Materials Science @ Mansfield, Oxford in 2017

Interview format

3x 30 min interviews, over 1 day

Interview content

Interview 1: maths and physics problems, personal statement; Interview 2: article given beforehand, physics problem, questions on materials; Interview 3: personal statement, chemistry problems, maths and physics problems

Best preparation

Do lots of past papers; be able to back up everything on personal statement

Advice in hindsight

-

Final thoughts

Be calm and don't worry if you find the interviews difficult.

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.

Interview Format

Test taken: PAT

Number of interviews: 3

Skype interview: No

Interviews spread over 1 day

Length of interviews: 30 minutes each

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

In the first interview, I had maths and physics based problems to solve. I had paper and a pen to work these out. I then had a question about materials loosely based on part of my personal statement.

Before the second interview I had to read a short article about graphene and then discussed this in the interview. I had physics problems to work through on a board with one of the interviewers. Then they got a few different materials and asked me to discuss what they were and how they were manufactured.

The final interview started with questions from my personal statement, then some chemistry based questions. Then I worked through some physics and maths based problems on the board.

How did you prepare?

I did LOTS of practice papers and got help from teachers. I also went on a two day course, since none of the staff at my school were directly familiar with the exam.

I used 'Physics and Maths Tutor' (website) for worked solutions to prepare for the PAT. I used my maths and physics teachers for help on specific questions if I was unsure, or if I needed help with a topic that we hadn’t covered in class (but was in the PAT).

I also read 'Stuff Matters' and other similar texts, these were nice to get more familiar with materials but are not the most technical. I also made sure to be very familiar with my personal statement and I was able to back up everything I wrote in it (very important). I also tried to speak to anybody I knew that had been through the process to ask for advice.

What advice do you have for future applicants?

Looking back, what advice would you give to your past self?

Be calm and prepared. If you can’t answer a question or you're unsure, it’s completely okay to say this to the interviewers, just give them something and justify your reasoning. I was expecting the interviews to be challenging and they were, so don’t feel knocked down because you didn’t fly through them.