How to Secure Your Place at Oxford for Psychology, Philosophy, and Linguistics (PPL)

Welcome to our blog, where we delve into the fascinating world of PPL - the combination of Psychology, Philosophy, and Linguistics. At the University of Oxford, these disciplines come together, offering a unique and enriching academic experience. We'll uncover the connections between these fields, explore the course’s benefits, and provide practical insights to help aspiring scholars prepare for their path to PPL excellence! Join us as we navigate the exciting realm of PPL at Oxford.

What Does the Psychology, Philosophy, and Linguistics (PPL) Degree Involve at Oxford?

PPL stands for Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics. Though after your first year you’ll have the option to study all three, you’ll apply for only two of the subjects. Few people opt to study all three because it sacrifices depth for breadth. Even if this is what you would like to do, its better to focus on two of them at the application stage.

The PPL course is largely modular - that means that while you might use what you’ve learned from one part of the course to inform another, there aren’t mandated ‘bridge papers’ which link the two subjects explicitly. This has great strengths, allowing the course to take whatever form you’d like, and there are option papers, like ‘Philosophy of Cognitive Science’ which link the two. But you should be aware that this is not a degree in, for example, the philosophy of psychology—it’s a degree in philosophy and psychology.

The psychology studied at Oxford is Experimental Psychology - that means no Freud, Carl Jung or Otto Rank for example. Mentioning psychoanalysis anywhere in the application process is a bad idea.

Philosophy in Oxford is typically analytic philosophy—continental philosophy (Heidegger, Nietzsche, Hegel and so on) can be studied, but will form a minor part of the course. As such it’s a good idea to focus on analytic philosophy throughout the application process, though if you are especially interested in a continental philosopher it won’t harm your application to mention them. Wittgenstein is a good choice if you’re suspicious of analytic philosophy - he’s looked upon with less distrust than Derrida etc. Check out our blog on applying for Philosophy at Oxbridge for resources and tips for preparation.

Linguistics recognises that each language is a fascinating entity on its own, but its true essence lies in exploring deeper realms (though you'll certainly glean insights from various languages). Our shared language abilities connect us all - from acquiring languages like infants to employing common tools for speech or sign language. Even the intricate grammatical "algorithm" we use seems universal, regardless of whether we speak English, Malay, or Quechua. And there's more to discover – the interplay between language, psychology, neurology, and its pervasive impact on society. In a nutshell, linguistics provides an "under-the-bonnet" exploration of what could be the defining trait that sets humans apart in the animal kingdom. Again, we have an entire blog written on preparing for Linguistics at Oxbridge - check it out here! You could also look at https://allthingslinguistic.com/, run by Gretchen McCulloch - Her site is full of really good linguistics resources, with a focus on internet language.

Philosophy, psychology and linguistics are not subjects that the tutors expect you to have studied at school. This means that in general (except for discussing your reading), it’s not about what you know, but how you engage with the material from each subject. Keep a clear head, think about what you’re saying, and ask questions if you think they’ll help. A good interview isn’t one where you get everything right, but where you have moved your understanding forward in a reasoned way.

How to Prepare the Perfect PPL Personal Statement

Your academic ability and interest in the course are fundamental to Oxford's admission process and the personal statement is used to demonstrate this. Part of this might come from mentioning particular academic achievements - prizes, competitions and so on - but the majority of the text should relate to what you’ve been reading/ exploring and what you think about it. Given the restricted word count, you should aim to keep commenting on extracurricular interests and achievement unrelated to your academic life to a minimum, writing perhaps two sentences at the end.

PPL in particular poses a challenge as a joint honours degree, you need to cover two domains rather than one and the same number of words. This means that choosing the books or articles you read in preparation wisely is very important, and those which relate to both philosophy and psychology are to be preferred (or philosophy and linguistics/ psychology and linguistics). Anything which you can use to talk about why you want to study PPL rather than just one of the subjects is great - consider philosophy of mind, or perhaps the philosophical implications of psychological research.

Don’t fill the personal statement with material - talking about two or three things you’ve read, thoughtfully and in detail, is better than filling the page with references. They know you’re unlikely to have read and really understood 15 or 20 books, and you make yourself vulnerable in the interview. We would recommend one or two books or articles on each of the two parts of your chosen course and one bridge topic connecting the two.

Key Tips For Your PPL Personal Statement:

Focus on the course! Write as little about other things as possible.
Choose what you write about carefully.
Think about why you want to study both parts of the course.
Try and connect the two in your further reading.

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the course, a personal statement could focus on why 2 of the 3 PPL subjects work well as disciplines to be studied together. Demonstrate key skills that would make you successful to interdisciplinary academic research, such as:

A genuine interest in both subjects which motivates me to then...
Independent research and study (of topics outside the curriculum).
Essay writing skills (e.g. essay competitions).
Interpretative skills and creativity (give them your opinion of a book or philosopher’s opinion).
Interdisciplinarity (in your interpretation, in school projects).
Resourcefulness (go to a variety of sources of info: educational podcasts, in-person/ online lectures, books/ articles).
Confidence, public speaking / debating (as you will need this is tutorials).

Work experience is also key and something U2's mentors are well-placed to help provide. Shadowing Psychology professors or undergraduates at Oxford on research projects, 1-2 days in a clinic, attending lectures etc., will all be vital aspects of preparation U2 can look into. More details here!

psychology philosophy linguistics oxford

How to Ace the PPL Interview at Oxford

The kind of interview that you get will vary from college to college. PPL applicants will have interviews at two colleges; ‘your’ college and one other. An example is set out below: You should use these to familiarise yourself with the style of the interview.

PPL Interview Example 1

At their Oxford college of application, one U2 mentor had a single interview covering both philosophy and psychology. In Philosophy they were given a set of logic puzzles to complete, and for Psychology, asked to consider a psychological research paradigm - both for about 20 minutes before the interview. Nothing was asked about the personal statement at all in this interview. Taking time to answer the questions is crucial - always know why you’re giving an answer, because you’ll be asked, and if you don’t know, don’t be afraid to ask. They don’t expect you to be an expert in philosophy or psychology, just a good thinker.

PPL Interview Example 2

Another college gave the applicant separate interviews for Psychology and Philosophy. In Psychology, the personal statement was discussed - always be prepared to talk about what you’ve written (pick apart every sentence of your personal statement and pre-empt questions on it). They asked a few probing questions to determine whether the books were actually read, and used that to build a discussion about how the student would design their own experiment (the phrase ‘put your psychologist hat on’ was used a lot). Again, listening and responding carefully is what they are looking for - don’t be worried about being wrong so long as you’re considered in what you say. For Philosophy, it was a passage to read in the interview about personal identity. The passage was discussed after a brief (1-2 minute) discussion of the student's interests. Engage and be confident in presenting your ideas - interview practice will help with that, as well as familiarising yourself, through reading, with the way we argue in Philosophy.

U2 has mentors in PPL, as well as Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics individually, who can offer further examples of their interview process, offer mock interview practice and preparation support. More details below!

PPL Interview Preparation Practice Ideas:

Dive into research methods and experimental design: Ensure you have a good understanding of key terms that are foundational to all psychology research. Locking some of these terms down so they are easily to hand to discuss in context will be extremely useful for your PPL interview!
- You could also research how to use statistical analysis to remove the impact of confounding variables.
- Then, practise applying these different terms to specific situations. An interviewer could potentially ask you to find problems with hypothetical experimental designs and give examples of how to improve them.
- Become acquainted with examples of debate within psychology around methodology: Try to find a range of real examples, where critical thinking is required to identify flaws in experimental design which lead to bad results. First looking at the ‘Testing Effect’ (the testing effect is a field littered with complex methodological needs. As such it reveals much of what can go wrong with certain paradigms), and then the controversial topic of power posing and the ensuing p-hacking debate. The skills required are exactly those needed for a psychology course at Oxford, and what interviewers are looking for.
- Look at the importance of ecologically valid, matched materials, matched participants, age, personality traits, sample size, motivation, experimenter bias, testing intervals among many more. Build up a bank of possible methodological errors - if you can have a good handle on these problems, you'll be in a good place to find the problems in any study. The wide range of problems that occur in this field can be applied to many other fields and paradigms. If presented with any psychology experiment in an interview, you can use some of these ideas as tools to pick holes in an experiment you are presented with. Remain calm and collected and steadily work through the options of what might be wrong with any given experiment!
- Become familiar with some of these key methodological practices: Read research papers, in particular thorny debates, to become accustomed to the types of methodological problems that arise.
If applying for Linguistics, think about what language actually is and how far we can break it down:
- Language can be defined in many different ways, such as how Hockett and Lyons define human language in terms of “features”.
- Think about how animal language does not seem to have these features, and in which ways it is still a “language”. Explore how animals communicate and how their language capabilities are less specialised than human language capabilities, and why this may have occurred from an evolutionary and motivation-driven perspective. From here, you may consider the specificity of human language from a physiological standpoint.
- Linguistics could be represented by an “onion” - think about how far we can break down language. Phonological units were at the centre, with increasingly higher levels of analysis every layer, ending with semantics and pragmatics as the outer two layers.
For Philosophy preparation, many students find logic problems at interview quite tricky: To practise, try out these logic problems: https://imgur.com/a/ojaRZ. Work through the questions in the first four images. Write out all working and go through each possible scenario. Don’t look at mark schemes (in same link) until you have an exact answer!
Work on your interview technique:
- Practise summarising information when presented to you - this is key for a degree at Oxford.
- Define key terms and challenge aspects of the question where appropriate.
- Remember that the interviewers are looking for how you think, rather than whether you know the answers. Try as best as possible to talk them through your thinking, and present your ideas with confidence. And of course always be willing to update your beliefs - this is an inevitable part of science, so is actually a good thing!

PPL Sample Oxbridge Interview Questions

N.B. You would not necessarily be expected to come straight out with an answer to these questions - you may be presented with some material or insight to help you come up with an argument. A question may also relate to something you have mentioned in your personal statement, so the Oxbridge admissions tutor is aware you have explored it to a degree already. Professors also encourage questions e.g. you could ask for a definition of a term or clarification of a concept - this won’t be looked down upon, in fact it shows you are eager to learn and not afraid to ask for help.

Psychology Interview Questions:

How would you design an experiment to test the impact of short-term memory on decision-making processes?
Discuss the ethical implications of conducting psychological experiments on animals and humans, and how these considerations might differ.
Can you explain the concept of cognitive dissonance and provide an example of how it manifests in real-life situations?
Suppose you were to conduct research on the bystander effect. How would you control variables to ensure the validity of your findings?

Philosophy Interview Questions:

What is the nature of truth?
Discuss the concept of free will and its compatibility with determinism.
Can you present arguments for and against the existence of God from a philosophical standpoint?
If you were to design a just society, what principles and values would you prioritise, and why?

Linguistics Interview Questions:

Would you consider Linguistics part of the Arts or part of the Sciences? (The purpose of this one is to see what different facets of Linguistics you are familiar with. Some sections of it, such as Psycholinguistics, seem highly scientific and rely on scientific experimentation. Others, such as Pragmatics, seem to rely on the same sort of analysis that would be required in a literature class. Where would you draw the line?)
Compare and contrast the structure of phonemes in English and a language of your choice. How might this impact language acquisition?
How does language shape thought?
Can you analyse the evolution of a particular word in the English language and its historical context?
What are the challenges in preserving endangered languages, and why is it important to do so?

Interdisciplinary:

How do you see the interplay between language and thought influencing psychological processes like decision-making or memory?
Discuss the ethical implications of using language to influence public opinion and behaviour, drawing connections between linguistics and psychology.
Analyse the philosophical underpinnings of language and its role in shaping cultural identity and understanding.
How might studying the philosophy of mind contribute to our understanding of language acquisition and linguistic development?

How to Prepare for the TSA

All applicants must take the Thinking Skills Assessment, and those applying for Linguistics must also take the linguistics component of the Modern Languages Aptitude Test. Sample papers for both of these can be found online - the best way of preparing is to practise. For the TSA in particular, there are multiple eBooks on Amazon which contain the questions and the worked solutions for the verbal and numerical components of the test. The TSA also contains a short timed essay section. Have a look at past papers to get an idea of what you might be writing about. In the essay, the key thing is to construct a sound argument. Don’t worry about writing loads or filling the essay with facts (though use them if they’ll help) - just make sure you know what you’re saying before you begin writing and try to think critically about the question. If you want to find out more about the TSA and how to secure top marks, see our blog, or our Tackle the TSA course for specific guidance. We also have a fantastic blog on preparing for the Modern Languages Aptitude Test (MLAT) and offer one-to-one preparation sessions with Oxbridge Language/ Linguistics tutors to help you excel in the test.

You should now be well-placed to kickstart your journey of preparing for the Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics (PPL) course at Oxford! Remember, it is crucial to explore the interplay of these disciplines. The PPL course thrives on the synergy between these fields - whether it's unravelling the cognitive underpinnings of language, exploring the philosophical implications of psychological theories, or scrutinising the linguistic aspects of thought, your ability to navigate these intersections will be your compass. Your PPL journey is a wonderful opportunity to gain an understanding of the intricate tapestry of human cognition, communication, and existence - enjoy it!

Searching for Expert PPL Tutoring to Enhance Your Oxford Application?

Our team includes a number of accomplished Oxbridge tutors specialising in Psychology, Philosophy, and Linguistics (PPL). Working closely with each student, our dedicated tutors tailor sessions to prepare students for each component of a PPL application. From preparing for the TSA and/ or MLAT, to crafting impactful personal statements and honing interview skills, our holistic approach equips you for success.

Our Approach:

Experienced PPL Mentors: Our tutors for PPL application support are all Oxbridge PPL latter year undergraduates, graduates or postgraduates from the exact course and are well-versed in the application journey. All mentors are experienced in supporting with personal statement creation, submitted work, and interview readiness, ensuring you're in capable hands.
Initial Assessment: Kick off with a 1.5-hour informal diagnostic session to gauge your current standing in the application process. Following this, we offer detailed feedback and devise a bespoke preparation strategy.
Targeted Tutorial Sessions: Dive deep into personal statement and interview material during our focused tutorials. Our tutors help refine your PPL interests, introduce fresh perspectives, and guide your reading and exploration. Your primary mentor or an additional test-specific tutor will also be able to customise a plan for admissions test preparation.
Flexibility in Learning: Tailor your tutoring frequency, choosing from ad hoc sessions or structured full-prep programmes. Gain access to enriching co-curricular activities like research projects and Oxbridge mock interview days.

We would be delighted if you choose to prepare for your PPL Oxford journey with U2 Tuition!

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