Natural Sciences (Physical) @ Gonville & Caius, Cambridge in 2019

Interview format

Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment; 2x interviews.

Interview content

Interview 1: discussion on preferred course modules, subject-related problems; Interview 2: single extended problem.

Best preparation

Mock interviews, recapping personal statement and A Level content.

Final thoughts

Be honest about what you don't know; don't be afraid to pause for a while before answering.

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: 20 minutes
Length of interviews: 30 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

My first interview started with a discussion on which modules I thought I would be likely to take (this put me on edge a bit, because I couldn't remember the course structure exactly). We then went through two or three problems, with me being prompted to the next stage of each.

My second interview worked through a single extended problem, considering it in different situations and considering different parts of it. Again, although I had to provide the thinking, I was guided into each part of the problem, and each bit was quite small.

Before my first interview a random professor showed me his office, and explained a bit about what his work focused on. Pretty random, but a nice way to settle the nerves.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

I had two practice interviews at my school, although neither of these was very similar to the actual one. On my way to the interview I re-read my personal statement, and I revised a bit of the A-level course I couldn't remember so well, but again once in the interview I pretty much just needed my brain; it was more about thinking than remembering.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

I did two sets of practice papers, available from the uni website. These really helped me work out which sections I was most likely to do, although I found the actual test quite a bit harder than the practices (although everyone else said that as well)

What advice would you give to future applicants?

I got a bit flustered about trying to prove myself. In the first interview, I should probably just have said that I couldn't remember exactly what parts of the course there were. I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more if I went in completely honest from the start.

Prepare yourself to sit in silence if you need to think for a moment before you explain what you are thinking: it feels really awkward but if that's the way you need to think then you might as well (also, one second will feel like ten but it's really not that long).