Economics @ Pembroke, Cambridge in 2018

Interview format

ECAA,STEP; 2x interviews

Interview content

Interview 1: academic; Interview 2: general, interest in subject

Best preparation

Using past papers

Final thoughts

Don't overthink it.

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:ECAA, STEP

Number of interviews: 2

Skype interview: no

Time between interviews: 30 minutes

Length of first interview: 10-15 minutes; Length of second interview: 10-15 minutes

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

Was as expected, the first interview was academic. They ask questions related to subject. The questions were as expected: if you don’t fully get the answer then they help you a little.

Second interview was more general, why you like the subject and what do you hope to do after uni. I was pretty calm, kept the interviews more as a conversation and less as a q&a - I even threw in a joke.

How did you prepare?

For the test I used past papers.

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

Don’t think about it too much, once you are there waiting for interview - I didn’t do any work just relaxed. Keep the interview as a conversation and not a q&a. From my interview they are looking for the correct answer and not just the way you think but as long as you can use the help they give you to answer the question, you will be fine.