Physics @ Magdalen, Oxford in 2016

Interview format

3x 30 min interviews, each a day apart

Interview content

Interview 1: physics; Interview 2: maths; Interview 3: physics and maths

Best preparation

Practice papers and online resources

Advice in hindsight

-

Final thoughts

Use IsaacPhysics; relax.

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: 1 day

Length of interviews: 30 minutes each

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

Almost all of the questions I was asked were physics-related. There were 2 questions across 3 interviews about non-academic material.

The interviewers were pretty nice in general - they tried to ease you into the questions. For most of the rest of the time we just discussed problems.

The first interview was on maths, the second on physics - this was the only one in which was asked about something I mentioned in my personal statement and requested to elaborate on it. The third one was on both maths and physics.

How did you prepare?

I used practice papers and online material.

What advice do you have for future applicants?

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

I prepared using online resources like Isaac Physics, and got some advice from my teachers.

The best thing I did was an independent project over the summer, which I was able to talk about at the interview when they brought up my personal statement.

I would advise people to relax! The interviewers tried very hard to be nice and accommodating.