Top 10 Tips for Preparing for the History Aptitude Test
The History Aptitude Test (HAT) is an admissions test for applicants who are interested in pursuing a History related undergraduate course at the University of Oxford. The test is conducted pre-interview and is one aspect of the application that admissions tutors use to decide if they would invite an applicant for an interview.
It is a paper-based test of a duration of one hour. It aims to test candidates’ skills, instead of their substantive historical knowledge. Hence, this means that you don’t need prior knowledge of any specialist texts or historical knowledge before taking the test. It is such that the applicants would find it equally challenging, regardless of their school syllabus or the level of examinations that they have been taking. This allows candidates to not have an unfair advantage depending on the texts that they have studied previously.
Skills in the HAT
Specifically, the skills that they test include:
- the ability to read carefully and critically
- the adoption of an analytical approach
- the ability to answer a question relevantly
- the ability to handle concepts and select evidence to support points
- the originality and independence
- the precision and clarity of writing.
The test format includes giving the candidate an unseen source, generally a passage from a source, and is required to provide thoughtful interpretations about it without being given any prior knowledge about its context. You need to answer the one question given with an essay. As candidates are not required to know anything about the author of the passage or the context, the test does not reward candidates for making use of any outside knowledge. For more information on the HAT, check out our comprehensive HAT Guide.
Our Oxbridge application experts have compiled a list of top 10 tips. This includes dos and dont’s for preparation for the History Aptitude Test for the 2024/25 application cycle.
General Advice for the HAT
As with any test that you would be taking, early preparation is key when taking the History Aptitude Test. However, the test is not testing how well-read you are, and neither does it have the the assumption that you would have done prior texts before you take the text. Hence, especially if you are an international student who is not familiar with the United Kingdom’s syllabus, do not worry. It does not require specialist knowledge or any information beyond that contained in the texts.
Instead, you should focus on your ability in looking for the main ideas and focus of a text, as well as how to analyse the detail and distinguish the opinions and attitudes present in the text given. This can be done by extracting implications and implicitly stating elements of the text and determining the writer’s purpose in writing the text, including the consideration of the intended audience.
Top 5 Tips for taking the HAT
Practise as many past papers as possible
As with any test that you take, doing HAT past papers would be immensely useful when preparing for the assessment. It would not only allow you to be familiar with the format of the test, preventing you to waste precious time during the actual test, but also allow you to do practice essays and be better at it.
You can also access some past year papers/ specimen papers through the official Oxford History website, or through the link here. When doing past year papers, remember to do it under examination conditions. This includes doing the practice paper under timed conditions, as well as doing it under exam conditions– no phones or music. This would help you be more familiar and less anxious about the actual day itself.
Having a good structure when writing your essay and sticking to it
As with any History essay that you have done, enter the examination with a clear structure in mind. A good structure is important to allow you to communicate your ideas clearly and effectively to the test marker, as well as allow you to frame your thoughts and ideas in a way that you would not miss out on any important information that you would otherwise wish to include. You can perfect a structure that you can stick to by doing the specimen papers in the link included above.
Buffer enough time during your exam for planning, instead of jumping straight into writing the essay
Planning your essay before you actually start writing it is crucial because it ensures that you would have sufficient points to write for the rest of your essay. This means that you would not start panicking in the later duration of your test, worrying, and wasting time about not being able to complete your essay. Furthermore, it also allows you to organise your thoughts more clearly and fit your ideas into an organised structure, which is one of the key components that you are awarded marks on. Hence, this would ensure planning your essay would ensure you write the best essay that you possibly can and allow you to max out the component of the mark scheme that awards on this.
Furthermore, on the actual question papers, Oxford tries to remind you of this by recommending you to read the paper before beginning to write your answers. They also recommend spending about a third of your time on reading, thinking and planning, and the rest of your time writing.
Think about the strengths and weaknesses of different types of sources, as well as the different themes that you can use for different types of sources
The admissions assessment would be providing you with two unseen texts. Hence, when preparing for your test, you ideally want to focus on picking up skills that would be transferable in different types and forms of texts. This includes the different strengths and weaknesses of different types of sources. It also includes the different themes that are transferable and that you can relate to different sources.
Prepare physically (not only mentally!)
You probably would have heard this before every examination, but do try to get a good night’s sleep before your examination, eat well before the examination and not drink water right before the examination so as to avoid any unnecessary washroom emergencies during your examination. As with every other examination, also do remember to check all your examination arrangements, for example, the venue location, as well as the timing, and to be there at least half an hour before.
Top 5 things to AVOID for your History Aptitude Test
Only use A-level sources in your preparation as they are often simpler than the actual History Aptitude Test texts
The HAT is challenging, with the goal of effectively differentiating between able applicants, including those who have achieved the highest possible grades in their school examinations. Hence, you can expect the History Aptitude Tests sources to be more difficult than what you would usually expect in your internal school examinations or your A-level texts. Hence, do take the time to practice harder sources that you find difficult, and do not avoid sources that you do not understand right away.
Excessively using fancy vocabulary instead of clear, plain English
Some candidates might feel tempted or pressured to use unconventional or fancy vocabulary in order to impress the examiner. However, if there are particular words that you are unfamiliar with, opt to use clear and plain language instead. This is because the admissions assessment is testing your ability to analyse the text and produce a coherent argument, and not your vocabulary level. Hence, always value communicating clearly and with clarity over impressing with flowery language. Surprisingly, clear and plain English is often preferred by examiners as they can understand your essay more easily.
Placing too much pressure on yourself, or panicking and overthinking during the test because it is difficult
The History Aptitude Test is challenging and more difficult than the texts that you have been familiar with. This is because it differentiates between top candidates who have already achieved the highest grades. Furthermore, the texts are not similar to the texts that you would have encountered, as it aims to test your ability to think analytically and form coherent arguments and infer sources, instead of your substantive history knowledge. Moreover, the text that you see would be exactly the same as every other applicant who is taking the test with you, and the applicants would be at a similar education level and have access to resources similar to yours. Hence, if you find it difficult, others would too, and you would not be at any particular disadvantage.
On the actual test paper, Oxford also provides a disclaimer, telling you not to worry if you find the text unfamiliar and difficult. This is because the exercise is challenging, and thought-provoking. There is no right answer to the question, and instead, tutors mark you on the intelligence of your argument, how clearly you form your argument, and how effectively you support it. Hence, do not panic if the source is unfamiliar to you.
Not memorising some synonyms for common keywords that you frequently use
Especially in History essays, you might find a tendency to use common words such as “shows” or “suggests” when analysing your text. Before taking the admissions assessment, you can try to memorise a variety of connective or explanatory phrases, so as to vary your vocabulary and avoid sounding repetitive. For example, synonyms for the above phrases could include “demonstrates”, “expresses”, “explains”, or “states”. There are vocabulary lists for writing essays that would be available online that you can access and memorise.
Having a more descriptive answer rather than an analytical answer
One key marking point in the HAT is to mark your historical insight and perceptiveness. Another key marking point is comprehension, content, and analysis. Both of which are awarded quite highly in the marking scheme, with a combined total possible score of 20 out of the 90 possible marks that you are able to obtain. Hence, your answer should contain evidence of imaginative engagement with the text and should constantly try and draw plausible and reasonable historical inferences from it.
Critical reading of the text should also be done, and this could be done so by reflecting carefully on the quality of the evidence, such as noting if the source is primary or secondary, if the author is an eye-witness or a primary source, and how long ago the source was written. Suggesting if the author is an objective or subjective writer, and speculating about the nature of his subjectivities is also another way to critically analyse the text.
Still got a question? Leave a comment