Engineering @ Magdalene, Cambridge in 2018

Interview format

Engineering Admissions Assessment (ENGAA); 2x interviews

Interview content

Interview 1: current affairs; Interview 2: problem-solving questions

Best preparation

Practice questions from similar test papers

Final thoughts

Explain your thought process to the interviewers

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: 1.5 hours
Length of interviews: 30 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

Firstly, they wanted to know my personal opinion on an issue that was in the news recently about engineering - trying to gauge whether I had a genuine interest in the subject. They then moved on to ask two questions where I had to apply the maths and physics I had learnt in year 12 to understand and answer what I believe was happening. Although I was nervous before going in, the interviewers quickly helped me relax. The atmosphere in the room was friendly and coming out I felt excited about the prospects of studying engineering at Cambridge.

How did you prepare?

ENGAA and Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment past papers. To prepare for the interview, simply read over your notes from last year to ensure that you remember the theory behind every topic and how it works. This makes it much easier to then apply what you know to the question.

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

The interviewers just want to understand how you think and how you tackle different problems, so make sure you explain everything that's going through your mind.