How to answer a difficult interview question or one you don’t know the answer to?

Breathe.Try not to panic. While it may seem unfamiliar, Oxbridge interviewers aren’t looking to trick you in any way, and instead want to see how you apply what you know to new situations. There’s no pressure to answer immediately so take some time to prepare yourself.Unpack the question.Listen carefully to all the terms they use, and feel free to clarify any you don’t understand. Start defining them and their boundaries, for example if you were asked: how would you eradicate gender inequalities in society? Start by thinking about inequality - what it is, what examples you can think of and how they operate. Then consider society - is that limited to the home, local, global, or international communities?Think out loud.Like any exam question, it’s important to show your working. Don’t think you have to have a perfect answer to hand, start by drawing on your own examples and then apply them to the question. Pick one and work through it. Perhaps you know about the gender pay gap, start there and consider attempts that have been made to eradicate it. Have they been successful? From this you’ll probably begin to come up with an initial hypothesis.Develop.From your own example, think more broadly about the question. Time, space, and scale are all good factors to use to develop your answer critically. The gender pay gap may have been successfully eradicated but for how many people? Where in the world? Is it the same everywhere? Keep going.Critique your answer, even the question. Consider different approaches or angles to explore. Just remember to listen and respond to what they ask, not what you want to talk about. Reassure yourself that there's no one answer they're looking for.