Natural Sciences (Physical) @ Gonville & Caius, Cambridge in 2018

Interview format

Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment; 2x interviews

Interview content

Interview 1: Physics Problems; Interview 2: Physical Task, Physics Problems

Best preparation

Little preparation needed

Test preparation

Used previous papers available online and practised timings

Final thoughts

Focus on your A-levels, and think about why you want to study your subject

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: ~1 hour
Length of interviews: 20-30 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

My first interview went nicely. There were two people and they gave me some physics problems. We discussed the ways in which I would solve them. At one point I got nervous and couldn't remember a basic formula and they didn't care and just wrote it down for me - they understood that was nerves! It was a good discussion, I enjoyed it and felt good.

The second interview was much more stressful. While it followed the same format, I got flustered after I struggled with a physical task and responded to some questions with a panicked "I don't know" instead of showing my thoughts. They asked me why I wanted to do physics and I responded simply that I found it fascinating and they said they were pleased with that answer. I thought it went horribly but ultimately I got in, and it's normal to have imperfect interviews!

How did you prepare for your interviews?

I didn't do much to prepare. I had a practice interview with a teacher at school - which turned out to be very unlike the real interview. I was told that the important thing was to show my thought process rather than to get things right and there wasn't anything to prepare.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

I looked at previous NSAA papers which were available online. I found them very hard, and panicked thinking I would do horribly. But it was fine in the end! The key isn't so much prep as just practising the timing (it's tight!) and not being afraid to give things a go when you haven't encountered them before.

What advice would you give to future applicants?

My advice would be to not worry too much about prepping. Just keep working on your A-levels, and have a little think about why you want to do the subject you've applied for.

They're genuinely interested in a two-way discussion on problems and expect that you will learn something in the interview - not already know everything! If you struggle with nerves, like I did, don't be afraid to say you need a moment and take a couple deep breaths.