Engineering @ Queens', Cambridge in 2016

Interview format

ENGAA; 2x interviews

Interview content

Interview 1: subject-related problems; Interview 2: subject-related problems, personal statement, discussion of personal projects

Best preparation

Practice your A Level maths and physics

Advice in hindsight

-

Final thoughts

Include 'super'-curriculars related to engineering in your statement

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: Engineering Admissions Assessment (ENGAA)

Number of interviews: 2

Skype interview: no

Time between interviews: 30 minutes

Length of first interview: 30 minutes; Length of second interview: 30 minutes

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

The first interview was just maths and physics questions. There were two interviewers who gave you a sheet of paper with a question on it. You had to talk through the question as you were answering it. Extension questions were then discussed, to get you to think around the question. We got through about 3 or 4 questions.

The second interview was divided into half. The first half was spent doing pure maths questions in the same format and style as the first interview. The second involved discussing my personal statement, the internship I had been doing at the time, and project work that I had brought to the interview as requested by this particular college.

How did you prepare?

I just practiced the hardest questions from the exercises in my A-level maths (mainly mechanics) and physics syllabus - the questions are not harder than this standard. You need to be very very good and solid on the content you have covered so most of time should be spent on this. There is also lots of time pressure in the test, so practice time management.

What advice do you have for future applicants?

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

Your personal statement needs to prove that you have an extra-curricular interest in Engineering, so you need to make sure you have lots of examples of this - for example, one thing I said was about repair works I have done on my car. This is very important, the academics is kind of like a tick in the box if you have it or not, but the extra stuff you have done will get you the place.[Editor's note: It is important to engage with your subject, but academic potential is at the core of what is being assessed.]