Mathematics And Philosophy @ Merton, Oxford in 2019

Interview format

4 x 40 min interviews

Interview content

Graph sketching and number theory, logic

Best preparation

Practice interview, reading articles and books and some logic exercises

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: Mathematics Admissions Test (MAT)
Number of interviews: 4
Time between interviews: Two on the same day, two in the next week
Length of interviews: 40 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

For maths, it was just general problem solving. Graph sketching and number theory seemed to be most common. Also proofs which would be guided by the tutors. Overall quite relaxing. For philosophy, I had some reading before the actual interview, mainly to test your understanding and whether you can comment on arguments. The logic exercises are easy if you do some practice.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

For philosophy, just reading articles and books and some logic exercises. For maths, I had a practice interview with my teacher at school

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

Past MAT and STEP papers

What advice would you give to future applicants?

Preparation is really useful. Having a really good understanding of your subjects means you won't get surprised by the questions they throw at you. Once that's done, just relax into the interviews -- it's fun talking to people who share your interests and are obviously really good at them!