Oxford PAT 2016

Original post by tangotangopapa2

Glad one was made
How has prep been? I was pretty sure about physics but now someone has put me on a fence with engineering physics or physics and phillposhy (dual major sounds useful )
Hope this thread gets a buzz

Reply 2

Original post by NatoHeadshot

Not sure how this exam will turn out to me. It seems really challenging. My mental maths is not that great, that hurts.

Reply 3

Original post by tangotangopapa2

Not sure how this exam will turn out to me. It seems really challenging. My mental maths is not that great, that hurts.

It's definitely not going to be easy and the papers vary in difficulty quite a bit, jm going to have to finish covering some higher maths
Id be happy to even get to the interview tbh hahah

Reply 4

Original post by NatoHeadshot

It's definitely not going to be easy and the papers vary in difficulty quite a bit, jm going to have to finish covering some higher maths
Id be happy to even get to the interview tbh hahah

By higher maths do you mean from FP2/FP3?

Reply 5

I would definitely advise people doing this to learn inequalities inside out, rational inequalities in particular. This is the first chapter of Edexcel FP2 and it's crucial you learn it. Also make sure you learn C3 and C4 integration inside out. Also learn projectile motion where the particle is projected at an angle. Some/all of you may have already done this in Edexcel M2 but some may not have. Also learn about Newtons law of universal gravitation F=(GMm)/r² . Also be aware that they expect you to use the Maths in the physics section including calculus. For example they may ask you to integrate force with respect to time to find impulse without explicitly stating it, so don't be afraid to use integration/differentiation in the Physics section. I would also strongly advise learning as much of M3 as possible, especially circular motion.

Hope this helps :smile:

Reply 6

Original post by tangotangopapa2

By higher maths do you mean from FP2/FP3?

I got a hold of the fp2 book and I might have a look at a few topics
But mainly c3 c4 I think will work for this exam just know those modules well, I don't know whether to do trig identities because a site said they're not required and you can find another way to solve that type of question that came one year, and it takes a lot of time so I'm not sure

Reply 7

Original post by PhyM23

Fully agree with the inewaulity part specially
This is some solid advice thanks
Didn't think of it integrating like that haven't been thought it like that any place I could get this info? Is it in a2 books?

Reply 8

Original post by NatoHeadshot

You don't have to know compound, multiple, sub-multiple angles, but it is good idea to look through basic identities(Pythagorean identities) .

Reply 9

Original post by NatoHeadshot

No problem at all! It is in the Edexcel M3 textbook, along with integrating force with respect to displacement to get work done etc. Look at page 9 on this (and the rest of the PDF for that matter!) :smile:

Reply 10

Logic938

Original post by PhyM23

How well did you do in the PAT's and what mark do you recommend people should aim for to guarantee an interview. I know saying 90+% is unrealistic lol so what would you recommend?

Reply 11

Original post by tangotangopapa2

You don't have to know compound, multiple, sub-multiple angles, but it is good idea to look through basic identities(Pythagorean identities) .

So from the trig identities in c3 what do we need

Reply 12

Original post by Logic938

How well did you do in the PAT's and what mark do you recommend people should aim for to guarantee an interview. I know saying 90+% is unrealistic lol so what would you recommend?

To GUARANTEE an interview I think 70+. I got 67 last year (made some horrendous mistakes and didn't know C4 integration :frown:

) However I came roughly in the top 25%. I got complacent at interview so didn't make it past there unfortunately. Obviously I would recommend as many marks as you can. Also 100 is certainly not unrealistic if you use the right resources. I did the PAT with no M3 or C4 knowledge but if I did I know I could have got 75+. This is why I'm urging people to learn them! :smile:

Reply 13

Also I cannot recommend this book enough. The questions in it are ideal for preparing for interviews and the PAT. I didn't know about it when I was preparing and I am very annoyed that I didn't.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Professor-Poveys-Perplexing-Problems-Pre-University/dp/1780747756

Reply 14

Original post by NatoHeadshot

So from the trig identities in c3 what do we need

knowledge that sin x / cox x = tan x
know sin (-x) = - sin x and cos (-x) = cos (x)
sin (90 - x) = cos x and cos (90 -x ) = sin x.

(sin x)^2 + (cox x)^2 = 1 and other identities obtained by dividing this equation by (sin x)^2 and (cos x)^2.

Know exact values of trigonometric functions where x = 30, 45, 60, 90, 0 degrees and where x can be converted to above values like (180 + - x ), (n X 360 + - x ) etc.

Reply 15

Original post by PhyM23

Will look into this book
What's it good for exactly if you mind

Reply 16

Original post by PhyM23

To GUARANTEE an interview I think 70+. I got 67 last year (made some horrendous mistakes and didn't know C4 integration :frown:

What were your alevels and gcses if you don't mind
That's great you made it till the interview at least

Reply 17

Original post by NatoHeadshot

Will look into this book
What's it good for exactly if you mind

You should. It just has very interview-like problems and it is written by someone that did Physics at Oxford and is a professor of Engineering Science at Oxford now I believe. The questions include unusual resistor networks (e.g. resistors connected to make a cube shape). One of my interview questions was to calculate the resistance of an unusual network and I wasn't sure how to do it. However if I used that book I would have been able to answer it hands down. One of the questions was actually asked in the author's Oxford interview!

Reply 18

Original post by NatoHeadshot

What were your alevels and gcses if you don't mind
That's great you made it till the interview at least

I got 5 A*s 7 A's and a B at GCSE (B was in Eng Lit in year 10 haha) For AS I got 3 A's and 3 B's. The A's were in German, Physics and Maths and the B's were in Further Maths Geography and General studies. I had a pretty bad mindset at AS which meant I didn't revise enough for M2, hence the B in FM. I stepped things up for the PAT by working incredibly hard haha. I'm getting my A2 results in August :afraid:

Haha thank you :smile:

Reply 19