Natural Sciences (Physical) @ Peterhouse, Cambridge in 2019

Interview format

Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment; 2x interviews.

Interview content

Interview 1: maths based, graphing; Interview 2: chemical model, chemistry calculations.

Best preparation

Read around the subject.

Test preparation

Past papers.

Final thoughts

Try to relax if you can!

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: 2 hours
Length of interviews: 20 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

1st interview - I was given an equation and told to solve it, then given a different one and told to give the approach on how to solve it. Then they gave me a problem sheet relating to graphing. 

2nd interview -  I was given a situation on buoyancy and told to explain what would happen in the situation. They prompted me a bit. Then I was given a chemical model and told to make some calculations from it.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

I read books around the subject and previous interviews for other universities also helped me. 

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

Past papers.

What advice would you give to future applicants?

Don't stress too much over it, you perform better when you are comfortable than stressed.