Linguistics Admissions Assessment

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The information here is for Christ's applicants who have are applying for Linguistics and are required to sit the admissions assessment for Linguistics. This page sets out the instructions. Please see the relevant information below.

All Candidates

The assessments are scheduled to start at 09:30am (UK time) on Wednesday 2 December. If you want to check the time in the UK, please use the world clock. Whilst you are working on your assessment, you will need to be in a Zoom meeting with camera on so that our invigilator can see you and at the end you will need to email your work to us and receive confirmation that we have everything we need before you leave the meeting.
 

STEP 1: Before the assessment - preparation

We emailed each candidate on Monday 30 November with the link details for the assessment, which will be taking place in Zoom. You might find it helpful to have this printed for your table to refer to.

Please make sure that you have access to a desk-top or laptop with a webcam enabled for the assessment. 

We recommend that you go to the toilet before it's time for the email to arrive.
 

STEP 2: Prepare your table

On your table you will need:

• A desk-top or laptop with a webcam enabled for the assessment.
• An ID document e.g. passport or provisional drivers licence
• Pen and paper for planning/notes/scribbles
• a clock or watch to keep track of the time (please do not use a phone for this)
• (you may have a bottle / clear glass of water on your table if you like)

You must be alone in the room, and other devices such as phones should not be with you and should be switched off or silenced to avoid distractions. You will not need any other equipment, notes or other items not specified, and these should not be on your desk.

STEP 3: Receive the 09:15 email

At 09.15am (UK time) on Wed 2 December, we will email the assessment paper to you. The email will be sent from the normal admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk email address. It will have the paper attached for your assessment (though you will not yet be able to open it as the password is given in the meeting) and a reminder of the joining details for the Zoom meeting will be in the body of the email. We will keep it short so as not to distract you.
 

STEP 4: Join the Zoom meeting

Once you receive the email with the paper, please join the Christ's Linguistics Admissions Assessment Zoom meeting:

Please join the Zoom meeting with your name in the following format (work it out in advance):

Your first name (exactly as you wrote it on your UCAS form) then, in brackets, your subject and last two numbers of your UCAS Personal ID
E.g. Sarah (Linguistics 89).

And don't worry, we have checked that no two candidates have the same first name...

We will let you into the Zoom meeting from the waiting room. Bear in mind that we have a number of candidates so you may need to wait a little while in the Zoom waiting room until we are ready for you. Please do not panic if this is the case.
 

STEP 5: Show ID, wait for other candidates, listen to instructions

In the zoom meeting we will ask you to show your ID right at the beginning and tick you off on our register. We may put you back into the waiting room whilst we check other candidates.

Please then wait patiently whilst we do the same for any other candidates who enter after you. Note that we ask you to leave your camera on at all times in the meeting, but please mute your microphone.

We will then talk you through how things will work very briefly and introduce the invigilator.
 

STEP 6: Receive the password

The paper is protected by a password, which we will let you have via the chat function in the Zoom meeting.

We will post the password in the chat at the same time for everyone. 

Once you have the password, you may open the paper and read the coverpage only (this will be the first page only - the one with the instructions for the assessment on it). We will tell you clearly when to begin working. 

Answers should be typed, preferably in a format readable in MS Word. Read the covepage carefully whilst waiting for the assessment to begin. You will not need to write on the paper itself, and you will type your answers in a separate document.

You are welcome to minimise the Zoom screen, to reduce distractions while taking the assessment, but if there are issues, you can communicate with the invigilator privately using the chat function.
 

STEP 7: Normal exam advice applies

• Please check the structure of the paper carefully and ensure that you know a) how long to spend on each part and b) how many questions to answer in each part
• You are expected to keep track of the timing. Please ensure that you can see a clock or are wearing a watch. And we recommend that you write the start time down.
• The invigilator will enable audio with 10 minutes left, to give you a warning.
• You must stop writing when told to.

Please ensure that you are visible in your camera for the duration of the assessment. If you are likely to hunch over your desk, try to angle the camera downward enough that you are still visible, for example.

If the invigilator suspects that you are using anything online, they will communicate with you directly via individual chat. 
 

STEP 8: At the end of the assessment

After you have been told to stop writing, you must stay in the Zoom meeting. Your document must be saved and emailed to admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk whilst you are still in the meeting. Ensure that you save your file with file name in the format

• UCAS number_College_Surname_First Name

You may find it helpful to open and save a document with this name ahead of the assessment.

You need to ATTACH the file to the email (do not include in the body of the email).

We will receive your email and open the attachments to confirm that we have everything. We will tick it off on our register and confirm (by name) that we have your document safely and that you can then leave the meeting.

Please stay in the meeting until we confirm that you can leave (you will need to be patient as there are a number of candidates sitting the assessment and it will take a little time for us to check the material you are sending).

We have not been informed of anyone entitled to extra time, but please let us know as soon as possible if that does apply to you.