04. Writing Tasks & Drawing Tasks!

You’re nearly ready for interview, but there’s a couple more Cambridge things to do first. In this post, we’ll explain the writing and drawing tasks your college will assign to you before interview.

Each of these tasks take 30 minutes: one to test your ability in representational drawing, the other to test your writing.

The Writing Task

In the writing task, you’ll be posed an open-ended question to respond to in the form of an essay. Example questions include: “Is architecture a civic art? Illustrate your answer with reference to specific buildings, streets or other spaces you are familiar with,” and “How can architects help the environment?”.

In marking your responses to this task, your interviewers want to see clearly-expressed ideas, with a clear understanding of the question showing an interest in, and knowledge of, architecture and the built environment. Spend the first five–ten minutes plotting out the ideas you want to cover and in what order, before spending the final 20 writing it out. If you don’t study an essay-based subject at school/college, you might want to write a quick practice answer beforehand using one of the example questions above!

The Drawing Task

Now that interviews are conducted online, this task will typically ask you to draw what’s in front of you (and your video call) in 30 minutes, using a pencil and an A3 sheet of paper.

It’s important to note that assessors aren’t looking for the most beautiful, perfectly rendered drawings here. Instead, they’re looking for your ability to: “think in a visual and spatial manner, record spatial impressions, demonstrate an awareness of their environment, and interpret your environment in visual terms”.

But what does this mean and how should you approach it?

It could be a good idea to use the first few minutes to think about what you find interesting and important in the space before you, considering what your drawing might emphasise and what it might reduce. Does the pattern of the bricks on a wall matter to you, or are you more interested in where the wall meets the roof? Do you want to include the people in a space, visually discussing how they interact with it, or are you more interested in the form of the space itself?

30 minutes isn’t a very long time, so deciding on a focus for your drawing should help you articulate that idea effectively!