Psychological And Behavioural Sciences @ Sidney Sussex, Cambridge in 2018

Interview format

PBSAA, 2x 30 minute interviews

Interview content

Interview 1: GCSE-level maths questions, questions about neurotransmitters, graph question Interview 2: discussion of pre-interview reading, then more questions on social and applied psychology

Best preparation

Going over personal statement and wider reading, considering possible questions

Test preparation

Practice questions, including in timed conditions

Final thoughts

Let interviewers see your train of thought and don't be afraid to ask for clarification

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: PBSAA (I think it has changed now)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: c. 30 minutes
Length of interviews: c. 30 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

Both interviews mentioned a bit off of my personal statement but one was definitely more science/mathsy. In that one, they asked me some GCSE-level maths questions and some questions about neurotransmitters as well as having me interpret a graph.

In the other interview, I was given a pre-interview extract on attitudes to climate change action to read. We discussed this for a bit as well as some other random questions. This interview was more social and applied psychology. One of the interviewers specialised in an area I had mentioned in my personal statement so they asked me about that for a bit.

In both interviews there were two interviewers but the majority of questions came from one and the other just took notes.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

When I had the interviewer names, I googled them to see their research specialty and if parts of my personal statement related to this then I brushed up on it. I would maybe do a tiny bit of research on their area but not loads. I printed my personal statement and annotated it with possible questions and extra detail for different areas. When I originally read books etc for my personal statement I took some condensed notes so I re-read those/any particularly interesting chapters of the books. I also had a practice interview organised by my school.

You can’t control the random questions they ask but you can make sure you are super clear on anything on your personal statement. I also googled example PBS interview questions and went over those, one actually came up in my interview.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

I did a few practice papers for the English and reasoning sections. I practiced doing essays under timed conditions and my teacher marked them.

What advice would you give to future applicants?

Be 100% confident in everything on your personal statement. With questions you don’t know much about, take a moment to think about it and don’t be afraid to ask for clarification. Try and see if it can relate to something you do know and speak aloud so they can see your train of thought. If they question you on something don’t immediately fold but also don’t be so stubborn that you ignore their suggestions completely. Any prompts they give will be very intentional so consider them well. Interviewers are looking for someone flexible and teachable, not someone who knows everything immediately.