Mathematics Admissions Test, 3x interviews
Questions largely focussed on maths rather than personal; Questions on proof by induction
Completed example interview questions
Completed past papers
Make sure you are voicing what you are doing and adapt and listen to any help interviewers give you
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:
Number of interviews: 3
Time between interviews: A few days
Length of interviews: 20-30 minutes
Online interview: Yes
With maths I was not asked about my personal statement at all or really about myself (I was asked why I was interested in oxford, the college I applied to and maths but other than that I got not questions) so I wouldn’t worry too much about preparing answers to those questions other than a few basic questions just to be prepared (if you want but don’t worry too much cause those are mostly asked to make you feel more comfortable). I was only asked the questions about myself in one interview the other 2 just went straight into maths.
I had around 3 questions per interview some were basic A-level questions and others were a bit more tricky but they’re all based on A-level maths content so they are doable. I also got stuck a few times but rather than explicitly asking for help it is generally better to just say what you do know and explain your thought process e.g. I would generally do it this way…but it may not work because of… so I could do…. I did mine online so there was a
For maths, I’d definitely say go over proof by induction as I had a few questions on that. In one of my interviews I was given a choice of topics I wanted the questions to be on. In another, I got (kind of) basic A-level maths questions and then my third was a bit more difficult but they helped guide me through it. For the third interview, they asked me to explain what the questions meant and it took me 3 tries to get it right and I still got an offer so don’t stress if you get it wrong!
There were list of example mathematics interview questions online (I think Reddit and student room etc) which I practiced so I could get used to writing maths on a tablet and answering questions while explaining what I was doing.
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I did a few
The best thing I did was the example questions even if they were more simple than general interview questions they helped get me used to answering questions in the form of an interview.
With maths, I was not asked about my personal statement at all or really about myself (I was asked why I was interested in Oxford, the college I applied to and maths but other than that I got no questions) so I wouldn’t worry too much about preparing answers to those questions other than a few basic questions. Just to be prepared (if you want but don’t worry too much cause those are mostly asked to make you feel more comfortable). All of the questions asked are based on A-level maths knowledge so they are all doable even if they seem difficult! - So don’t stress cause even if you can’t figure out how to work it out they are designed so that you may need help and they may help or guide you so don’t worry!
Past papers - did them each a few times, my school organised preparations sessions for