Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment, 2x interviews.
Interview 1: Biology focused; Interview 2: Chemistry focused.
Get enough sleep the night before, try to relax before you go in!
Focus more on problem solving rather than memorisation.
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.
Test taken:
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 1 hour
Length of interviews: 30-40mins
Online interview: No
We talked about academic problems; one interview was more focused on Biology, the other more on Chemistry. I was asked problems related to Maths, Biology and Chemistry.
I was introduced to some new concepts and had to apply new knowledge. I was nervous at first but relaxed into it. The atmosphere was calm, so I didn’t feel judged at all :)
For the written assessment I used practice papers and an
To prepare for my interview, I spoke to applicants in my year and my teachers. The best thing I did was getting an early night and chatting to distract myself before the interviews! My preparation had almost
I expected to be asked specific, fact-based questions rather than problems. If I could repeat the interview experience, I would be less nervous and relax into the interview, and stress less about revising beforehand as it wasn’t needed. The interviewers wanted to see how I thought through problems, rather than if I could recall facts.