Engineering @ Newnham, Cambridge in 2018

Interview format

Engineering Admissions Assessment; 2x interviews

Interview content

Interview 1: problem solving questions; Interview 2: personal statements

Best preparation

Thinking over questions about your personal statement

Advice in hindsight

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Final thoughts

Try to think out loud

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

Skype interview: no

Time between interviews: about 4 hours

Length of first interview: 30 minutes; Length of second interview: 30 minutes

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

In the interviews, I was asked some problem solving style questions that I had the knowledge from A-levels to do but required a lot of prompting and nudging from the interviewers. One interview was solely problem based and the other was more about my personal statement. I felt pretty nervous, but the interviewers were really nice and the atmosphere was friendlier than it was scary.

How did you prepare?

To prepare for the test, I did practice papers.

I found it very useful to have a mock interview with my physics teacher where he asked about physics/engineering concepts relating to my personal statement. When it came up, I felt confident I had something to talk about. So it would be a good idea to think about what you have written in your personal statement and what technical questions you might be asked relating to it.

What advice do you have for future applicants?

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

In the interview, try to think out loud. They want to see what you're thinking.