Cambridge NSAA solutions

Ultimate Cambridge NSAA Guide

What is a good NSAA score?

The reported scores are annoying, right? You have probably read that a good NSAA score is 7.0, but what raw percentage is that? The scores are normalized, meaning that each year they look at the raw percentages of all applicants, and then they assign scores accordingly. If the exam was difficult and the average percentage is low, the threshold for a 7.0 will be low too, and vice versa. However, most years, you need between 70 and 80% to score a 7.0, especially in the Maths and Physics sections. In the Chemistry and Biology sections, the threshold is often lower, sometimes as low as 60%. Now read this guide to help you achieve that!

Aim for 75%

Yes, you’ve read that right. Forget about those >90% scores you get in your school exams. I know you’re smart, but this is a different kind of exam. You simply don’t have enough time to get all of the problems right. If you don’t know how to solve a problem instantly, just proceed. It will save you a lot of precious time and allow you to be calm. If you end up having extra time, you can always go back to the tricky problems and try to solve them.

Careful with algebra

Did I mention being calm? Yes, take a few deep breaths before and during the exam to stay focused. You need it for all the algebra. Don’t work out the intermediate numbers. You’ll waste time. Cancel out as much as possible. Watch the video guide below to see how.

Know your equations

Yes, you’re a physicist and you like deriving your equations from scratch. I love that to. In NSAA, you don’t have enough time for that. Make sure you know all the equations. The most common equation my students forget is impulse = change in momentum = force x time.

NSAA tutoring

Working with a tutor is fun. I can assess your level, structure your learning process, motivate you, explain things in an interesting way, give you personalized learning tips, help you deal with exam anxiety, and provide general career and life advice. Book a lesson with me if you’re interested.

Review, revise, repeat

Ideally, you’d start preparing in June. This will allow you enough time to memorize all the equations and be fast. Don’t delay solving NSAA problems until you’ve reviewed the whole syllabus. Instead, learn by solving NSAA problems. Once you’ve solved all of them, redo them later in timed conditions. Repetitio est mater studiorum (I’m using Latin like a real Cantabrigian).