David Furness
Keble College

My teacher encouraged me to come to the Sutton Trust summer school, where I met tutors and students. It was clear from the start that Oxford was a place filled with diverse people from all backgrounds, and though I was from a state school I wasn't daunted by the people that I met - in fact, they were very friendly. I decided then that I wanted to apply to read History.

My interview at Keble consisted of two discussions. The first was with two History tutors, where we discussed one of the two pieces of schoolwork that I had sent in. It might sound strange, but I actually quite enjoyed the interview. It was a discussion rather than a test, and it was interesting to be fed a different view or new information, and then asked to respond. At the end of that interview, I was given an article to read in preparation for the next discussion, which was with another tutor. This was more challenging, and the discussion ended with me talking about a very different subject from where we had started.

The course so far has been fantastic - there are lots of interesting options to study, and the huge resources, both in terms of tutors and libraries, are great. You feel very privileged to spend an hour with an expert each week. The pressure can be high sometimes, especially when trying to balance work and other activities, but it's worth it. I've been involved in various University dramatic productions, which can take up a lot of time, but as long as you're careful to organise your time, there's plenty of space for study and fun.

Leonie Hough
Merton College

I had known for some time that I wanted to study History, but I was keen to mix it with something new. The Politics joint schools course was available for the first time when I applied, and sounded really interesting. I'd never studied Politics before, but I've found that it fits very well with History - you can bounce one off the other. The work can get a bit hectic at times, but overall it's the same amount as for Modern History.

Apart from studying, I'm in the Merton Women's first 8 - we did well in Torpids, and repeated our success in Eights Week. I've also done a bit of coxing. I play double bass in the University Orchestra too, which I really enjoy. It's a challenge to fit these other activities around my academic work, but rowing tends to be early in the morning, and orchestra practices in the evening. I can be pretty flexible with my work, too - either by taking a book to my room, or by taking advantage of the long opening hours of the libraries in Oxford.

You do need to be inquisitive and conscientious to do the course. You also need to take charge of your work, particularly with a Joint Schools subject. It's important to be able to work independently. But the course has made me confident about researching on my own, and I've learnt not to panic, too!

Mark Henderson
Balliol College, graduated 1996

I applied to Oxford because I had always been interested in history, and I was very keen to study the subject in more depth. I was also attracted by the way in which the Oxford course allows you to include aspects of the past such as art and literature.

It was an excellent course. I had rather dreaded having to do Anglo-Saxons and 19th century Britain (I was very much an early modernist by preference), but I actually found both bits valuable. My favourite parts were the optional/special/further subjects - it's a great chance to study in depth and there's such a broad range on offer that it's impossible not to find a subject that's of interest.

I'm now a journalist at The Times, currently covering science. The grounding in weighing evidence is extremely useful. I have spent a period writing leading articles, where the essay-writing under time pressure experience was also very valuable indeed.

The course gave me a tremendous amount of general knowledge about the past, which is always a huge asset. But more importantly, I gained a good grounding in weighing and evaluating evidence. And three years' worth of great memories.

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