There were three interview spread throughout a day, each with two interviewers lasting half an hour. The first was a 'general' interview where we discussed my interest in the subject and about things on my personal statement. The second and third interviews were technical.

For the first, the college circulated two problems beforehand for which we had to present a solution to one. The problem were very open to interpretation which enables you to show the interviewers your thought process. After presenting my solution the interviewers identified a mistake I made in a calculation which I corrected, but ended up not changing the final conclusion. I was then asked follow-up questions related to the first problem.

The final interview consisted of a presentation about a topic of my choice for which I had to prepare 3 powerpoint slides in advance. The slides presented a problem and outlined possible approaches to a solution, however this part of the interview was quite rushed and I ended up not able to say some things that I wanted to. After this I was given a problem about an electric circuit, which I was hurried through by being given hints at every pause for thought. Finally I was asked some questions about life at the college.

The interviewers were friendly and seemed interested in what was said, which helped me feel comfortable and calm during the whole procedure. Technical questions varied in scope from very open-ended to a single correct answer, but all allowed me to show how I was thinking as I approached each.

For the first technical interview I chose a problem about force and then related it to further issues as they introduced complexities.

For the second technical interview. I chose a problem relating to space technologies and again they got me to expand my thinking and consider different angles.

I read the free items on the Engineering reading list and mentioned what I thought of them in my personal statement. I had a look at a few problems on http://i-want-to-study-engineering.org/. I was organising a gap year placement at an engineering company, as so was applying for deferred entry. My school conducted short mock interviews, but did not tailor them to each subject. I attended an open day where we could speak to current studentsabout application.

The technical interviewers are much more interested in how you approach problems and how you respond to supervision-style assistance than in you getting correct answers quickly under pressure. Knowing this let me stay calm even when an error was spotted in my working.