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Bad PAT practice Scores

Hi
I am going to be taking the PAT in October and have been doing past papers
I'm stuck at the mid 50s in terms of marks and the timing is my main issue
Is this a really bad position to be in at this point?
I am planning on doing all the papers before end of summer (leaving 2020 onwards for later)
Then doing them again once I've made sure all the knowledge is secure and filled in (doing other questions)
What were your scores looking like in August before the pat?
Does it sound like I'm approaching it OK?
Thank you so much!
(anonymous cause I'm embarrassed of scores)

Reply 1

Anonymous #2

Hey there, I'm also preparing for the PAT for PhysPhil.
Don't be embarrassed by low scores. I'm reapplying having sat my a-levels as I trashed the PAT last year due to mitigating circumstances in year 12 (medical) and nerves on the day. I won't give you my actual PAT score, but I'll just say it was quite a bit lower than the mid 50s... but I'm not ashamed of it. Whether I get into Oxford or not, I know I'm smart (and evidently you are too); everybody has bad days and everybody has crap happen in their lives at some stage.
If you're interested in hearing the advice of a humble Oxford reject, here's what I wish I'd known last year...
- Problem-solving needed for the PAT is a fitness thing; you can't do couch-2-5K in a fortnight. If you're going from a standing-start with those kinds of problems (as I was last year, unless you're one of the obsessives who eats maths problems for breakfast everyday since they were seven) then fairly average PAT scores are to be expected. For the last couple of months, I've got into the habit of doing a mini maths 'workout' for an hour or so every single day to keep my muscles in! Isaac Physics is great for this. Just work your way through the gameboards, man :biggrin:

- Attempt ALL the papers at least twice. You don't even need to score them the first time around. I'm aiming to do this all by the end of the summer. And don't worry about the timing; that will come. The early papers, like the MAT ones, are easy, so don't spend a lot of time on these. I made the mistake last year of thinking that 80-95 pre-2013 meant I was on track to clear the cut-off easily. Errr... not quite...
- BE WARNED: the papers after 2017 are dramatically harder. DON'T save these until the last minute. These are the most important and I would recommend attempting them at least twice (honestly, you forget most of the questions).
- Doing recent BPhO past papers is more important than older PAT papers. The problems are much more similar in style and difficulty level. Focus on these and recent MAT papers for the maths. If you've done all of those (multiple times) by the middle of October and your PAT scores haven't improved, then start worrying!!
Umm... I think that's it. Don't get complacent, but you don't need to stress about it so much. Trust me, the world doesn't end if you don't make the cut-off, and the preparation is great fun in itself!
Good luck :smile: