Economics Admissions Assessment; 2x interviews
Interview 1: personal statement, economics/math questions; Interview 2: article discussion, math problem.
Math revision, revisiting books mentioned in personal statement, mock interview.
Ask for help if needed, don't raise concepts you're unfamiliar with.
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.
Test taken:
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 1-2 hours
Length of interviews: About half an hour
Online interview: No
In my first interview I talked a little about some topics in my personal statement. I was then given a differentiation problem and asked some general Economics questions.
For the second interview, I was given an article to read beforehand and discuss. I had read a book mentioned in the article so I also discussed my thoughts on that. I was then given a (quite simple, and more Economics-focused than before) Maths problem.
The interviewers in the second interview really challenged what I said to have me justify myself, whereas the first set of interviewers seemed more passive. I was not told whether I solved either of the problems correctly.
I didn't prepare very much because I had a medical issue in the fortnight leading up to my interview, but I read through my Maths notes and reviewed some of the books I had mentioned in my personal statement. I also did a
I did the practice tests available on the Cambridge website and got a prep book off Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultimate-ECAA-Guide-Techniques-UniAdmissions/dp/099357114X/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3YR0NDWI92HM&dchild=1&keywords=ecaa+cambridge&qid=1601456696&sprefix=ecaa+%2Caps%2C145&sr=8-2), although I was a bit disappointed with the book I bought since it clearly had questions taken from BMAT / UKAT papers.
Don't be off-put by any lack of reaction from the interviewers. Ask for help if you are stuck (I found the first Maths question I was given very difficult to get started on until I was given a hint by my interviewers).
As far as I remember the only Maths-related things I was asked were on calculus, but I had reviewed the whole A-Level syllabus,
Don't mention any words or concepts that you are not completely familiar with (I started talking about hysteresis, which I only knew a very vague definition of, the interviewers then asked me to define it which I really struggled with). Answer the question they've asked you, not the question you wish they'd asked you.