PAT, 2x interviews
Personal statement, mathematical proof, physics-based question
Read through personal statement, year 12 work revision
Practice papers
The interviewers aren't expecting you to know all the answers. They want to teach someone who is passionate about learning and isn't afraid to ask questions to aid their learning.
Remember this advice isn't official. There is no guarantee it will reflect your experience because university applications can change between years. Check the official Cambridge and Oxford websites for more accurate information on this year's application format and the required tests.
Also, someone else's experience may not reflect your own. Most interviews are more like conversations than tests and like, any conversation, they are quite interactive.
Test taken: Physics Aptitude Test (PAT)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: I had both my interviews on the same dya one in the morning one in the afternoon.
Length of interviews: The interview lasted around half an hour i think
Online interview: No
In both interviews I can remember I was first asked some questions about myself then they asked me things related to my personal statement such as why did I choose Oxford and why did I choose to apply to do engineering. This part of the interview was quite short. Then we went through some questions. One was mathematical proof which I wasn't actually able to do at first but the interviewer who later became my tutor guided me towards the answer. Then there was a physics-based question with the other interviewer who again guided me. I did get into this college so it doesn't matter if you aren't able to answer the question asked, just work with the interviewer and explained your thinking and reasoning. They are looking for someone they will enjoy teaching and is able to teach. Some questions are more lateral thinking based such as how many mugs of water are there in an Olympic swimming pool. The point is to test how you approach questions and how you can work with the tutors. They were both really helpful and didn't judge me for anything.
Before my interview, I made sure I had read through my personal statement and I was able to answer any questions I may get asked about it for example my opinion on a book I had mentioned or why I wanted to study engineering. My school didn't offer mock interviews so to prepare for the interview itself I just made sure I was comfortable with all our year 12 work. I found practise interview questions online and went through those. There are lots online if you look around.
I did practise papers which I found online. I didn't do an awful lot of preparation as I didn't expect to get into Oxford but I found to PAT test okay because of this. My advice would be to only answer questions you are confident on as you will lose marks if you get it wrong. Don't overthink it. There are lots of resources online or in textbooks.
The interviewers aren't expecting you to know all the answers. They want to teach someone who is passionate about learning and isn't afraid to ask questions to aid their learning. Be friendly and be yourself. Don't be overly passionate about certain things you claim to be passionate about. They have seen it before and they know when someone is overexaggerating about their love for bridges. Just be honest. Try to actually read an article or book related to your subject so you can talk about it rather than faking it in your personal statement. Enjoy the experience of being in oxford (if it is in person) .