“Why is income per head between 50 and 100 times larger in the United States than in countries such as Burundi and Malawi?”
That is just one of the questions that candidates hoping to study philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University might be asked at their interview.
Renowned for posing tricky and sometimes baffling interview questions, the university has released some examples in a bid to provoke thought and demystify the process for nervous applicants.
Students applying to read economics and management, for example, might be asked if bankers deserve the pay they receive and if governments should do something to limit how much they get.
Aspiring biomedical sciences students might have to grapple with the question of why sugar in your urine is a good indicator that you might have diabetes, while engineering applicants could be asked to place a 30cm ruler on top of a finger from each hand and then quizzed about what happens when you bring your fingers together.
“We emphasise that the interview is primarily an academic conversation based on a passage of text, an object, a problem set or a series of questions relating to the course the applicant has applied for,” explained Samina Khan, director of admissions and outreach at Oxford.
“We hope that seeing some of the less obvious questions will reassure prospective applicants that tutors simply want to see how students think and respond to new ideas. We are not interested in catching students out.
“Interviews are not about reciting what you already know. They are designed to give candidates a chance to show their real ability and potential, which means candidates will be encouraged to use their knowledge and apply their thinking to new problems in ways that will both challenge them and allow them to shine.”
To find out more about interviews at Oxford, go to www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/interviews