In early to mid November, Colleges will decide which applicants to call for interview (this will range from around 60-90% of the field, depending on the course). For UK applicants these interviews used to be done in Cambridge but many are now done on-line. Whether remote or in person the interviews are usually done in the first three weeks of December so keep this time free. The number and nature of the interview(s) vary by subject and College but typically there will be two interviews each with two interviewers.

Interviews are designed to see how a student thinks and whether they would thrive in Cambridge’s teaching system. They are not meant to be scary – there are no ‘wrong’ answers; interviewers are interested in exploring how students approach new material and how they apply their knowledge to problems or issues that they won’t have encountered before. Whilst there might be some general questions about you and your interest in your subject most interviews are strongly subject specific, investigating issues related to your chosen discipline.

Few Scottish secondary school pupils will have had much experience in being interviewed and, although the process is intended to be more of a discussion than a cross-examination, some may feel daunted. CAMScot therefore offers assistance in this area which is designed primarily to help applicants feel comfortable talking about their subject with strangers.

Register with CAMScot here as an applicant or prospective applicant and select interview coaching on the form. The interview coaching programme normally runs from October to December each year. All our interview support, including mock interviews, is on-line.

Connect here to the University’s web site where there are notes on this subject

Interview Videos

Click on the above for links to 30 on-line videos about interviews and super-curricular activities. These are well worth dipping into to give you a flavour of how interviews work. Some of these videos are from Oxford University but don’t let that put you off too much.

Connect here to read about some students’ first hand interview experiences from both Oxford and Cambridge.

Interview Questions

Click above for a comprehensive selection of past Oxbridge interview questions.