History OR History and Politics?

Hi! I’m currently in Year 12 and thinking about what degree. I want to do at uni so I can link relevant wider reading to this. For A level, I do History, Politics and Art and I am hopefully planning to apply to Cambridge in October. Now initially I was quite set on HisPol as I’m very interested in both History and Politics quite equally and especially in the history of the development of political spheres. I’ve done some research into both degrees but I’m still not sure as some people (and statistics) have shown/said to me that HisPol is a lot more competitive in comparison to a pure degree subject and that I have a lower chance of getting in due to how small the cohorts are, especially in Cambridge. Therefore, can anyone who does History or HisPol give me more of an insight into any/both of the degrees as it would be very helpful and much appreciated. Thank you

hi, i have an offer for hispol at oxford and while i don’t know the difference in how competitive the degrees are at cambridge, my advice would be to pick based on what you really want to do rather than admissions statistics!! oxbridge applications are a huge huge undertaking and effort and they really place emphasis on being able to see your passion for your subject. imo you would be doing yourself a disservice if you went through the applications process and all the extra work that comes with it for a subject that wasn’t what you were really set on 🙂 personally i’m (obviously) a massive advocate for hispol and i did say in my interview that i didn’t feel i could study one without the other, but trust your gut! and good luck with your future application

Thank you so much! First, congrats on your offer! I think looking at the admission statistics + some of putting advice from teachers did put me off a bit but definitely I think I’m more interested in history and politics. If I may ask, what were your other choices for uni/why did you pick Oxford instead of Cambridge perhaps? I’m just curious that’s all

thank you! and sorry for the late reply - mock season ☹️ i applied to oxford, york and glasgow for history and politics, st andrew's for international relations and modern history, and queens' university belfast for politics and international relations. i got 4/5 offers (st andrews rejected me lol) . i was very set on cambridge until i went to their open day after my gcses and really just didnt get a feel for the city, it was very much a personal preference and almost entirely based on pure vibes! i will say i absolutely loved newnham college and would have applied there if i'd picked cambridge but i went to the oxford open day on a school trip and just loved it 🙂 i would absolutely recommend going to as many open days as is possible, i was very lucky to be able to visit all of my choices but you really never know how you'll feel until you're there

Hi! Thanks for the reply! I’ve recently been looking into Oxford Hispol and I’ve been kinda swaying towards it over Cambridge Hispol. Do you have any tips for the personal statement/interview?

Hi! Thanks for the reply! I’ve recently been looking into Oxford Hispol and I’ve been kinda swaying towards it over Cambridge Hispol. Do you have any tips for the personal statement/interview?

for my personal statement i found myself trying to juggle an awful lot of things - because i'd applied to st andrews for IR i was really conscious of mentioning international relations a lot as we'd been told on the open day that when StA are reading personal statements they discount many that only talk about politics as from their point of view that's not something they offer. when you're looking at choices it definitely makes your life easier if you apply for the same course everywhere!! but in the summer before yr14 (i'm northern irish so i guess in england that would be summer before y13) i focused on reading a few books related to my areas of interest in politics and IR and started making a list of all my supercurriculars (essay competitions, podcasts etc) and i found that really helpful to organise my thoughts. in my school we each get assigned a teacher to help with personal statement writing and that was invaluable, but if your school doesnt offer that even asking one of your history/politics teachers to glance at it would be helpful!

as for interviews, i had absolutely no idea how to prep honestly! but i had two - one for history and one for politics, and by the end of my history interview they started to lean a bit more into the politics side of things to kind of connect the two. for my prep i made sure i was really familiar with my personal statement and the two books i had mentioned in it as well as the written work i had submitted (maybe another consideration for you re oxford vs cambridge: hispol at oxford requires you to submit an essay you've worked on for school as well as sit the HAT). i had a look at the sample interview questions and videos on oxford's website/youtube/social media - jesus' college access & outreach instagram page and youtube channel is a great place for some resources! one of my friends who had an interview for biochem said he had pasted his personal statement into an AI platform and got it to ask him interview-style questions, although i'm not sure how helpful it was! hope your application prep goes well whatever you decide to do