Psychological And Behavioural Sciences @ Trinity, Cambridge in 2019

Interview format

Psychological and Behavioural Sciences Admissions Assessment (PBSAA); 1x interview

Interview content

Interview 1: real-life examples of psychology, analysing data

Best preparation

Talked to people about psychology

Test preparation

Mind-mapped essay plans

Final thoughts

Read around the elements of the subject you're most passionate about

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: Psychological and Behavioural Sciences Admissions Assessment (PBSAA)
Number of interviews: 1
Length of interviews: 20 mins
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

We talked about psychology generally with examples from real life where different variable impacted people differently. We then looked at a set of data and had to analyse. Finally I had to discuss things beyond the A Level specification.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

I had a mock interview at school, but I spent most of my time reading articles from BPS and looked over things I mentioned in my personal statement. But generally I think just talking to people about psychology helped most because you find the bits that make you most passionate.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

I looked at example essay titles and mind mapped topics I could discuss, and practised the biology and maths questions.

What advice would you give to future applicants?

I think just find the parts that make you most passionate and read around it if you can (there are also lectures online - Sapolsky from Stanford is great for biopsychology). The interview is really just a discussion where you don;t have to be afraid to think out loud. The thing they want to see is how, not what, you think.