Land Economy @ Fitzwilliam, Cambridge in 2021

Interview format

Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA), 2x interviews

Interview content

Interpreting graphs and data, then discussing it

Best preparation

Practice talking about subject

Test preparation

Past papers

Final thoughts

Don't see it as a test of knowledge

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: Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 1 hour
Length of interviews: 30 mins
Online interview: Yes

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

In both my interviews the interviewers presented me with graphs and data and asked me to interpret them, then we had a discussion about it together.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

I did some mock interviews with my Dad the day before, but didn’t really prepare specially because I was busy around that time. What I did do though was look at who was interviewing me and check out what their recent research/work was. Some interviewers will literally present you with their last public presentation, this was the case with me, meaning I was able to interpret the interviewer's findings exactly like he did. Probably the reason I got selected.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

Barely did prepare, just did a couple of old TSAs before

What advice would you give to future applicants?

The interviews aren’t knowledge tests, they want to see how you think and how you react to difficult curveball situations and questions