Maths @ Sidney Sussex, Cambridge in 2017

Interview format

1x test, 1x interview (~40 mins, 2 interviewers)

Interview content

Interview based on test questions; helpful interviewers

Best preparation

Attempting questions from MAT (the maths admissions test) and STEP papers; mock interview with teacher

Final thoughts

Interviewers were helpful not intimidating

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 a one hour maths exam with ten questions and was told to attempt the questions I found interesting. We were not expected to answer all the questions in just one hour. I then had a 40 minute interview with two interviewers based on the exam.

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

The interview was based entirely on the exam. First we went through the questions that I had completed in the exam, then we moved onto a question which I had done half of but not completed and then we worked through the questions I did not attempt in the exam. The interviewers were very helpful to point my in the right direction when I got stuck.

How did you prepare?

Attempting problems from MAT (the maths admissions test - this may no longer be running) and STEP papers was very helpful preparation. I found it useful to make sure that I could explain my thinking as I was working through the problems. My maths teacher also organised a mock interview for me, which was probably very good preparation

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

Not much. I was worried it would be quite intimidating but the interviewers were very helpful