Maths @ King's, Cambridge in 2018

Interview format

Sixth Term Examination Paper (STEP); 2x interviews

Interview content

Interview 1: discussion of pre-interview test; Interview 2: personal statement, problem solving

Best preparation

Revise A Level material

Final thoughts

Show your genuine interest in the subject

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: Sixth Term Examination Paper (STEP)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 3 hours
Length of interviews: 30 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

Lots of subject questions in both interviews. I was asked to improve on the answers I had provided in my pre-interview test. Other subject questions that were not related to the test. Little bit of personal statement discussion.

How did you prepare?

For the assessment, I used practice papers, and the STEP support program.

For the interview, I worked through theoretical subject related questions online. However, these questions did not represent the style and difficulty of the actual interview questions. Also watched some example Cambridge interviews which were a better representation of the actual interview. Had a mock interview with a known school teacher, but it did not really represent the actual interview.

The best preparation I did was to ensure I was strong with all of my A Level material and to practice clearly communicating my thoughts to an (imaginary) interviewer.

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

I would advise any future candidate to make sure they really know the subject they are applying for. They should genuinely be interested in the subject and should be able to show it to an interviewer.