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Cambridge has confirmed its interview plans for this admissions round: the main interview period runs from 7 to 18 December 2026, with most College interviews in the first three weeks of December. Invitations mostly arrive in November, though some come in early December - and you must keep the interview period free, because Cambridge will not reschedule except in exceptional circumstances such as illness, religious observance or exams. Every applicant who receives an offer will have been interviewed, so this is the stage that decides your application. Here is the full timeline, how the online-versus-in-person format works, and what to do now.
The key dates at a glance
The main interview period is 7 to 18 December 2026. If your College is impressed by your application but cannot offer you a place, it may share your application with other Colleges - this is the winter pool, and pool interviews happen around mid to late January 2027 at a different College. If you were interviewed in the main December period, you will find out the outcome of your application on 27 January 2027. Mature students applying in the January round are interviewed later, between mid-March and early April.
Online or in person? Your College decides
Cambridge interviews may be online or in person, and you cannot usually request a particular format - it depends on which College is assessing your application and which course you applied for. The differences are significant: Churchill, Emmanuel, King's and Selwyn are interviewing all applicants in person for 2027 entry, while Christ's, Girton, St John's and Wolfson are all online. Some Colleges split by course - Clare is online for everything except Medicine and Music, which are in person - and several, including Trinity, interview UK-based applicants in person while letting overseas applicants choose or interview online. Check your College's format on the official page as soon as you are shortlisted, and if you are interviewed online, sort out a quiet space and reliable technology early.
How many interviews, and what they are like
Most applicants have one or two interviews lasting 35 minutes to an hour in total, though some have three or four depending on the subject and College - the number tells you nothing about the strength of your application. Most people have at least one subject-specific interview, working through unfamiliar material, problems or scenarios with two or three interviewers, and some also have a more general academic interview. You may be given pre-interview reading to discuss, and science and maths applicants may be asked to share their workings. Cambridge describes interviews as academic conversations that assess how you think critically and independently, not what you have memorised.
Support you can claim
If you are a UK student eligible for Free School Meals, travel support is available for in-person interviews - and accommodation and meals may also be provided by your College - while online interviewees eligible for Free School Meals can contact their College for help accessing suitable technology. If you have a disability, you can request adjustments through the Adjustment at Interview form provided by the College interviewing you; return it as early as possible.
How to use the weeks you have left
Start with Cambridge's official interview guidance so the format holds no surprises. Then practise what interviews actually test: reasoning aloud on material you have never seen, recovering when stuck, and explaining your thinking clearly under gentle pressure. Our interview preparation is built for exactly this - a diagnostic mock interview, two or three targeted micro-drills from the feedback, then a repeat simulation, with written feedback after every mock. If you are shortlisted this month, a free planning call can map the time you have left, and our guides to Oxford interview dates and common Oxbridge interview questions are useful companion reading.
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