Eight to ten students are normally admitted each year to study History at St Peter's, and up to four in one of its Joint Schools: Economics, Politics, English, or Modern Languages. The college also offers places for History of Art. At admissions we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are keen to meet students who are intellectually curious, motivated, and have the potential to excel as historians.
The History Aptitude Test
As part of the admissions process you will have to sit the History Aptitude Test (HAT). The HAT is a one-hour exam, in which candidates are asked to interpret an unseen primary source. No prior knowledge is needed to answer this question because we are assessing your historical imagination, comprehension, and ability to deploy evidence.
The Interview
Each applicant is given two interviews, with two pairs of interviewers. One of the interviews focusses on a topic of your own choice, often closely connected to the UCAS form or your submitted written work. The second interview centres on a close reading of an unseen primary source, which is given shortly beforehand.
Recent examples of these sources include an interview with a former slave in the United States taken from the important Slave Narrative Collection and extracts from the diary of a young woman recorded during the American Civil War.