History Oxford & Cambridge University Interview Questions

Past admissions interview questions for History

• How do you organise a successful revolution? (molivam42's weblog)

• Is there such thing as 'race'? (Oxbridge Applications)

• How would you compare Henry VIII and Stalin? (Oxbridge Applications)

• In the 1920s did the invention of the Henry Ford car lead to a national sub-culture or was it just an aspect of one? (Oxbridge Applications)

• Should historians be allowed to read sci-fi novels? (Oxbridge Applications)

• Do you think that all of History is a History of Thought? (Oxbridge Applications)

• Would History be worth studying if it didn’t repeat itself? (Oxbridge Applications)

• Is national character a useful concept in History? (Oxbridge Applications)

• How can one define a revolution? (Oxbridge Applications)

• How would a biography of a major political figure written while they are alive differ from one written after their death? Which would be the more accurate assessment of their contribution to history? (Oxbridge Applications)

• Imagine we had no records about the past at all, except everything to do with sport – how much of the past could we find out about? (Oxford University website)

• Which person (or sort of person) in the past would you most like to interview, and why? (Oxford University website)

• Is violence always political? Does 'political' mean something different in different contexts? (Oxford University website)

• Can history stop the next war? (Oxford Interview Questions)

• What trees did Disraeli plant at Hughenden Manor? (Oxford Interview Questions)

• Why are you sitting in this chair? (Oxford Interview Questions)

• When was the English monarchy at its strongest? (Oxford Interview Questions)

• Do you think the Bavarian peasants of 1848 had an ideology? (Oxford Interview Questions)

• Why did Henry VIII call his son Arthur? (Oxford Interview Questions)

• Why is it OK for one country to intervene in another? (Oxford Interview Questions)

• Who writes history? (Oxford Interview Questions)

• Is History moving away from the study of great men to that of ordinary people? (Oxford Interview Questions)

• Do you think the government should spend money preserving historical sites? (Oxford Interview Questions)

• How would you research illiterate medieval craftsmen? (Oxford Interview Questions)

• What are the origins of your Christian name? (Oxford Interview Questions)

• What is the difference between modern history and modern politics? (Oxford Interview Questions)

• What is the position of the individual in history? (Oxford Interview Questions)

• How do historians obtain evidence? (Oxford Interview Questions)

• Do you feel historical artefacts belong in the country of their origin? (Oxford Interview Questions)

• What is the most useful source for a historian? (Oxford Interview Questions)

• How much of the past can you count? (Oxford University website )

• Is humanity destined to repeat the mistakes of history?' -( Classical archaeology and ancient history, Cambridge, The Student Room)

• What do you think of Ben Elton? (Cambridge interview - The Student Room)

• Can the American political system be compared to the feudal system of the medieval age? (Cambridge interview, The Student Room)

• Can you see a connection between Britain’s 'euro-skepticism' and its obsession with teaching about Nazism? (Cambridge interview, The Student Room)

• Has the French revolution ended? (Cambridge interview, The Student Room)

• If you could interview anyone from history, who would it be? (Cambridge interview, The Student Room)

• Was Hitler really evil? (Cambridge interview, The Student Room)

• Was it more detrimental or beneficial to Elizabeth 1's image to align herself with the virgin Mary? (Cambridge interview, The Student Room)

• Is the Stansted expansion was a good idea? (Cambridge interview, The Student Room)

• Is Christianity solely about salvation? (modern history, Cambridge interview, The Student Room)

• Were the Russian peasants mystically connected to the countryside? (modern history, Cambridge interview, The Student Room)

• What are the parallels between totalitarian control in the Nazi state and forms of control in the western world today? (modern history, Cambridge interview, The Student Room)

• What can we learn from the south wall of Warwick castle? (modern history, Cambridge interview, The Student Room)

• do you think the dumbing down of history for television and in museums is a good thing? (Oxbridge Applications)

• history repeats itself in paragraphs rather than sentences (Oxbridge Applications)

• how would one apply effective governmental systems to Mongolia? (Oxbridge Applications)

• was Russia just too damn big for democracy? (Oxbridge Applications)

• what is your view on women in the second world war, eg. any gains? (Oxbridge Applications)

• why do archaeologists love pots so much? (Oxbridge Applications)

• What can historians not find out about the past? (Oxford University website)

• Who was your favorite person from history and why? (submitted)

• should the monach execute current ministers if it is politically expedient? (submitted)

• How many people do you think could read in the sixteenth century? (life more extraordinary)

• Which two history books would you take to a desert island and why? (life more extraordinary)

• If you found sample interview questions useful, please remember to submit your questions, post interview, to oxbridgeinterview@gmail.com