Materials Science @ The Queen's, Oxford in 2016

Interview format

2x 20-30 min interviews, over 1 day

Interview content

Across both interviews: manufacture of material, questions building on personal statement, identifying material, text given before, maths problem

Best preparation

Made sure I knew all topics on syllabus on uni website, used past papers and 'Physics & Maths Tutor'

Advice in hindsight

-

Final thoughts

Organise mock interviews (even if the person interviewing you can't ask you about science); realise that your tutors want you to do well!

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: 2

Skype interview: No

Both interviews on same day

Length of interviews: 20-30 minutes each

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

Over two interviews:
They gave me a formed material and asked how it could have been made. I had no idea but I threw all my ideas out and they guided me and EVENTUALLY I got there. But only after loads of faff.

They asked about solar cells, which I had written about in my personal statement, but extended from what I already knew.

They gave me a lump of what looked like rock and asked how I would figure out what material it was (had to think of testing methods).

They gave me an article about a material to read before, and then we had a chat about it.

They wrote a sequence on the whiteboard and asked me to differentiate the whole thing - it involved sines and cosines, so had to be careful about the chain rule!

How did you prepare?

I used the syllabus on the university website to guide my preparation (some topics were not in my A-level course, or I had not learnt them yet.)

I bought the Collins advanced Physics textbook for the topics I did not know, as well as using websites. I covered the topics and then I used the past papers online and used the website 'Physics & Maths Tutor' to mark them, as he has all the markschemes for the tests.

Even though the format for PAT has changed recently, the old tests can still be used as the content has not changed hugely. Besides, it's a way of thinking that sets you out in the tests, not just what you know, so even questions from the wrong topics will allow you to practise problem solving.

What advice do you have for future applicants?

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

Organise mock interviews with anyone you know who is up for it. I found a neighbour who had done engineering at Cambridge, which was close enough. They don't need to ask you about science questions if they can't. But things like 'Why materials rather than physics?' and 'Why Oxford?' are all good things to practise - although obviously your scientific ability is important, they are choosing who they want to work with for four years, so you want to be able to chat about things like that and sound enthusiastic.

I expected it to be more formal. It was not. Also the tutors are super enthusiastic, and they do not want to catch you out!! You could tell they wanted you to do well.