Economics @ Christ's, Cambridge in 2021

Interview format

Economics Admissions Assessment; 2x interviews

Interview content

Discussions about Maths and Economics

Best preparation

Practice interviews; Revised A-level content; Free mentoring programmes

Test preparation

Practised past papers; Analysed articles from publications

Final thoughts

Take each stage as it comes- it's an opportunity to show your talents

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: Economics Admissions Assessment (ECAA)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 15 minutes
Length of interviews: 50 minutes & 30 minutes
Online interview: Yes

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

Maths and Economics discussions - it's not as bad as people think it is and I treated it more as an opportunity than a test. You are given the opportunity to discuss the subject you love with professionals in the field and (at least in my experience) they weren't trying to catch you out - they really want to see the best from you.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

I practiced mock interviews with teachers, mentors, parents and friends. Even if they don't understand economics, just speaking about economics out loud can be really good preparation.

I revised my A-Level content in case I needed to apply that knowledge.

I was part of two mentoring programmes (The Oxbridge Launchpad and Zero Gravity) so my mentors were the most helpful people when preparing for interviews and their advice and support made a huge difference to the interview process.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

Practice papers (from ECAA, TMUA [Test of Mathematics for University Admission -https://www.admissionstesting.org/for-test-takers/test-of-mathematics-for-university-admission/] , TSA, MAT, analysing articles from journals and economics publications (for the essay section - not relevant for the TMUA), A-Level papers under greater time constraints

What advice would you give to future applicants?

My advice would be to take each stage as it comes. This is an opportunity to show your talents to the interviewers and engage in academic conversation with those at the top of your field. If you're anything like I was, you might be quite nervous but there's honestly no need to worry. They're looking to admit students - why can't it be you they choose?