Politics, Philosophy & Economics Oxford & Cambridge University Interview Questions

Past admissions interview questions for Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE)

  • Is there essentially any difference between taxation and the state taking away one of your arms? (submitted by Oxford applicant).

  • Do you really consent to any government given that there is barely anywhere in the world to escape some government or other? (submitted by Oxford applicant).

  • Put a monetary value on this teapot? (molivam42's weblog)

  • If you’re not in California, how do you know it exists? (molivam42's weblog)

  • Is it a matter of fact or knowledge that time travels in only one direction? (Oxbridge Applications)

  • Differentiate between power and authority. (Oxbridge Applications)

  • Why do we need government? (Oxbridge Applications)

  • Would it be feasible to have an economy entirely based on the service sector? (Oxbridge Applications)

  • Do you believe in free will? How far does it extend to - an oyster, for example? (Oxbridge Applications)

  • Are you cool? (Oxbridge Applications)

  • If there were three beautiful, naked women standing in front of you, which one would you pick? Does this have any relevance to economics? (Oxbridge Applicants).

  • What have you enjoyed most about your A Level Economics course? (The Student Room)

  • Do animals think? (mumsnet)

  • How do you measure the success of a political voting system? (mumsnet)

  • If a Martian drops money across the country, does inflation go up? (mumsnet)

  • Convince me you are real and not just in my dreams? (Not in the biblical sense!) (mumsnet)

  • When I was at school in the 1970s, there was talk of a pensions crisis that would one day hit. The talk persisted in the 1980s, and the 1990s – and then there was a pensions crisis, and little had been done politically to prepare us for it. Is there a fault with the British political system that means we can't sensibly address serious medium and long-term problems when they are identified? (Oxford University website)

  • I'm having trouble with the meaning of three words: Lie, Deceive, Mislead. They seem to mean something a bit similar, but not exactly the same. Help me to sort them out from each other. (Oxford University website)

  • is it possible for a society to exist in which everyone lies all the time? why? (Oxford, Oxbridge Applications)

  • define 'cruelty' (Oxford, Oxbridge Applications)

  • if there were three beautiful, naked women standing in front of you, which one would you pick? does this have any relevance to economics? (Oxford, Oxbridge Applications)

  • of all nineteenth century politicians which was most like Tony Blair? (Oxford, Oxbridge Applications)

  • put a monetary value on this teapot! (Oxford, Oxbridge Applications)

  • would you describe the following as 'traditional British values'? drinking tea, eating roast beef and hitting school children. (Oxford, Oxbridge Applications)

  • what do you think of gay couples adopting? (Oxford, Oxbridge Applications)

  • What exactly do you think is involved in blaming someone? (Oxford University website)

  • a person with 50 k is rich. a person with n pounds is rich and a person with n-1 pounds is also rich. so a person with 1 pound is rich. I then had to falsify I (Oxford, Oxbridge Applications)

  • think of a question that you have prepared an answer to, ask yourself the question and show us how you would answer it in a logical fashion (Oxford, Oxbridge Applications)

  • What would you do if you were jack straw ( at the time of the interview he had to decide whether to extradite pinochet). (submitted by oxford applicant)

  • Plato argues that objects in our world, such as chairs, come from an ideal form of a chair that transcends our world. Do you find this convincing? (life more extraordinary)

  • China should be allowed to pollute as much as it wants, as the USA was able to during its industrial revolution. Do you agree? (life more extraordinary)

  • Would you rather go to heaven now and experience infinite joy, or wait a year and then go to heaven? Why? (life more extraordinary)

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