Medicine @ Pembroke, Cambridge in 2018

Interview format

Biomedical Admissions Test; 2x interviews

Interview content

Questions about data interpretation; a medical device; and personal interests

Best preparation

Researched interviewers and participated in mock interviews

Test preparation

Practised timed past papers

Final thoughts

Give the application process everything you've got

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: Biomedical Admissions Test (BMAT)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 2 hours
Length of interviews: 45 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

Global health and data interpretation from scientific graphs. I got shown a medical device and asked about principles of how it works and also basic interests and what I want to take away from Cambridge

How did you prepare for your interviews?

I read up on the interviewers - as two of them were immunologists I worked through the A-level immunology booklet (my course in school covered it in less detail and I needed the vocabulary from school).

I participated in mocks organised by students and graduates from Cambridge. One week before the interview I spoke only English just to warm up [Editor's note: this testimony is from an international student]. I think the mocks were immensely helpful and previous Bmat preparation helped.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

Did all the available past papers, wrote a ton of essays with a current Cambridge student reading them and giving me feedback. Made all the tests timed so that I actually recreated the exam conditions

What advice would you give to future applicants?

Be bold and dive deep. Give the interview and BMAT everything you have and do not regret the application. It was one of the busiest times in my life but also the most rewarding experience once I got the offer.

Do past papers and get mocks from charity organisations and if you can, pay for the tutoring (for BMAT not needed, for interviews - very much so). PS [personal statement] can be written yourself, but it is helpful to have a few mentoring sessions.