Mock UCAS Interviews : Tuesday 4th – Thursday 27th November

Another mock interview month has come to an end. 66 mock interviews via Zoom were provided for students applying for Oxbridge, Medicine and Veterinary Medicine; they were in Year 13 at Huntington, Archbishop Holgate’s, All Saints’ Schools, Tadcaster Grammar School and York College.

An interesting new development this year was the requirement for students to answer 3 questions instead of producing a Personal Statement. The 3 questions were :

·         Why do you want to study this course or subject?

·         How have your qualifications & studies helped prepare you for this course or   subject?

·         What else have you done to prepare outside of education and why are these experiences useful?

Whilst the questions elicited much relevant information, it will be interesting to hear how UCAS and universities judge this development. For us, the jury is still out as to whether they enable a better personal portrayal; the age-old mantra -  read the question! – needed to be applied by some of the applicants!

Sincere thanks are due to the 15 York Rotarians (plus Mick Fox of Vikings and Keith Davis) who not only grilled the students but also completed a detailed feedback form for each. Hopefully, we provided a useful preparation for the real interviews, which carry such a lot of weight. Some University interviews had been scheduled whilst other students were awaiting the call; most were to be online with a few face-to-face.  

As previously, Mike Hay enabled the use of the York Rotary meeting room which was opened by the session leader who then admitted a fellow interviewer and students one by one. This is a very flexible, efficient system.

We met many superb young people with great potential and really enjoyed interviewing them. We remain convinced that this is one of our best avenues of local service.

Eileen Davis

Youth Services