There's no single "Cambridge interview format." Whether yours happens over video call or in an actual room at Cambridge depends entirely on which college is assessing your application -- a detail that matters for how you prepare, and one most general Oxbridge-interview advice doesn't break out at all.
Colleges that interview everyone the same way
Several colleges apply one format to every applicant, regardless of course or where the applicant lives.
All online: Christ's, Downing, Fitzwilliam, Girton, Hughes Hall, Lucy Cavendish, Magdalene, Murray Edwards, Newnham, Queens', St Catharine's, St Edmund's, St John's, and Wolfson.
All in person: Churchill, Emmanuel, King's, and Selwyn.
Colleges that split by domicile or course
Most of the remaining colleges use a mixed approach, typically based on whether an applicant lives in the UK:
- Corpus Christi: UK-based applicants interview in person; applicants based outside the UK interview online.
- Gonville & Caius: UK and Ireland-based applicants can choose between online or in person.
- Pembroke and Trinity: UK-based applicants are interviewed in person; international applicants choose their format.
- Peterhouse, Robinson, Sidney Sussex, and Trinity Hall: UK-based applicants interview in person; international applicants interview online.
- Jesus: a similar UK-in-person, international-online split, with some course-specific exceptions.
A smaller group splits by subject instead of (or alongside) domicile:
- Clare: all courses online, except Medicine and Music, which are interviewed in person regardless of where the applicant lives.
- Homerton: all courses online, except Mathematics and Music, where UK-based applicants can choose between online or in person.
Why this actually matters for you
Cambridge assigns your college the same way it always has -- by your own choice, by reallocation, or randomly for an open application -- and the interview format that comes with it isn't something you negotiate afterward. If in-person interviewing (or, conversely, avoiding an international flight for an online-only college) matters to your preparation or your family's logistics, it's worth knowing before results come out which format your specific college uses, not assuming "the Cambridge interview" means one thing.
This also means two applicants to the same subject at Cambridge in the same cycle can have completely different interview experiences purely because of which college is running theirs -- a level of college-to-college variation Oxford's own interview system doesn't have in the same way, since Oxford's shortlisted applicants are all interviewed by two colleges under one shared, university-wide process regardless of which colleges those happen to be.
What this means for you
- Check your specific college's format directly, not a generic "Cambridge interview" guide. The difference between an all-online college and an all-in-person one is a real logistical and preparation difference, not a minor detail.
- If you're an international applicant, domicile-split colleges usually mean you'll interview online even if UK-based applicants at the same college interview in person.
- A handful of colleges make the format depend on your course, not just where you live -- Clare and Homerton both carve out Medicine, Music, or Mathematics as exceptions to their otherwise online-only default.
- Don't assume your interview format based on a friend's experience at a different college. Format is set at the college level, not university-wide.