Psychological And Behavioural Sciences @ King's, Cambridge in 2019

Interview format

Psychological and Behavioural Sciences Admissions Assessment (PBSAA); 1x interview

Interview content

Interview 1: discussion of a source

Best preparation

Told myself I deserved to be there as much as any other student

Test preparation

Used STEPmaths

Final thoughts

Try to enjoy the experience of stretching your knowledge

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: Psychological and Behavioural Sciences Admissions Assessment (PBSAA)
Number of interviews: 1
Length of interviews: 40 mins
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

We talked about a paper I had to read 5 mins before the interview. My personal statement was not brought up. We discussed a source for the majority of the interview. It was hard to relax into initially as I struggled with the source, but once I remembered their intention was to push me, I eased into the comfort of not knowing and questioning. The atmosphere was odd - one of my interviewers was really smiley and encouraging and the other one sat there with a face like thunder, staring. I just chose to ignore him and focus on her.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

Spoke to alumni. YouTube. Recapped psychology topics to make sure I could confidently speak/think about them in the interview. Read over my personal statement. The best thing I did was shifting my mindset through confidence affirmations; I told myself that I deserve to be here just like any other student. That helped reduce anxiety in the interview, so I could assertively sell myself as a good student-without being arrogant either.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

Free trial on STEPmaths had a guide and practice.

What advice would you give to future applicants?

Affirm self belief within yourself so that when you walk into the interview room with professors with a string of doctorates, you feel inspired to be stretched and show your knowledge in the interview, rather than bound by fear and anxiety, making you seize up and hide your capabilities. Don’t internalise an inferiority complex.