Maths @ Christ's, Cambridge in 2020

Interview format

Sixth Term Examination Paper (STEP); 2x interviews

Interview content

Questions on calculus and graph-sketching.

Best preparation

Mock interview; practise graph-sketching and Olympiad questions; be familiar with your school syllabus.

Test preparation

Practised the previous year's STEP paper.

Final thoughts

Don't worry about nervous mistakes ruining your chances.

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: 30 minutes
Length of interviews: 30 minutes
Online interview: Yes

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

During maths interviews, you will likely not be asked to comment on your personal statement. The interview will be purely based on problem solving. The only specific themes I recommend paying special attention to are differentiation, integration and sketching graphs.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

I found a Cambridge maths student who agreed to organize a mock interview for me. That helps to understand the style of questions you are likely to be asked and also plan your reactions to questions which are a bit too hard at first.

Of course, be familiar with the school syllabus.

Specific maths advice – practise sketching graphs – for some reason, this is really important. Also, light Mathematical Olympiad experience helps, as the questions you will be asked during the interview are not very original or obscure – if you’ve spent some time doing mathematical problems outside of the classroom, you are likely to encounter something familiar during the interview.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

I solved last year’s STEP paper to understand the style of problems and create a strategy for getting the most points.

What advice would you give to future applicants?

The Oxbridge interview is a genuinely good tool for testing applicants. Do not worry that some quirks of yours or nervous mistakes will ruin your chances – unlike a written test, the interviews are actually good for testing the stuff that matters.