Engineering @ Pembroke, Cambridge in 2016

Interview format

2x interviews (30 mins each); 1x test (30 mins)

Interview content

First interview: longer questions; Second interview: taking test content further

Best preparation

Mock interviews; IWTSE; Maths/Physics Olympiad questions; Professor Povey's Perplexing Questions; going over school work

Final thoughts

Fluency in maths is key

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

30 minutes general interview (long challenging questions); test (30 minutes - fairly standard A-Level content - time pressured); 30 minutes second interview (to discuss test questions and go beyond the questions to discuss more challenging concepts)

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

Essentially a conversation where you discuss your thoughts and ideas as you attempt to answer the questions - the interviewer may steer you in the correct direction if required - never forget to say what you are thinking!

Interview questions touched on areas including density, some circuit analysis, integration, graph sketching, fairly easy complex number stuff, mechanics questions and some probability.

How did you prepare?

Mock interviews (ask friends in the same subject area); I Want To Study Engineering (IWTSE); maths and physics Olympiad questions; 'Professor Povey's Perplexing Problems' - this is a good book with lots of Engineering interview questions; being confident at your normal school work (A-Levels in my case).

Looking back, what advice would you give to your past self?

Fluency in maths is very important.