Chemical Engineering @ Jesus, Cambridge in 2018

Interview format

Engineering Admissions Assessment (ENGAA); 2x interviews

Interview content

Interview 1: maths questions, problem-solving; Interview 2: chemistry questions, mechanics

Best preparation

Past papers

Final thoughts

Be prepared to talk about any work experience you have.

Remember this advice isn't official. There is no guarantee it will reflect your experience because university applications can change between years. Check the official Cambridge and Oxford websites for more accurate information on this year's application format and the required tests.

Also, someone else's experience may not reflect your own. Most interviews are more like conversations than tests and like, any conversation, they are quite interactive.

Interview Format

Test taken: Engineering Admissions Assessment (ENGAA)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 2 hours
Length of interviews: 15-20 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

I had one maths and one science interview. For the maths interview, I collected an envelope of questions beforehand and had 20 minutes to complete them, before being taken to the interview where I went through them with two interviewers. The questions in the interview predominantly focused on the questions I found difficult.

For the science interview, I had two interviewers. We discussed chemistry for the first half of the interview and a mechanics question for the second half, having time to ask questions after that.

How did you prepare?

I used old ENGAA papers and some PAT paper questions.

Looking back, what advice would you give to your past self?

Don’t spend too much time going over your personal statement before an interview if it’s for a STEM subject: focus only on work experience to discuss in interview.