Test taken: Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment (NSAA)
Number of interviews: 1
Length of interviews: 30-35 minutes
Online interview: Yes

After a quick introduction and discussing which subjects I might take specifically, the interview was split (half led by each interviewer present) to cover two of those subjects. The first interviewer asked me quite a few shorter, mostly A-level related questions; I had to draw for some answers and hold them up to the camera, and briefly discuss a few issues that might come up. I tried to verbalise some of my thinking and not rush to the answer, but also show them what I knew. There were a few questions on unfamiliar issues to see if I could deduce answers from what we had just done. I started to relax as I felt it was going fairly smoothly.

The second interviewer prompted me to work through one longer problem, based on content I hadn’t been taught before. As I did so, they wrote my working on a virtual whiteboard and added information or hints where needed. Once we arrived at a numerical answer we discussed its significance and the new subject a bit. I definitely felt more nervous and put on the spot here as I had to learn something and apply it during the interview, but I did feel that the interviewer(s) actually wanted me to understand and solve the question. After that, we thanked each other and they ended the interview.

I made sure I knew exactly what I’d said in my personal statement and had a few specific scientific topics I could say a bit more about it asked. I read the uni website advice for interviews and watched some of their YouTube videos as I didn’t really know what to expect. I practiced answering general questions about why I wanted to study natural sciences with a parent, and had post-it notes from that around my laptop with things I would want to say (however my interview was almost purely technical i.e. talking through actual chemistry / materials science). My sixth form provided one mock interview that was around half an hour, where we talked through several shorter science questions, which did make me realise I needed to stop and think carefully about the problem before trying to answer.

Practice papers from the uni website, as many as possible; also general revision of A level content (maths, chemistry, physics) using textbooks, Seneca website, and googling anything that came up in a practice paper that I didn’t understand

Don’t approach it thinking the interviewers are trying to catch you out or make you fail. It’s less stressful (and hopefully true!) to think that the interviewers are hoping you’ll do well and demonstrate how much you know and can learn. If it’s a problem solving question: process the question, decide where to start, and then talk through your main reasoning out loud instead of sitting in silence - if you get on the right track, hopefully interviewers will prompt you to carry on, and if you get on the wrong track, they might point something out to make you rethink and get it right.

Deep breaths before the interview, and before speaking during it if you’re nervous. Smile, take time to greet the interviewers properly and try and get a bit more comfortable around them before the questions start. If they ask whether you’ve been taught/come across something specific, be honest! I didn’t know what a term meant during the interview and they simply explained it to me.