Cambridge History applicants 2026

Current History student here, please feel free to ask any questions you might have!

Hi, I've been doing some interview practise recently; a lot of the questions I've been asked have been on historical theory - is it reasonable to expect this at interview?

My experience of the interviews was that they weren't really looking for straight facts but more for historical insight; for example, I was given a source and then they'd ask me to place it in its historical context. They'd also often start with personal questions (like what period are you interested in, or something that relates to your personal statement) and then go from there. It's very much about them getting to see how you think (as in, your thinking process) and that would actually be very hard if they just asked you short factual questions (like, "in what year was Napoleon defeated?"). It would go more like this: if you mentioned Napoleon in your personal statement, they might ask you your thoughts on why he eventually didn't succeed, or ask you to compare him to another famous historical figure. Just something that gives you a little bit more freedom and opportunity to share your thought process.
I'm not 100% sure if this is what you mean when you say "historical theory", but if not, what sort of questions did you get asked during your practice interviews?
Also, interviews can obviously vary a bit across colleges (and depend on who interviews you), so my experience might not be a universal one hahaha

My experience of the interviews was that they weren't really looking for straight facts but more for historical insight; for example, I was given a source and then they'd ask me to place it in its historical context. They'd also often start with personal questions (like what period are you interested in, or something that relates to your personal statement) and then go from there. It's very much about them getting to see how you think (as in, your thinking process) and that would actually be very hard if they just asked you short factual questions (like, "in what year was Napoleon defeated?"). It would go more like this: if you mentioned Napoleon in your personal statement, they might ask you your thoughts on why he eventually didn't succeed, or ask you to compare him to another famous historical figure. Just something that gives you a little bit more freedom and opportunity to share your thought process.
I'm not 100% sure if this is what you mean when you say "historical theory", but if not, what sort of questions did you get asked during your practice interviews?
Also, interviews can obviously vary a bit across colleges (and depend on who interviews you), so my experience might not be a universal one hahaha

For your interview, did they ask about your written work?

Thank you! The questions that came up during my practise were in the vein of: 'can we learn from the past'; 'is there progress in History' - "historical theory" is a clumsy way of putting it

They didn't! I don't think any of my friends were asked questions about it either, but that's of course not a guarantee. I'd definitely still go over it one more time before the interview to make sure you won't be surprised if a question does come up

Ahh okay now I see! Those are definitely questions that they could ask during the interview, they asked me something about how "democratic" history was if I remember correctly

That sounds like a juicy conversation! What did you conclude?

I honestly don't even remember, it's been almost two years ago at this point (crazy I know...)! I think I said something along the lines of how important democracy is, but that in order to participate in historical debates, one needs to have a decent amount of historical knowledge which automatically makes it less "democratic". I also talked briefly about people (mostly politicians) "using" history to justify political standpoints/decisions, and how this can lead to problems if those people aren't well-informed.

Thankyou! That's a really interesting insight - I found myself thinking about who is remembered by history, whether that's due to shifting societal values or because we simply don't know enough (yet!).

Current History student here, please feel free to ask any questions you might have!

I was just wondering how you would recommend preparing for the interview, but also at what level of detail they questioned you about your personal statement

Hi! I just wanted to make a thread for history applicants (including Hispol + History and MML applicants) who are applying/have applied for 2026 entry.
Let me know what colleges you’ve applied to and stuff like that

Hi! Still waiting on confirmation for an interview at Emmanuel for history and politics! If anyone is also applying to history or hispol let me know if you want to do some 'mock interviews' or just discuss our subjects

Hi i ve got an interview for history and mml so i would find this useful!

Hi i ve got an interview for history and mml so i would find this useful!