awful score on the mat?

hi,
im currently revising for the MAT as i want to go to imperial, when it comes to maths im normally in my element however the MAT is something im really struggling with, i know all of the maths needed for it (and more) but i just get so stuck on what the questions are asking and where to go. ive take about 8 MAT past papers under exam conditons and i review afterwards and with the solutions it all clicks in to place but i cant seem to get it during the actual paper. the highest ive been able to score is a 38 and that was on the 2010 paper which objectively is one of the easier ones. so is it worth to keep on trudging through past papers and hoping for the best? does anyone have any experince in getting an imperial offer with a score below 40? what should i be doing to improve? i attend a FE college and im the only person in my year who is taking any sort of admissons test and my teachers are great but even they take ages to get anywhere with questions let alone help me with them.
thanks,
ryan

Reply 1

Kong, Donkey

10

Original post by ryanthebrw

hi,
im currently revising for the MAT as i want to go to imperial, when it comes to maths im normally in my element however the MAT is something im really struggling with, i know all of the maths needed for it (and more) but i just get so stuck on what the questions are asking and where to go. ive take about 8 MAT past papers under exam conditons and i review afterwards and with the solutions it all clicks in to place but i cant seem to get it during the actual paper. the highest ive been able to score is a 38 and that was on the 2010 paper which objectively is one of the easier ones. so is it worth to keep on trudging through past papers and hoping for the best? does anyone have any experince in getting an imperial offer with a score below 40? what should i be doing to improve? i attend a FE college and im the only person in my year who is taking any sort of admissons test and my teachers are great but even they take ages to get anywhere with questions let alone help me with them.
thanks,
ryan

Watch the MAT livestream by Dr James Munro, who is one of the Oxford admissions tutors. There's a YouTube playlist with all the livestreams where he goes through every topic, practice questions, past papers and questions and explains them in easier-to-understand ways.

https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduate-study/maths-admissions-test/mat-livestream

This website has a bunch of worksheets with all topics and some intermediate questions between A-level and MAT and a link to the livestream. Maybe try some other sources of maths questions that aren't A-level questions? Someone will probably have some suggestions on here.

If you're getting low scores on papers, don't do them in timed conditions yet. Take your time to understand the questions and finish the whole paper. Maybe time yourself and switch to a different colour and complete the rest of the paper if time runs out if you prefer. Also, 99% of the time, part of a question will link back to a previous part in some way. It may be obvious. It may not be. Practise looking back at previous parts and trying to find a connection. Don't spend too much time on a question if you're stuck on it. If you have no idea what's going on, move on and let it sit in the back of your brain. Most of the time, when I come back to a question I'm stuck on, I might have at least some idea later on. And if you still don't understand it then focus elsewhere.

Also, the MAT isn't so much based on knowledge but is more based upon your ability to think critically and reason well. The reason the syllabus is very short is to assess how people think, not necessarily how much they've memorised. But you've still got a month to put in the work so don't give up! There'll be some highs and some lows for most people but as long as you try your best, you won't regret it later on.

Reply 2

ryanthebrw

OP

8

(Original post by Kong, Donkey)Watch the MAT livestream by Dr James Munro, who is one of the Oxford admissions tutors. There's a YouTube playlist with all the livestreams where he goes through every topic, practice questions, past papers and questions and explains them in easier-to-understand ways.

https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduate-study/maths-admissions-test/mat-livestream

This website has a bunch of worksheets with all topics and some intermediate questions between A-level and MAT and a link to the livestream. Maybe try some other sources of maths questions that aren't A-level questions? Someone will probably have some suggestions on here.

If you're getting low scores on papers, don't do them in timed conditions yet. Take your time to understand the questions and finish the whole paper. Maybe time yourself and switch to a different colour and complete the rest of the paper if time runs out if you prefer. Also, 99% of the time, part of a question will link back to a previous part in some way. It may be obvious. It may not be. Practise looking back at previous parts and trying to find a connection. Don't spend too much time on a question if you're stuck on it. If you have no idea what's going on, move on and let it sit in the back of your brain. Most of the time, when I come back to a question I'm stuck on, I might have at least some idea later on. And if you still don't understand it then focus elsewhere.

Also, the MAT isn't so much based on knowledge but is more based upon your ability to think critically and reason well. The reason the syllabus is very short is to assess how people think, not necessarily how much they've memorised. But you've still got a month to put in the work so don't give up! There'll be some highs and some lows for most people but as long as you try your best, you won't regret it later on.
Thank you so much!

Reply 3

Infrastructures

7

Can you get the MAT result straight away after the test? And I'm also confused about the booklet. Is it sent to the test centre? Or do they have to print it off? I'm applying to Warwick and imperial but I don't want to apply if I have a bad result. Do you know when we get results. Imperial and Warwick deadline is not till end of January. But would you still have to send the results to them on the day of the MAT test?