Natural Sciences (Physical) @ Churchill, Cambridge in 2020

Interview format

Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment (NSAA); 2x interviews

Interview content

Entirely subject-based questions

Best preparation

Practised talking about the subject, including mock interviews

Test preparation

Completed timed practice questions; Revised from released curriculum

Final thoughts

Keep calm: you're not expected to know everything

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: No wait
Length of interviews: ~20 minutes
Online interview: Yes

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

Started with some easy maths, then went on to more thought-provoking questions related to maths and physics. All subject-based: nothing about hobbies or anything.

They encouraged me to expand on answers and helped if I got stuck, it wasn't intimidating as they seemed to want me to do well

How did you prepare for your interviews?

Mock interviews with anyone who will give them, don't need to be an expert though if can get teachers etc that's ideal, just good to practice talking about the subject and have to get used to talking through your working

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

The university releases a curriculum of all the content which I revised from, as well as practice questions from random websites and NSAA prep questions books. The hardest thing is time pressure so timed practice is key

What advice would you give to future applicants?

Try to keep calm and speak your thoughts in the interview, they're looking for potential to learn and adapt to things they tell you, and that you are okay with struggling and getting things wrong not just getting it all right