Natural Sciences (Physical) @ Selwyn, Cambridge in 2017

Interview format

Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment; 2x Interviews.

Interview content

Personal statement questions followed by questions in maths, physics, and chemistry.

Best preparation

Do mock interviews.

Test preparation

Do past paper questions under timed conditions.

Final thoughts

Be yourself in the interview and try not to overthink it! Revisiting basic maths skills is recommended.

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: Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment (NSAA)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 30 minutes
Length of interviews: 45 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

I was asked questions relating to my personal statement to ease me in at the start (i.e. on a qualification I took/talk I went to) followed by some maths/physics in the first interview (graph sketching, estimating, explaining what data I would need to do something) and chemistry questions in the other interview (explaining some bonding in a molecule, discussing oxidation states). The first interview felt very scary and intense but I think that was my imagination because the second felt so friendly and welcoming because I was relaxed. It was like talking to a very enthusiastic older student about a topic, rather than a grilling interview. One thing which was hard to get used to is that the interviewers change topic if you seem to be doing well in order to find topics that will challenge you, which can seem disheartening but it’s just to help them be efficient with the time.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

Asked in school for a mock interview which didn’t help at all as the teacher was hopeless, had an interview at another university which was really helpful as I was used to presenting ideas. The best thing I did was thinking I’d done so badly in the first interview, which made me more relaxed and chatty in the second one.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

Do past papers and the maths section of BMAT papers under timed conditions.

What advice would you give to future applicants?

Remember that the interviews are just one small part of the Cambridge application process, and relaxing and being yourself will help you far more than any last-minute revision or stressing. I would definitely focus on taking some time for myself before the interview and maybe being firm with the college about suitable interview times (mine were 9am after travelling 5 hours and arriving at 1am in Cambridge). The interviewers want to see how you respond to new content more than, not how well you know old content, especially in physical sciences where A-level content is quite superficial. Maths as a skill is important to maintain. If you’re in school you’ll be doing maths regularly, but if you’re on a gap year/working I would say make sure you get back in the habits (e.g. a bit of basic calculus).