16 Plus Interview Crib Sheet: Our Ultimate Guide to Acing the 16 Plus in 2024
Interviews are central to the 16+ entrance process for the majority of top UK schools, used by admissions teams to learn more about the student applying: Why they are interested in their school in particular, what interests them outside of academics, what their personality is like, their ability to communicate/ debate, and their academic acumen. The interviews are often also used as a further academic test at this level, with many schools hosting subject interviews for each of the student’s proposed A-level choices. Academic questions include critical thinking problem-solving and abstract reasoning questions, theoretical discussions, and analysis of unseen material.
Whilst many top-performing students are excellent on paper, verbalising answers to complex questions and problems, as well as engaging in sustained high level critical discussion can be a new experience. If you want to learn about the multitude of possible question types you may be tasked with, find out how to prepare for each and improve your ability to decode a question and structure an answer quickly and effectively, this is the perfect preparation resource for you.
What kinds of questions are asked at 16 plus interviews?
Different schools have different interview processes, however, there will be certain question formats that schools will frequently use. These can be split into three broad categories:
Questions about you - These are the more traditional questions you may expect to meet in at least one of your interviews. Interviewers may ask about your extra-curricular activities, hobbies and the like; there are certain ways to approach these questions in order to present ‘the best you’
Current affairs/ debate/ general knowledge - At 16+, students applying to the best schools will be expected to engage in wider subject exploration, stay up to date on current affairs and be able to sustain a debate, especially related to their subjects of interest
Academic/ subject specific “questions that make you think”- Academic questions may test 1) What you have learnt at school and how you recall this information, and 2) Aptitude for your A-Level subject choices - interviewers may test how you deal with unfamiliar material, especially as you may have interviews in subjects you have not studied for GCSE e.g. Economics, Philosophy, Politics. This could include questions testing “outside the box” lateral thinking, such as longer problem-solving and critical thinking questions
1) Questions about you
Unlike the other types of questions, these require no additional kind of knowledge, as they are centred around you. This is a real opportunity to let the interviewer get to know you and the kind of student you are. Here are some tips for approaching these kinds of questions:
Talking about your extra-curricular activities and hobbies – let the interviewer know what kind of skills, interests and attributes you will bring to the school. Are you part of any societies? What clubs do you enjoy? Does the school offer clubs/ societies you would like to try that you have not been offered before? Remember, extra-curriculars can relate to your subjects, not just art/ drama/ sport/ music etc. For example, you could talk about competing in UKMT Maths Challenges, or how you would like to get into debating
Speak about your achievements (academic and non-academic) – show that you are an achiever and driven by speaking about the achievement and why it is important to you. Have you held any positions of responsibility? Have you won a subject prize? Have you written anything in your spare time/ participated in an essay competition?
Ambitions – let the interviewer know what some of your aims are for your future degree and career (of course they don’t expect this to be fully fledged, but having a few options in mind can ensure you appear driven and passionate). Think about your A-Level choices and how these could benefit a degree - how do they link? Can you make connections between subjects? What skills do you hope to develop that should allow you to excel at university application and beyond? Ambition does not have to be solely academic - what do you wish to contribute to society? What attributes do you possess or wish to possess that will ensure you can make a positive difference to the world? Are there any global challenges you would like to find a solution for/ address?
With these questions, there is a balance that needs to be found between over-confidence and being too shy; likewise, you need to strike a balance between showcasing your achievements and not seeming as if you are bragging – remember they are looking for well-rounded, sociable and kind students too.
How to prepare for the 16+ Interview
1. Build an extracurricular profile
If you feel like you don’t have enough to mention in terms of hobbies and activities, especially related to your subject interests, now is the time to change that!
Enter an essay competition: Check out our Minds Underground competitions pages - Our extracurricular division hosts in-house competitions and recommends top choices of external competitions. Competitions present a great opportunity to delve deep into a topic/ subject that interests you - you will build skills in writing and research, gain co-curricular knowledge and you may even win a prize! Even if you don’t submit an award-winning essay or creative writing piece, you can still mention your research and writing
Join a club/ society: Your school likely has a range of existing societies and clubs you could join. Does your school have a history/ finance/ geography/ science society? If not, can you set up one? If school clubs don’t pique your interest, seek inspiration elsewhere. U2 host a range of online clubs for students including debate and STEM clubs. Contact us for more information or visit www.mindsunderground.com for all co-curricular opportunities
Look for courses/ projects: Pursue your interests through co-curricular courses and projects. For example, if you are interested in getting into coding, find an online course (MIT, for example, offer a free one), and Minds Underground’s Coding & AI page suggests a range of courses and classes including robotics projects). You could even set yourself an independent project to complete - for example, the James Dyson Foundation suggests a range of engineering challenges for students to complete
2. Research the school
Look up some facts about the school of application (history, societies, atmosphere, boarding life - anything unique to them) - you could work some of these into your responses to ensure you make a compelling case for why you are choosing X school over the others. Give the school’s history a cursory once-over so that you will be able to comfortably make claims about the school’s heritage and achievements if needed.
3. Fill a table with your attributes and your motivations for applying to the school
N.B. Most schools will have a page dedicated to what they want from applicants - take your cue from them!
1) Current affairs/ general knowledge
It is important for you to have some awareness of current affairs: world news, prevalent debates, and current developments/ issues in your A-Level subject choices. Answering these questions well shows that you are an engaged and interesting individual, who is attuned to the world around you. Here are some tips for approaching these kinds of questions:
Know the current developments: Interviewers may test your knowledge of recent developments and events in the UK and further afield. To answer these questions comfortably, be aware of the latest happenings in politics, economics, social issues etc. If you are informed and aware of the latest news, you will feel confident going into your interview and able to answer questions that may arise e.g. “What’s of particular national interest in the news lately?”, “Have you read anything in the news recently you have found particularly striking?”, “What is your opinion on… [Insert topic e.g. the refugee crisis, international responses to COVID-19 etc.]”
Ensure you can provide your opinion on the topic & try to take a line of argument where possible: If asked about current affairs, interviewers will likely be testing your analytical skills, rather than solely your ability to summarise a recent event. E.g. “What is your view on the current political situation?” [On Brexit etc.]. Think about the debate on the issue (there usually is one), weigh up both sides, and conclude that it is either X or Y – sometimes this may not be possible, but reaching a line of argument / answer shows confidence
Example: You could be asked, “do you think all healthcare should be free?” in light of a discussion on the current availability of COVID tests. You could compare how this differs in different countries, dissect the terms e.g. “free” (should hospital parking be free then, or entertainment?), compare the cost of healthcare for society and the individual, think about instances where the disease was preventable e.g. “Should a smoker have to contribute to their cancer bill?”. Be analytical!
Think of structuring your answer with PEE – point, evidence, explanation. This should give you a structure and ensure you do not waffle aimlessly!
Example: if you are asked to explain a piece of current affairs, for instance, global warming, your point might be that the world is getting warmer, evidence for this is that ice caps are melting, and then you could explain some of the actions we can take to reduce this/or wider effects this has
Be prepared to lead a discussion around your favourite topics: Read new articles, be familiar with novel challenges in the [Insert A-Level choice: Biology, Economics, Psychology] world. For example, a candidate in a Biology subject interview discussed the promises of personalised medicine in light of a recent article he read on the world’s first baby born with new “3 parent” technique (link). They are looking for your ability to think critically and demonstrate interest outside of the school curriculum
Idea for STEM 16+ applicants: Listen to Oxford’s annual Christmas Science Lectures
At Oxford's annual Christmas science lectures, world renowned scientists aim to entertain and inspire the next generation with their (often explosive) insights into science. Learn about a variety of exciting topics, including how epigenetics makes you you, whether machines can think, and how volcanoes work!
To prepare for the 16+ Interview:
Train your skills of analysis by engaging with and critiquing news articles and opinion pieces, listening to podcasts and debates. Focus on case-file building - keep a record of topics you come across and build upon these in your free time
Subscribe to a current affairs or a topical magazine; more importantly though, you must learn to sift through information
On the day of your interview make sure you read the newspaper/s thoroughly so the news is on the top of your head!
Try to read from a variety of verifiable sources: Be aware of the biases that are already present in sources that you are reading. Reflect and form your own opinions (not just what the journalist said). Reading about the same topic from multiple sources provides different information on the same topic. Weigh up this information and come up with a conclusion yourself. Reading something like The Conversation, is excellent for gaining exposure to high level critique and analysis on current topics
Practise discussing current affairs medical topics with your parents, friends, a U2 medicine mentor, a teacher
Investigate other resources on topics that interest you. For example, if interested in science, read the New Scientist or listen to the Naked Scientists Podcast to stay up to date on current scientific breakthroughs and advancements. If interested in Business/ Economics, subscribe to Finimize which is a concise daily news email - reading this every day should only take a few minutes but will help build awareness before exams/ interviews. In addition, reading the Economist or listening to the Economist Intelligence Podcast (useful for a range of subjects) and watching Bloomberg news are good sources of information
Does your school have a debating society? If not, can you set up one? Or at least organise a debate? Debating directly engages with current affairs topics and hones communication/ critical thinking/ analytical skills. Minds Underground hosts debate classes for students aged 15+, hosted by two UK National Debate Team Coaches, if your school does not offer debate
3) Academic/ Subject-specific questions
Whether your school of application uses solely general interviews or multiple interviews on each of your A-Level subject choices, you will likely be tasked with a range of questions that test your academic acumen. These questions can be some of the hardest, because there is no way of telling exactly what will come up, unlike the other two kinds of questions. We have included tips on answering general academic questions and some of the more difficult “thinking outside the box” questions for a range of subjects.
Think about your A-Level subject choices & why you enjoy them/ wish to take them further: Think about the wider implications of your favourite subjects and why you like them.
Example: STEM Subject - Perhaps because it helps us understand the world around us, transcends disciplines, allows direct involvement in solving the most pressing global challenges
Example: English - Do you enjoy discussing and defending your opinions on certain books or poems? Do you enjoy learning about multiple perspectives/ cultures by reading books from different eras/ by authors from across the globe?
Example: Politics - Do you have a desire to understand the forces that influence and rule the world? Do you want to make a difference to society by understanding more about how it works?
Prepare for questions on unseen material: You may be given a sheet or two of material and told to look through it 30 mins or so before your interview begins or during the interview itself. This could be a complex mathematical equation, a graph, a poem, a source for history etc. Think: What can you work out about it? What sort of questions could they ask on it? If you are given a chart or graph, what units are the axes given? Can you relate the information provided to anything you know already? If you are given a piece of text, what is its possible context and the connotations of its context? (it could be an unlabelled piece of writing). If you are a linguist, think about the word choice and make balanced educated guesses as to the meanings of unfamiliar words
Answering “questions that make you think”: Thinking questions sometimes make up a portion of 16+ interviews to the top UK schools. This could include abstract reasoning questions, data / figure interpretation questions or open questions e.g. "What do you think has been the most important development in (...) in the last century?”. Learning to not be shocked by an unusual question in your interview is a skill. Therefore, in order to answer these properly, you need to be able to think on your feet, understand a question properly, dissect it, and address each part when you answer.
Example 16+ Interview Questions
Science: “How is a cell like a factory?”:
This is a “compare” question: If you are asked to discuss the similarities/ differences of two things you should start by explaining each. After you have done this, choose 2/3 points of discussion and talk about how each of your items relates to these points. The interviewer wants to test your scientific knowledge and see how you think/ respond to unfamiliar material; make sure that you are comparing and contrasting a cell with a factory at every stage.
Maths/ Languages: “Is Maths a language?”
For Maths, you will likely be tasked with a range of both foundational and more complex problem-solving questions. However, you could get something a bit weirder like this too to test your ability to think outside the box! Go beyond 'yes' or 'no': e.g. What are the things that make language? Grammar? Creation of meaning? Does maths share these features? What does it do differently? Therefore, what do you conclude?
Geography/ Politics: “Do we need borders?”
1) Try to think of some meaningful insights from your school study and question the assumptions/ approximations made in the question. What is a border? Borders separate geographic areas, they often reflect natural boundaries like rivers or mountain ranges. They are also political boundaries, they affect travel and migration, they can reflect differences in wealth and freedom. Weigh up both sides and describe your thoughts - Is there a case for open borders in today’s society? If interested in Politics, you may use some political terminology e.g. libertarian. Bring in case studies e.g. Australia’s advertisements deterring migrants.
To prepare you must…
Revise key GCSE work & challenge yourself with more advanced material: This should be your first port of call especially if you have multiple subject interviews. Ensure you don’t get caught out on questions testing foundational GCSE knowledge. To begin advancing your level, try to look at some A-Level material, challenge yourself with extension questions (you could ask your teacher for some), and research topics that interest you to gain a deeper appreciation (Use YouTube, download free worksheets on Tes, try UKMT Maths Challenge or Science Challenge past papers)
Engage in wider subject exploration (READ, READ, READ): Successful applicants will keep as up-to-date as possible with current affairs related to their subject of interest, will engage in reading, extend their knowledge through essay competitions, viewing lectures, listening to podcasts etc. Take advantage of this kind of question to get involved in an interesting and exciting discourse in which you can show both your passion for and knowledge of the subject
Put your preparation into practice with mock interviews: If your parent/ teacher can host these, great! If you would like to have an alumni of the school in question or a mentor with particular experience of the process for the school, get in touch with U2 and we can arrange it a mock interview and feedback session (prices on application). Book a complimentary consultation to find out more!
If you can do all of the things mentioned above, you will leave a lasting impression on the interviewer. Remember that you want your personality to shine through so be yourself, be enthusiastic, smile and answer the questions to the best of your ability (by breaking them down, analysing them, thinking laterally etc.). Don’t rehearse answers as it is very clear to an interviewer. Best of luck!
Ready to challenge yourself with a plethora of frequently-asked 16 plus interview questions?
This 34-page guide includes interview questions based on typical questions asked by the top UK schools, including Eton College, Latymer, St. Paul’s School and Wycombe Abbey. The pack includes general personal & academic questions, situational, current affairs & debate questions and subject-specific questions for interviews on A-Level choices (History, Geography, English, Maths, Sciences, Philosophy, Politics, Economics and Languages). Gain insight into the types of questions asked at interview and top tips for efficient preparation, written by our Oxbridge-educated team.
Situational/ Competency questions
Questions about the school
Extracurricular profile: interests and achievements & suggestions for profile enhancement
General academic questions e.g. “How would you eradicate gender inequalities in society?” or “Do bankers deserve the pay they receive? Should the government limit it?”
Personality test questions e.g. “Who’s your hero?”
Subject-specific questions: Preparation tips, information on typical subject interview formats & example past questions.
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Ready to shine in your 16+ interviews? Our tailored interview preparation ensures you stand out, whether you're facing 16+ general or subject interviews for your A-Level or IB choices. For general interviews, we'll help you express your motivation, passion for subjects, and extracurricular achievements. In subject interviews, we'll showcase your subject knowledge and aptitude.
Our team of Oxbridge graduates, including alumni from the majority of top UK schools, are well-versed in hosting 16+ practice interviews and building skills in critical discussion, alongside our full 16 plus tutoring programmes. Students may also be interested in joining our extra-curricular division, Minds Underground™’s debate classes to hone public speaking & communication skills.
Contact us via email or book a complimentary 20-minute consultation and we will suggest a suitable 16+ tutor based on the student’s specific requirements.
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