I stayed overnight the night before as I had a long journey. Had breakfast with other interviewees in the morning and lunch since both my interviews were in the afternoon.

Both interviews lasted about half an hour, towards the end of the day. During the day, whilst I waited, I sat in the common room of Clare and chatted to some other interviewees. We went for a sneaky look round Kings College after lunch, which was fun.

Two people interviewing me in each interview. One Chemistry interview. One Physics/Maths interview. Both interviews were technical and consisted of questions that we worked through together, usually each lasting about 10 minutes.

Neither interviewer asked about my interest in the subject, anything I had read or any of my extracurriculars. They are more interested in your ability to think through the problems they put in front of you. In both the interviews I was writing my processes/calculations kind of side on, on some blank paper, so the interviewers could see what I was writing.

Physics/maths interview: a question on light refraction, using trigonometrical formula I hadn't yet been taught. A bit panicky at first but the interviewers are helpful and push you in the right direction as long as you are saying your thought process outloud. I had to sketch a given function - a bit more familiar, and one of the only things I would recommend you practise before an interview - a really classic question, so learn how to work through it methodically so you are calm if you have to do it in this situation. Finally a force/momentum balance question in relation to a particular machine with further prompting on what would happen if I changed different parameters. This was enjoyable and felt like I was learning something whilst showing what I could do at the same time. The interviewers weren't exactly warm but were matter of fact and helpful.

Chemistry interview: a question on a new planet (moon?) that had been discovered at the time and the analytical techniques you might you use on materials there to determine their composition. Prompting on why each technique was useful in its own way. Kinetics/thermodynamics calculation, changes in rate constants - prompting to beyond A-Level on changing parameters/physical interpretation (e.g. what happens when I change this, what does that mean for the actual quantities, what would you expect to see in the lab?). Possibly an organic chemistry mechanism but I can't quite remember - looking at different mechanisms and seeing what was the fundamental step which made them different from one another (maybe??). I got a bit panicked in my chemistry interview because I forgot some of my formulas, and required a lot of deep breathing/taking my jumper off to give myself time to chill out. It was a nifty trick. The Chemistry interviewer was very eccentric which threw me off a bit, so that's something to expect.

I had one practice interview by my school teacher which helped me talk through my thought processes. I didn't do massive amounts of preparation, I would say the best thing is to make sure you are really really comfortable with the basic concepts you have been taught in A-Level (not in a textbook way, in an understanding way) so that you can apply them.

A piece of advice: do NOT guess out of thin air. Always start from a small point/calculation and work from that, if you get stuck: ask. Remember that it isn't about getting an answer but how you reach it. If you get an answer that is clearly wildly wrong, go back through your work and discuss with the interviewer where you think you may have made a mistake.

A few things to practise: sketching functions using a methodical technique (maxima, minima, change through zero, change at +ve/-ve infinity etc); estimating questions e.g. how many coins fit in the Eiffel Tower?. Didn't get one of these but they are pretty common. Find a technique that works for you so you don't panic in the interview; know ballpark numbers for said estimation questions e.g. density of water, acceleration due to gravity; revise basic formulae (e.g. chemistry kinetic equations etc). I think the questions asked, at least at Clare, are fairly formulaic in that you will probably get two on material you have covered in school and one more estimating/sketching question.

Also consider whether you enjoyed your interview. Do you like that style of teaching? Do you like being stretched beyond the work you have done? That's how a lot of science supervisions go so it is a reasonably accurate representation of how some parts of your life in Cambridge would be.