Cambridge Engineering interview
The Cambridge Engineering interview is academic and problem-driven. You work through maths and physics problems you won't have seen before, often with a sketch, and the interviewers guide you when you're stuck to see how you think. Most applicants have two interviews of about 20 to 30 minutes in December 2026, in the main period from 7 to 18 December, and at some Colleges one of them asks more general questions about engineering. Whether the interviews are online or in person depends on the College.
Key facts
| Format | Most applicants have two interviews of about 20 to 30 minutes. A few Colleges give one longer interview. At some Colleges one interview works through problems and the other asks more general questions about engineering. |
|---|---|
| When and where | December 2026, with the main period from 7 to 18 December. Online or in person, depending on the College. |
| Interviewers | One or two Engineering Fellows |
| What's assessed | The ability to analyse and solve unfamiliar problems, mathematical fluency, a feel for how physical systems behave, curiosity about engineering, and how you take guidance |
| Knowledge assumed | A-level Maths and Physics (Further Maths if taken), as in the ESAT, stretched |
| Admissions test | Everyone takes the ESAT: Maths 1, Maths 2 and Physics |
| Marking | Cambridge doesn't publish a marking scale. Colleges weigh the interview together with the ESAT, your grades and the rest of your application. |
| Competition | In the 2025 admissions round there were 3,263 applications, 392 offers and 335 students admitted, about ten applications per place |
| Decisions | 27 January 2027 |
What happens in the interview
Colleges run Cambridge interviews, so practice varies by College, and the Department of Engineering doesn't publish interview guidance openly. Engineering interviews are academic and problem-driven: maths and physics problems you won't have seen before, often with a sketch, and sometimes a question about the engineering in your personal statement. Some Colleges, such as Trinity, give a second interview with more general questions about engineering.
The questions are designed to be hard. Interviewers run it as a guided discussion:
- If you're stuck, they guide you through with a hint, and how you use their help matters.
- They ask you to sketch, to estimate and to state your assumptions.
- They ask you to check units and limiting cases, and what would change if a condition changed.
- If you solve something quickly, they move on.
Your thought process matters more than getting the answer straight away, so think out loud. You can ask for clarification at any point, and not finishing is normal.
You'll work on paper, or on a drawing tablet if your College asks for one (Trinity requires one online), and you may be asked to share your working. The department's bank of maths, physics and engineering problems with hints is at i-want-to-study-engineering.org.
What tutors look for
Cambridge's Engineering interviewers look for the following, drawn from the University's and the Colleges' admissions pages:
- Mathematical ability: turning a physical situation into equations and working with them accurately (A-level Maths, Further Maths and Physics).
- Problem-solving: breaking an unfamiliar problem into steps, choosing assumptions, and using hints to get going again.
- Engineering intuition: predicting how a system behaves, sketching it, estimating sizes, and seeing what matters in a design.
- Explaining your thinking: talking through the approach and each step, with clear sketches.
- Motivation for engineering: curiosity about how things work and are made, shown by what you've explored beyond school.
How the interview is marked
Cambridge doesn't publish a marking scale for Engineering interviews. Colleges do score interviews, though. One College's published figures for Engineering (Downing, 2019 and 2020) show successful applicants averaging about 6.5 to 7 and unsuccessful ones about 3.5 to 5, on a scale it doesn't state.
The interview is one part of the picture, alongside your grades, reference, personal statement and the ESAT, and Colleges look at it all together. Anyone can have an interview that doesn't go to plan, and a bad interview isn't the end of an application.
Example questions
These are published questions, in the form Toby asks them: two from Cambridge's Department of Engineering and one from Oxford Physics. Interviewers set their own questions, so yours will differ.
Battery for an electric car
Published by Cambridge's Department of Engineering: i-want-to-study-engineering.org, electric cars
An electrical car consumes battery charge at a rate of 200 Wh/mile when travelling at 45 mph. It is desired that the car should have a range of 300 miles. Lithium-ion batteries can be rated at 0.95 MJ/kg. Estimate the mass of the batteries required to give the car its desired range.
- Why tutors ask it: it shows whether you handle mixed units fluently and can sanity-check a quoted figure against the physics of drag, rolling resistance and engine efficiency.
- A hint a tutor might give: "How much energy does the whole 300 miles need, in watt hours?"
- A strong answer works out the energy for the whole range first, converts between watt hours and joules carefully, and notices which of the figures given it actually needs. It then checks whether the result is sensible.
- A common slip is mixing up kilo and mega when converting units.
A voltmeter that changes the reading
Published by Cambridge's Department of Engineering: i-want-to-study-engineering.org, voltmeter
A circuit consists of an ideal 24 V voltage source and two 1 MΩ resistors in series. A voltmeter of finite resistance, 20 MΩ, is connected across one of the resistors. Estimate the difference between the actual output shown by the voltmeter and the theoretical p.d. across the resistor without the voltmeter.
- Why tutors ask it: it shows whether you treat a measuring instrument as part of the circuit, simplify with series and parallel combinations, and turn the result into a design rule.
- A hint a tutor might give: "What would a perfect voltmeter read? What would its resistance have to be?"
- A strong answer draws the circuit first, simplifies it step by step, and explains which way the reading must be wrong before working out by how much. It then turns the result into a general rule for choosing a meter.
- A common slip is assuming a large meter resistance is the same as an infinite one.
Tethered underwater object
Published by Oxford Physics: mock interview pack
An object of mass 25 kg and density 50 kg/m³ is tethered to the bottom of a tank of water by a string. Sketch the forces on the object. What is the tension in the string? Take the density of water as 1000 kg/m³ and g = 10 m/s².
- Why tutors ask it: it checks that you can draw a clean force diagram, know where upthrust comes from, and follow the consequences when the string is cut.
- A hint a tutor might give: "Why does it need a string at all? What would it do if the string weren't there?"
- A strong answer draws every force on the object, with its direction, and writes the balance of forces as an equation before putting in any numbers. It explains where upthrust comes from, and when the string is cut, questions whether its first answer is realistic.
- A common slip is leaving out the upthrust, or using the object's density instead of the water's when working it out.
Practise with Toby
Toby is an AI interviewer that runs practice interviews by voice. The Cambridge Engineering interview is built from the University's and the Colleges' published guidance. As practice varies by College, it follows Trinity's published split of one problems interview and one discussion:
- Engineering problems. Unfamiliar maths and physics problems from an engineer's angle: forces and structures, fluids, motion and energy, circuits and estimates, usually with a sketch.
- Engineering discussion. More general questions about engineering: how things work and why they're designed that way, design judgement, engineering in the world, and the engineering in your personal statement.
The problems interview draws on 39 problems, each with hints and follow-ups. Fifteen are questions universities have published, and the rest were written to the same style and level, with every result independently re-derived.
Toby puts the problem on screen, gives you time to think and asks you to talk it through. He gives a hint only when you're stuck, asks you to sketch, estimate and state your assumptions, and changes a condition to see if your reasoning holds. Like a real interviewer, he doesn't praise every answer.
You can add your personal statement so Toby can ask about it, and choose a 10, 20 or 30-minute interview. Your prep page has the format, the selection criteria and practice problems with hints and worked solutions. Afterwards, your debrief gives you a practice mark out of 10 (6 is acceptable, 7 good, 8 strong), a score against each criterion, notes on every question and the full transcript. A practice mark is a guide, not a prediction.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the Cambridge Engineering interview?
Most Cambridge Engineering applicants have two interviews of about 20 to 30 minutes, with one or two Engineering Fellows. A few Colleges give one longer interview instead.
Is the Cambridge Engineering interview online or in person?
Whether a Cambridge Engineering interview is online or in person depends on the College. Cambridge Engineering interviews for 2027 entry are in December 2026, with the main period from 7 to 18 December.
What questions are asked in the Cambridge Engineering interview?
The Cambridge Engineering interview is mostly maths and physics problems you won't have seen before, often with a sketch, worked through aloud. At some Colleges one interview works through problems and the other asks more general questions about engineering. Interviewers may also ask about the engineering in your personal statement.
What level of maths and physics does the Cambridge Engineering interview assume?
The Cambridge Engineering interview is pitched at A-level Maths and Physics (Further Maths if taken), as in the ESAT, stretched. Every Cambridge Engineering applicant takes the ESAT: Maths 1, Maths 2 and Physics.
What if I get stuck in my Cambridge Engineering interview?
Cambridge Engineering interview questions are designed to be hard. If you get stuck, the interviewers will guide you through, and how you use their help matters. You can ask for clarification at any point, and not finishing is normal.
What if my Cambridge Engineering interview goes badly?
Anyone can have an interview that doesn't go to plan, and a bad interview isn't the end of a Cambridge Engineering application. Colleges look at the interview together with your grades, reference, personal statement and ESAT.
When do Cambridge Engineering applicants hear back?
Cambridge Engineering decisions come out on 27 January 2027.
Sources
Last checked October 2026.
- University of Cambridge: Engineering
- University of Cambridge: Interviews
- University of Cambridge: Preparing for interview
- University of Cambridge: ESAT
- University of Cambridge: Undergraduate admissions statistics, 2025 cycle
- Cambridge Department of Engineering: Prospective undergraduates
- Trinity College: Engineering
- St John's College: Engineering
- Downing College: Disclosure log, January to June 2021
- i-want-to-study-engineering.org: Electric cars
- i-want-to-study-engineering.org: Voltmeter
- Oxford Physics: Mock interview pack
Related interviews
- Oxford Engineering Science interview
- Cambridge Natural Sciences interview
- Cambridge Mathematics interview
All Oxford and Cambridge interviews·University admissions
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