Engineering @ Emmanuel, Cambridge in 2019

Interview format

Engineering Admissions Assessment (ENGAA); 2x interviews

Interview content

Interview 1: physics and mechanics questions; Interview 2: maths and physics questions, discussion of a chosen topic

Best preparation

Researched current projects within engineering

Test preparation

Physics and Maths Tutor website

Final thoughts

Don't be afraid you don't know an answer

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: 30 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

There were no personal questions (nothing on the personal statement, or why I chose engineering or Cambridge). In my first interview it was just a physics question (electricity) and a mechanics question. In the second one, we talked for 5 minutes about pros and cons of genetic engineering (which I had previously chosen as a topic of discussion) and then they asked me some more maths and physics questions.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

I revised all the physics and maths syllabus of the A Level I had done until then. I researched a topic relating to the type of Engineering I wanted to study, as well as knew some projects that were going on/news relating to Engineering.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

I did lots of practice papers from "Physics and Maths Tutor".

What advice would you give to future applicants?

Don't be afraid to say that you don't know something. They don't expect you to know everything, but they do expect you to try and figure it out. Think out loud, don't rush, and give yourself time to think.