Maths @ Emmanuel, Cambridge in 2015

Interview format

2x interviews (40mins)

Interview content

Problem solving based

Best preparation

Practice STEP as soon as you can

Final thoughts

Don't worry about the interview after

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

I had two interviews, fairly close together in the morning, with each one lasting about 40 minutes. Both of my interviews consisted of two interviewers. The interview were focussed almost completely on problem solving. I didn't have any tests to take. Current students took me to both interviews and reassured me on the way which helped calm some nerves

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

I would say both interviews felt ok at the time. The problems given to me were quite varied; I was asked problems on graph theory, probability, and geometry. I remember misunderstanding what one of the questions meant, but once I had asked for clarification I made progress on the problem, so there's no harm in asking this. Some of the problems were quite open ended, and if I was stuck on what to say they sometimes gave a small hint to put me in the right direction, or to think differently about a problem.

How did you prepare?

The best preparation for interview, and in fact for applying to maths at Cambridge in general, is to start practicing STEP questions. These teach you to think more about a problem compared with A level questions, and so should prepare you well for working through problems in the interview. I started doing this as early as the summer of year 12 and this helped a great deal with getting in.

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

It's best not to stress too much about interviews, as it's just one factor of many they take into account when considering applications. It's also worth pointing out it is very hard to judge how well an interview went so it's not worth worrying about afterwards.