Interview Advice
Interview Advice
For some arts and creative industries, and nursing and healthcare programmes, we may ask you to attend an interview (sometimes known as a selection day) with us in order to determine your suitability for your chosen course.
If you applied through UCAS and need to be interviewed this will show on your and we’ll send you further details by email. If you applied directly, we will notify you through email.
These emails will contain information including times, dates and anything specific you’ll need to do to prepare. For some courses you’ll need to complete numeracy and literacy assessments when you attend the interview, and for others you’ll need to prepare a portfolio of your work.
We know that interviews can be nerve-wracking. So, to try and help you feel prepared and excel on the day we’ve put together some top tips.
Interviews are a way for us to get to know you better and find out why you’d like to study your chosen course. We want to hear about your passion for the subject, that you’ve done your research about the University, and that you’re aware of what the course will involve. We might also discuss your personal statement with you and talk about any work experience you have completed – if you’ve written about it in your application then you should be prepared to talk about it in your interview!
Re-read your application before you attend and be ready to expand on anything you’ve said.
And remember interviews are a two-way process, so it’s also your opportunity to ask any questions that you have and get a feel for whether studying at BNU is right for you.
An interview can take anything from 15 minutes to an entire day, so you should make sure you are available for all of the required time. We will let you know how long your interview will be in advance so that you can make the necessary arrangements.
If you are running late for reasons beyond your control, contact us on 0330 123 2023 as soon as possible.
If you’re attending an interview for one of our arts and creative industries courses, we will usually ask you to have prepared a portfolio of work to bring with you. We’ll provide you with specific requirements in advance, but generally speaking this could include sketchbooks, doodles, drawings, photos of 3D pieces, or you could bring your work on a memory stick or show links to web portfolios.
The work you bring doesn’t necessarily have to be finished or neat, but we want to see your creativity and passion for the subject as well as your thought processes when creating your pieces. You should be ready to answer questions about your work, and also talk about what you like and dislike about it.
During the selection days for our nursing and healthcare courses you will usually complete a numeracy and literacy assessment. Here we are looking for GCSE (or equivalent) standard, so we’d recommend practicing addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, basic fractions and percentages. For your literacy assessment you will usually be asked to write a response to a question or article. We’re looking at your spelling, grammar, and ability to structure your writing in a clear way.
Have a look at the following websites, which include practice papers and resources which you may find helpful.
If you are required to prepare anything specific or bring anything with you for your numeracy and literacy assessments, we’ll let you know in advance so that you can prepare.
Unless we specify in advance, there is no formal dress code for our interviews. It’s a good idea to have a think about the impression you are making, however it’s also important to wear something you are comfortable in.
Don’t forget, the interview is to get to know you better so try to just relax and be yourself! The more we can see your personality and passion show the better.