Oxford & Cambridge History
History Admissions Tutoring & PreparationWritten work · Interview · Personal statement
There's no longer a written admissions test for History — which means your submitted work, interview and personal statement carry the whole application. Get specialist one-to-one support from Oxbridge History graduates who've been through it themselves.
Find a History tutorHow History is assessed
No admissions test — your thinking carries the application
History at Oxford and Cambridge no longer uses a written admissions test — the HAT and Cambridge's HAA have both been withdrawn. Your application is judged on your written work, interview and wider reading instead, which means each one carries more weight, not less.
Submitted written work
You send in one or two marked school essays as examples of your analytical writing. Tutors read these closely, and they often become the starting point for discussion at interview.
Interview
Expect close analysis of an unseen source or argument, plus discussion of your submitted work and wider reading. They're testing how you think historically, not how much you've memorised.
Statement & wider reading
With no test to fall back on, your personal statement and genuinely independent reading — beyond the school syllabus — do the heavy lifting in showing real historical curiosity.
Applying for a joint course? History & Economics and History & Politics use the TARA instead — see our TARA page.
Single-honours History has no admissions test. Cambridge has withdrawn its central History assessment, though some colleges set their own written task at interview, and exact written-work requirements vary by college and year. Always confirm on the official Oxford and Cambridge course and college pages.
Your Tutors
Meet our History tutors
Oxbridge History tutors who've been through the application themselves — and know what written work and interviews really take.
Charles
Oxford History — Double First & Master's
Hello, I'm Charles, a graduate of the University of Oxford, where I achieved a Double First-Class degree in History and was an Academic Scholar in my second and third years. I stayed on to complete a Master's in Medieval History in 2025, developing a particular interest in the 12th-century Anglo-Norman world. From September 2026 I'll be teaching History and Politics full-time at a school in Oxford — so I bring an up-to-date, insider's view of what Oxford's tutors, reading lists and marking criteria are really looking for.
I've tutored History and English Literature since 2021, helping students at GCSE and A-Level build structured arguments and express their ideas clearly under exam conditions. For Oxbridge applicants, I focus on submitted written work, personal statements and interview preparation. I sat Oxford's History Admissions Test myself and made it through to interview, and I've since advised two students applying for History at Oxford — helping with personal statements, reading lists and mock interviews — one of whom was offered a place.
Ryan
Oxford master's · UCL History (First)
UCL History graduate with a First, now studying a master's at the University of Oxford. I sat Cambridge's History assessment and reached the interview stage, so I've been through the source analysis and interview firsthand — and I bring strong analytical writing to every application I support.
I focus on the close reading, essay technique and interview preparation that History applications now turn on, and I'm a fluent French speaker too — useful for joint courses with Modern Languages. After my First in History at UCL, my master's at Oxford has deepened my research and writing further.
Ready to strengthen your History application?
Tell us a little about the course and where you'd like support — written work, interview or personal statement — and we'll match you with the right tutor. No packages, no obligation.
Enquire about History tutoring