Here is a link to practice interview questions I have designed for 2022 Oxbridge Economics interviews. Click on the blue button to go to the questions:
Benefits of economics interview practice questions
- Extra practice before the interview. Typically on practising these types of questions, students have reported feeling better prepared for the interview.
- Offers an idea of some possible interview question topics based on the kind of questions that tend to come up historically.
- Practice across various areas, from graph sketching and mathematics applied to economics to economic theory, current affairs and questions on a reading.
- Also offers stretch and challenge to push the top economics A-level students.
- An introduction to some undergraduate economics concepts. Which ever university you decide to attend, understanding these questions will help to give you a head start.
I have used similar questions with my private tuition students in previous years, with the aim to give them the best chance of successful interviews. Note I recommend going through these with a teacher or friend to get the best practice.
Why do interview practice questions?
With the benefit of interview practice, students usually report feeling better prepared for economics interviews.
The schools with more experience with the Oxbridge admissions process are, typically, able to offer better advice. These schools can also draw on networks of past students and teachers who have studied at Oxbridge universities. Most schools cannot offer this.
However not everybody has access to this. I have put together these questions to help share this information more widely.
Disclaimer
Note these questions are not sufficient on their own for Oxbridge Economics interview preparation. I recommend looking for questions from other sources, getting practice interviews and having discussions with colleagues or teachers about economics.
Also other question types can come up beyond the question types covered in the 50 questions.
For example, personal statement questions are not covered, as these are naturally personal to the particular student’s statement.
Interview question types can vary significantly, for example one interview at one college could be entirely mathematical while another interview at another college could be mainly about the personal statement.
Link to sample questions
For a set of sample questions similar to those in the 50 questions, see the link here.
How to use practice questions
In an interview scenario, the style of discussion is typically more back-and-forth. Ideally you would go through these questions with a fellow student, teacher, parent or anyone with whom you could discuss concepts. This will make it easier to pick up mistakes, challenge assumptions and correct lines of thinking.
However I appreciate that not everyone will have someone who can help this way. So the questions can also serve as good practice material for solo interview preparation. Being able to do these kinds of questions will give you a very good level of background knowledge for the interview, subject you to the kind of challenge that may be possible in the interview and give you an idea of some of the question types that typically appear in interviews.
Please bear in mind the actual interviewers are likely to interrupt you and ask you questions. If it is at all possible, I would recommend trying to secure mock interviews or practice talking about economics, for example with teachers or parents.
Question types covered
The key areas covered in the interview questions guide are:
- Microeconomic theory
- Macroeconomic theory
- Econometrics
- Current affairs
- Use of mathematics in economics
- Pure mathematics
- Miscellaneous economic theory questions for other topics in economics.
- Using prompts – articles and data.
Other questions
How should you prepare or study for Oxbridge Economics interviews? Where should you start?
I give many tips for preparation in my 50 Oxbridge Economics interview style questions document (mentioned above) linked here.
A few key tips are:
- Revise your A-level mathematics (and economics if you have studied it).
- Do a mock interview with your teacher, family member or colleague. It is important to practise talking about the subject.
- Do lots of practice questions!
- Keep reading lots about economics. The more you read, the easier it will be to talk about the subject.
What to expect from Oxbridge Economics interviews?
Typically there can be anywhere from one to three interviews.
Each interview is likely to be with one or two academic members of staff and will likely last 20 to 30 minutes.
The interview will likely focus on economics or related skills, such as mathematics or logic-style questions. For example a question could ask you to apply some mathematics you know to an economics problem.
Usually the interview will take the form of a back-and-forth conversation. The interviewer may give you hints or ask you to clarify things you say, for example. I recommend getting some mock interview practice, or just practice discussing economics, to try to get used to this.
Who am I?
I am Tom, a Cambridge-educated economist turned economics tutor. I have helped applicants with the Oxbridge Economics admissions process for the last seven years. For more information about me, see the link here.
More Resources
For more resources for economics university applications, click the link here.
For interview profiles I recommend the link here (note this is an external source).