I had 2x30 minute interviews in the same day, with about an hour between them - the first one seemed to follow set questions and the second was discussion of an article which I'd had some time previously to read and annotate.

My first interview was much more specific and focused on the maths/biological aspect of Psychology than I'd anticipated. I could answer barely any of these questions, and it felt horrible--I'd known most applicants had a maths/bio background but decided to try anyway [Editor's Note: Remember this student still got into Cambridge]. I could feel the interviewers' surprise at my ignorance of some probably quite basic things and I was honestly on the verge of crying throughout. I kept trying however, and decided it was better to look ignorant than unwilling or uninterested - so I struggled through my thought processes out loud. They asked me one or two questions about what I would like to research and what I'd bring to psychology only as an after thought. At the end, when they asked me if I had any questions, I figured what do I have to lose? I asked them about the answers to the questions I hadn't known, and they were happy to explain them to me.

I went and had a good cry and chain-smoked outside till I got a grip, then came in and was taken to the library by one of the lovely student reps. I read and annotated an article for discussion (which calmed me down a lot!) then was taken to my second interview. This went loads better! The discussion of the article lead naturally on to some other questions about research methods for hypothetical situations - here I stumbled over stats again but most of the questions didn't need a maths/bio background so I could shine a bit. I actually enjoyed it, despite my emotional exhaustion - it needed critical thinking and articulacy, but that was all.

None of the preparation I did ended up being relevant (which was a shame, because I did a lot!) In the end, the best advice anyone ever gave me turned out to be: they're not looking for the "right" answers, they're looking at the way you approach problems and deal with not knowing the answer.

I applied and did my a levels while living independently in supported housing, using food banks and on income support - it doesn't matter if you went to a fancy private school or had all the best tutoring. It matters how your mind works and if you're ready to learn.