Natural Sciences (Physical) @ Clare, Cambridge in 2015

Interview format

2x interviews (25 mins each)

Interview content

Questions at step above A-level

Best preparation

Mock interviews

Final thoughts

It's not a bad thing to ask for hints.

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

I arrived the day before my interview, and was greeted by a current student who showed me to my room for the night. I went to the canteen for dinner, and chilled out in the Junior Common Roomwith other candidates in the evening.

I had two interviews the next morning after a canteen breakfast, with two interviewers in each. One for chemistry and one for physics. Each interview was about 25 minutes long. There were no tests.

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

In the physics interview we discussed three physics problems, which required A level information, but were more advanced.

How did you prepare?

I had a teacher at school conduct a mock interview. This was very helpful as it involved going through tricky questions in front of other people so I wasn't as terrified when I had to do it in the actual interview. Try to have as many mock interviews as you can.

Looking back, what advice would you give to your past self?

An interview where you had to ask for some hints is not necessarily a bad thing, as you are supposed to be stretched in your interview. Almost everyone I know who got in thought that their interviews didn't go too well because of this reason. When you are given a hint, if you are able to take what they have said and progress, you will be doing well.