Natural Sciences (Physical) @ Emmanuel, Cambridge in 2020

Interview format

Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment (NSAA); 2x interviews.

Interview content

Interview 1: 2 maths-based questions; Interview 2: 2 chemistry-related questions.

Best preparation

Revising the A-Level syllabus, re-reading books mentioned in personal statement, doing a mock interview.

Test preparation

Doing previous NSAA papers.

Final thoughts

Think out loud so the interviewer knows your train of thought; don't be afraid to pause during the interview.

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: roughly 1 hour
Length of interviews: 20 minutes each
Online interview: Yes

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

The first interview was more mathmatical, I was given 2 questions. The first was a pure maths question while the other was applying maths to a new scientfic concept. I did not finish the first question as we only had a limited amount of time in each interview, but before we moved on I was given a chance to explain what I'd do next to finish off the question. These questions didn't contain any very difficult content but you had to know what maths to choose and formulate your own equations given the information in the question.

My second interview was a chemistry interview (I could chose, beforehand, whether it would be a physics or chemistry interview). Again I had 2 questions in this interview, and I felt that this one was a bit harder as I had to apply my understanding to a completly new idea and predict and explain trends. I wasn't asked about my personal statement or why I wanted to study this course etc, we just jumped straight into questions- however this will vary depending on your subject.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

I made sure I was confident in all my A-Level work by revising everything I had covered in school. I also re-read some sections of books that I mentioned on my personal statement. I had a practice interview at school although this wasn't very useful as my school didn't really understand what would be expected at an Oxbridge interview. I also made sure I was very confident on all areas of my personal statement in case anything was followed up on.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

I did all the previous NSAA tests available online - starting off untimed, then under timed conditions as time is the biggest pressure. However my year was the first year of a new format of test so I could only practice 1 section.

What advice would you give to future applicants?

Just try and enjoy your interview, if you enjoy it then it means you're more likely going to enjoy the style of teaching at Oxbridge. Also don't try and analyse your performance because I thought I had no chance after my admission test and my interview didn't go well enough. Make sure you think out loud so your interviewer can pick up on your train of thought but don't just talk to fill the silence - it's ok to pause and think even as awkward as it might feel at the time.