Materials Science @ St Anne's, Oxford in 2018

Interview format

3x 30 min interviews, over 1 day

Interview content

All interviews: materials-related questions based on A-level topics

Best preparation

Mock interview (if possible); free Oxford Uni PAT course for state school students

Advice in hindsight

-

Final thoughts

Don't take interviews too seriously, or worry if you think you had a bad one.

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

Time between each interview: a few hours (all on same day)

Length of interviews: about 30 minutes each

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

In my first interview, they asked me about my personal statements & about the materials I spoke about on there. After, they asked me questions based around knowledge from physics, maths and chemistry A Level. I also had a question on what I thought was the best way to manufacture a material into a certain shape.

My second interview was very similar, with questions based around my A Levels. Topics in both interviews included electricity, mechanics, mole based calculations, waves and electric fields, which were all linked back to materials in some way.

In my final interview, it was much of the same but I was also asked to sketch a graph and there was more of an emphasis on chemistry, with a question on electrolysis and making bleach.

How did you prepare?

I went on a course at Oxford for state school students for the PAT- this included 2 days in Oxford and 3 pieces of summer work, all marked by a student who also sat the PAT (and was our mentor on the days in Oxford). I would recommend this 100%- it’s run by the university and is free!

I also did PAT past papers in the run-up to the exam, and practise questions from the Physics Olympiad.

I went over all the materials I had mentioned in my personal statement and wrote little fact files that I could go over the hour before if I wanted to. For this, I used 'Stuff Matters' and any of the resources I used in my personal statement.

My school managed to get me a mock interview with someone who did Natural Sciences at Cambridge, which was very helpful. This made me much more calm with the situation and prepared me for the “I don’t know” feeling and how to deal with that.

Looking back, I would say the best prep is a mock interview- the more practice you get the better and the more comfortable you’ll feel in the experience.

Overall, I would recommend going over the materials and any interests you’ve mentioned in your personal statement, as well as content from physics, maths and chemistry.

What advice do you have for future applicants?

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

I didn’t know what quite to expect- I’d heard loads of stories. All of my interviews were challenging and there were plenty of times when I didn’t know the answer, but you do get there eventually- just vocalise whatever’s going on in your head.

I would say not to take it too seriously- just see it as a great opportunity to talk about your subject and learn more.

You most definitely will have one bad interview- prepare yourself for this and remind yourself that this happens to offer holders. After one of my interviews I was convinced I hadn’t got in.

Interviewers want people who use and apply their knowledge but are also quick to learn new information and combine it with previous knowledge to answer the questions.