Oxbridge to seek "lateral" thinkers

Bailo · October 13, 2006

Applicants for places at Oxford and Cambridge universities are being asked increasingly "eccentric" questions, interview experts have claimed.

Students have addressed issues such as how much of the world's water is contained in a cow and the perennial teenage concern: "Are you cool?"

The findings come from a survey of 1,200 of last year's applicants by the Oxbridge Applications advice company. It said hard questions were needed to pick the brightest students. More young people than ever are getting A grades at A-level, making it more difficult for leading universities to distinguish between candidates.

Other quandaries posed during Oxbridge interviews included:

* At what point is a person "dead"?

* How many musical genres exist?

* Put a monetary value on this teapot.

* Of all 19th-century politicians, who was most like Tony Blair?

* How does a perm work?

* Who would win out of a penguin with dysentry and a crab that was crabby?

James Uffindel of Oxbridge Applications told BBC Radio Five Live: "They're looking for independent thinkers - so people who don't just learn off-by-heart from their curriculum and then regurgitate it.

"They're looking for people who have the confidence to engage in the unique teaching style that they have at Oxford and Cambridge - so these are lateral thinking questions, and the tutorial style, and also looking for people who can give logical responses."

Earlier this month, Cambridge was ranked by the Times Higher Education Supplement as the second best university in the world, with Oxford third.

Harvard, in the US, topped the table.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Andy, there's hope yet!

johngibo YPC · October 13, 2006

This post is not viewable to guests.

You can sign in to your account at the login page here