Similarly, it remains an excellent idea to introduce and discuss some of the reading that you’ve done. Remember that the best personal statements don’t simply enthuse about such things; they take issue with some of the arguments made by the writers you have studied, and try draw lessons from those books that can be applied to the study of the past more generally.
Good personal statements in history are focused, not scattergun. You have only 4000 characters, about 620 words, to make your mark. Don’t try to talk about more than three major topics in that space. It’s a good idea if one of those draws on some element of your schoolwork, a second discusses a time or place or problem that you have found out about for yourself, and a third is based on a problem in historiography.
Tutors for Oxbridge History admissions preparation
Please do get in touch with Keystone Tutors if you are looking for a tutor to support your History application for Oxford and Cambridge Universities. We offer Oxbridge mock interviews, super curricular learning and wider university application support. Read more about our Oxbridge History tutors.