Natural Sciences (Biological) @ King's, Cambridge in 2015

Interview format

Test (1hr), 2x interviews (30 mins)

Interview content

Discussing experiments, graph sketching, molecule drawing.

Best preparation

School prep sessions going over previous questions.

Final thoughts

Don't over-analyse your answers during or after, getting something wrong isn't always bad.

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

A 1 hour written paper followed by two half hour interviews. Two interviewers in each interview, each with a different field of speciality.

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

Chemistry and maths problems, hypothetical experimental designs, discussion. It was very informal and the interviewers tried to make me feel as relaxed as possible. They made allowances for nerves and gave me time to answer but prompted me with help if I needed it.

Once I got over initial nerves, I strangely quite enjoyed the second interview. I had to sketch a couple of graphs, some chemical molecules, discuss an experiment that involved different organisms interacting, and other things.

How did you prepare?

My school organised weekly interview prep sessions for me, one on one with different teachers. We tackled tricky problems based on questions asked to applicants in previous years.

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

Don't over analyse your answers or the questions when you come out. Getting things wrong doesn't mean the interview went badly.