I was interviewed in early December with the majority of applicants. I stayed in the college overnight before the interview as I live a long way from Cambridge.

In the morning I had breakfast in the collage hall. My first interview was a chemistry based one, I was guided to the room by a current student. Whilst waiting for my interview I could just about make out the end of the interview before me (it was not going well). I was (obviously) asked different questions.

I had about an hours wait in-between interviews which was spent in the JCR with other candidates and student reps(who were very reassuring in my panic). My second interview was much the same. Both interviews lasted around 45mins but they did not feel nearly that long.

The chemistry interview began with a fairly simple mathematical question on chemical calculations (I was allowed to use a calculator which was provided) this seemed to serve as a warm up for the later questions. The rest of the questions were on organics. Some involved concepts I had not yet covered but I simply pointed this out to the interviewers and they walked me through the basics before proceeding.

The physics interview was more varied with some pure maths and graph sketching as well as open-ended experiment based questions (for which I presented like 25 wrong solutions). These questions were harder than the ones I faced in chemistry. I often required hints from the interviewer to get to a correct answer. I remember being presented with a list of ~6 functions and the interviewer picking one out for me to sketch but he chose the easiest looking one and I was terrified that I had already failed and he was taking pity by giving me an easy question. This (fortunately) turned out not to be the case.

Both interviews consisted entirely of scientific questions, no mention of personal statements or other interests.

I prepared for the pre-interview assessment by doing the past papers and those from Oxford. I had 3 practice interviews with teachers and one with an academic. The interviews with teachers were actually closer to the real thing, but I found I struggled to be open and enthusiastic with them; a problem I did not have with the actual interviewers. I don't feel the practice interviews (at least the ones I had) are a good way to build confidence. I also attended sessions where applicants from my school quizzed each other on our personal statements, but this turned out to be a complete waste of time.

Try and be as enthusiastic as possible for your interview, leave a little silence as possible, give suggestions even if your 90% sure they're wrong and maybe ask them a few questions, even if you're a naturally shy and quiet person (as I am). Do you best, and try to leave the panic and uncertainty for afterwards where it can't affect your chances.