So, do you think you are clever? Are you intelligent enough to get into Oxford University?
Famous gifted men and women have studied at the university throughout its history, including Prime Minister Theresa May and her predecessors David Cameron, Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher.
Others include Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, physicist Professor Stephen Hawking, authors Oscar Wilde and John Le Carre and actors Emilia Fox, Rosamund Pike and Hugh Grant.
The deadline to apply for courses starting in 2017 is 6pm (UK time) on 15 October, so the university has published a few sample interview questions on its website to give nervous prospective students an insight into the type of questions they might be asked.
For example, students applying for experimental psychology might be asked why research appears to show older siblings have higher IQs than their younger counterparts.
So do you think you've got what it takes? Really? How about we put that to the test?
Here are some sample questions:
:: Subject: Modern Languages (French)
:: Q: What makes a novel or play "political"?
This is the sort of question that could emerge from a student's personal statement where they have divulged a keen interest in particular works.
It offers them the chance to kick-off the gruelling face-to-face interview on something familiar.
The question would then be broadened. What does one mean in applying the label? What if we said that all art is, in fact, political? And so on.
A strong candidate would show ready willingness and very good ability to engage and develop their ideas in conversation," says interviewer Helen Swift, of St Hilda's College.
"We want people to think flexibly and be willing to consider different perspectives.
"Ideally, they would recognise themselves that they were changing their viewpoint, and such awareness could indicate aptitude for sustained, careful reflection rather than a 'scattergun' effect of lots of different points that aren't developed or considered in a probing way.
"Undoubtedly, the candidate would need to take a moment to think in the middle of all that we expect that "ermmm", "ah", "oh", "well", etc. will feature in someone's responses!"
:: Subject: Medicine
:: Q: About one in four deaths in the UK is due to some form of cancer, yet in the Philippines the figure is only around one in 10. What factors might underlie this difference?
There is no "right" answer to this question, but is aimed at stimulating the sort of discussion that might come up during a tutorial session - and give the interviewer an idea of the candidate's level of problem-solving and critical thinking.
Some candidates will ask clarifying questions about the data and its reliability, others might compare the lifestyles of the two populations.
"Others, especially if they appreciate that life expectancy in the Philippines is substantially lower than in the UK, will realise that other causes of death are more common in the developing world, and that this is the major factor that gives rise to the difference alluded to in the question," says interviewer Chris Norbury, of The Queen's College.
"This probes selection criteria including problem-solving, critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, communication skills, ability to listen and compatibility with the tutorial format."
Subject: Philosophy, Politics and Economics (and other philosophy courses)
:: Q: What exactly do you think is involved in blaming someone?
Again, there is no "right" answer to this question. Instead, what the interviewer is looking for is whether the candidate can be creative in coming up with examples and suggestions - and can think critically and carefully through their implications.
"Good interviews will often generate all kinds of interesting and revealing discussions that show a candidate's ability for analytical thought," says interviewer Ian Phillips, of St Anne's College.
"For example about self-blame, cases of blame where the blamer knew the blamed had done nothing wrong, and indeed cases of blaming something inanimate (such as a faulty printer or phone)."
:: Subject: Maths
:: Q: Imagine a ladder leaning against a vertical wall with its feet on the ground. The middle rung of the ladder has been painted a different colour on the side, so that we can see it when we look at the ladder from the side on. What shape does that middle rung trace out as the ladder falls to the floor?
This question tests whether you can do what mathematicians do, which is to abstract away all the unimportant information and use mathematics to represent what's going on.
Candidates may want to sketch the ladder - but their drawing is unlikely to be spot on, in terms of accuracy, without a ruler. So they will have to fall back on maths and try to work out the answer using equations.
"This is a fun question because the answer is typically the opposite of what they expect because they think about the shape the ladder makes when it falls," says interviewer Rebecca Cotton-Barratt, of Christ Church.
Do you know the answer? Read on if you want to know.
You'll need Pythagoras' Theorem to work out that it forms ... a quarter circle centred on the point where the floor meets the wall.
So, do you still think you've got what it takes?
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