Hello, Rawspaws,
The FAQ on Work focussed interviews (and how many you have to attend) is here:
Work Focussed Interviews also:
Where to get advice? IMO as for ringing to find out the information you need, have you got someone that can ring on your behalf and take down the answers for you?
Also depending on what part of the country you live in, DIAL may be able to help:
www.dialuk.info/ Best to ring them as the info on their website isn't always up to date.
The only other thing I can think of, is in our area we have a drop-in benefits shop, they would have helped me with, for instance, an appeal, had I decided to go down that route. There might be something like that in your area.
Good luck