Biology Interview-style Questions

Note: Oxford and Cambridge do not publicly release any interview questions because they often reuse questions across application cycles. Below are interview-style questions of suitable difficulty that will help you prepare for your Oxbridge interview.

Question 1

a) When someone ingests arsenic it is methylated by the body. How does this make arsenic less toxic?

b) Some bacteria can survive in environments with high concentrations of arsenic, how could an organism reduce the toxicity of arsenic?

Question 2

a) How does the structure of the phospholipids in the membrane affect the membrane’s properties?

b) If you wanted to increase the temperature that membranes can withstand, how would you change the phospholipids?

c) When a cell grows, it needs to produce new membrane, and will therefore need to make a new phospholipid bilayer. Just focusing on the phospholipids, could you describe the events that would occur in a cell to cause the bilayer to expand?

Question 3

If the structure of an amino acid is so critical to its function, why do we only have 20 amino acids?

Question 4

Discuss the evolutionary implications of cooperative and altruistic behaviours in animals. How do kin selection and reciprocal altruism contribute to these behaviours?

Question 5

Explain the geometric principles behind the folding of proteins.

Interview Tips

  • Think out loud: The interviewer will be assessing your ability to think through complex problems. They can only do this if they know your thought process.

  • Be familiar with your syllabus: The interviewer can ask you a question from any topic you have been taught already in your A level/IB syllabus.

  • Practice: There is no better way to prepare than to practice.

For comprehensive guidance, visit our Oxbridge Interview Guide.