Oxford and Cambridge engineering and physics interviews

What are the interviews like?

Oxford’s physics department says candidates have two interviews at their first college and a third at a second college, that all interviews are virtual, and that they are essentially academic and consist mainly of maths and physics questions. Its interview timetable puts physics interviews between 9 and 15 December 2026. Oxford’s engineering department describes a longer interview at your preferred college, of about 30 to 45 minutes, and a second at another college of about 30 minutes, which may be maths and physics questions only; most engineering interviews are on 14 to 16 December 2026. Both subjects need a touchscreen and a stylus for a shared whiteboard.

At Cambridge, engineering is interviewed by the colleges: Trinity, for example, says its applicants have two interviews of about 30 minutes, one working through engineering problems, and that there is no test before the interview. Physics at Cambridge is part of Natural Sciences, where some colleges set a paper beforehand; Trinity says everyone it interviews for Natural Sciences sits an interview preparation paper.

What are the tutors looking for?

Oxford’s physics department lists motivation, the ability to express physical ideas using mathematics, reasoning ability, physical intuition (an ability to see how one part of a physical system connects with another) and communication. Its course page adds that tutors want the ability to apply basic principles to unfamiliar situations, and to formulate a problem in mathematical terms and then draw out the physical consequences.

For engineering, Oxford’s list of typical questions sets out the criteria: fluency in core physics and maths, applying what you know methodically to new situations, taking in and applying new concepts, and quick thinking. Its course page says enthusiasm for engineering and high ability in maths and physics are tested at interview and combined with your exam results and ESAT score.

Questions the universities have published

Oxford’s sample questions include one from a University College engineering tutor: rest a 30cm ruler on one finger of each hand, at the two ends, and bring your fingers together. What happens? Almost everyone expects it to topple, but both fingers reach the middle together, and with prompting about moments and friction you work out why the ruler slides over each finger in turn. Another, from the engineering department, asks how you would design a gravity dam to hold back water, starting from the forces on it and going on to when it would tip or slide; the department’s list of typical questions describes the same problem, possibly leading to an integral.

For physics, a St Edmund Hall tutor asks you to sketch the velocity of a ball, initially at rest, pushed upwards by a constant force for a while, from the start until it hits the ground, and says the interview is usually a guided discussion in which he is looking for rigorous thinking more than a quick right answer. The physics department’s mock interview pack for teachers includes questions such as sketching the graph of y = sin x / x, and how high up a mountain you could go on the energy in a banana.

At Cambridge, Trinity publishes a guide for Natural Sciences applicants with sample problems, such as estimating how far a golfer could hit a ball if the club head completes a circle in half a second, or sketching the graph of arctan(x) + arctan(1/x).

The ESAT and written work for 2027 entry

Oxford Engineering Science and Physics applicants take the ESAT (Engineering and Science Admissions Test) between 12 and 16 October 2026, with the Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2 and Physics modules; Oxford’s physics department notes that its syllabus and level differ from the old PAT. Cambridge Engineering uses the same three modules, and Cambridge Natural Sciences uses Mathematics 1 and two other modules. Oxford asks for no written work for either course, and Cambridge does not usually ask for any for Engineering.

How to prepare

Practise turning a physical situation into maths: draw the diagram, mark the forces, write down what is conserved, then solve. Sketch graphs of motion and of functions without a calculator, and practise estimates with round numbers, saying each assumption aloud. The ESAT past papers and the published questions are the right level.

Talk while you work, especially when you are unsure, since the interviewer can only help with what you say, and be ready to discuss anything engineering or physics related in your personal statement in more depth than the statement gives.

With an account, cookie’s Interview prep runs a mock Oxford or Cambridge interview in this subject with an AI interviewer. It writes problems in the style of the universities’ published examples, not real interview questions, gives a hint when you go quiet and writes a report at the end. It uses credits, and it is for practising beforehand: Cambridge says using AI during an interview is prohibited.