Oxbridge application: Is a tutor necessary?

Hello everyone!
I am planning to apply to Oxbridge for the 2026 entry in Mathematics. To prepare in the best possible way and navigate the application process effectively, I have come across several online tutors and mentors who offer support with the personal statement, MAT, interviews...

For example, these websites:
- https://oxfordtutors.com/
- https://oxbridgemind.co.uk/mat-online-course/
- https://www.uniadmissions.co.uk/university-application-consultation/
- https://www.theprofs.co.uk/contact-the-profs/

Do any of you have experience with such tutors? Or do you think that this kind of preparation is not really necessary?

Many thanks in advance!

Reply 1

mqb2766

21

Original post by RouvenJ

Hello everyone!
I am planning to apply to Oxbridge for the 2026 entry in Mathematics. To prepare in the best possible way and navigate the application process effectively, I have come across several online tutors and mentors who offer support with the personal statement, MAT, interviews...
For example, these websites:
- https://oxfordtutors.com/
- https://oxbridgemind.co.uk/mat-online-course/
- https://www.uniadmissions.co.uk/university-application-consultation/
- https://www.theprofs.co.uk/contact-the-profs/
Do any of you have experience with such tutors? Or do you think that this kind of preparation is not really necessary?
Many thanks in advance!

Is it oxford or cambridge (so mat or step), what are you currently doing for maths supercurriculars, does your school give any support, ....

I guess they can help somewhat with practice interviews and ... but that sort of practice is often freely available and doing it yourself generally means you understand/can talk about it with greater authority.

Reply 2

KWad

11

Necessary? Absolutely not.
Useful? Potentially.

Frankly if you start preparing for the MAT now, you should be fine. Many (most) students who get admitted did not have an admissions test tutor, so that on its own should be evidence that tutoring is not a necessity. That being said, it could be useful to you if you find that after several months you are struggling to make progress on your own. However, most do not recommend tutoring and to emphasise again, it is not necessary. Not to mention oxbridge tutoring is also very unreasonably priced.

Reply 3

RouvenJ

OP

3

Original post by mqb2766

Is it oxford or cambridge (so mat or step), what are you currently doing for maths supercurriculars, does your school give any support, ....
I guess they can help somewhat with practice interviews and ... but that sort of practice is often freely available and doing it yourself generally means you understand/can talk about it with greater authority.

Thank you for the answer! I going to school in german and at my school there exist nobody who has any experiences with Oxbridge, so from this site I've not so much help. My current preference is the Oxford University
As extracurriculas I absolving a Junior study at the University of Hamburg for 2.5 years yet (I passed Linear Algebra I and II, as well as Analysis I and II and currently Algebra).
So in front of the maths-view I think I can prepare myself by myself, but for the selection of colleges, the writing of the right personal statement and the interview preparation I have no people with experiences around me...

Reply 4

RouvenJ

OP

3

Original post by KWad

Necessary? Absolutely not.
Useful? Potentially.
Frankly if you start preparing for the MAT now, you should be fine. Many (most) students who get admitted did not have an admissions test tutor, so that on its own should be evidence that tutoring is not a necessity. That being said, it could be useful to you if you find that after several months you are struggling to make progress on your own. However, most do not recommend tutoring and to emphasise again, it is not necessary. Not to mention oxbridge tutoring is also very unreasonably priced.

Thanks! Yeah that is a good evidence, but unforunatlly I have no other people who have any experiences with these application-steps, so I think it could be helpfull if there are somebody...

But yeah the prices are very high. I have a call with one tutor from "Oxbridge tutors" and there I'll ask how they could help me and how much it costs...

Reply 5

mqb2766

21

Original post by RouvenJ

Thank you for the answer! I going to school in german and at my school there exist nobody who has any experiences with Oxbridge, so from this site I've not so much help. My current preference is the Oxford University
As extracurriculas I absolving a Junior study at the University of Hamburg for 2.5 years yet (I passed Linear Algebra I and II, as well as Analysis I and II and currently Algebra).
So in front of the maths-view I think I can prepare myself by myself, but for the selection of colleges, the writing of the right personal statement and the interview preparation I have no people with experiences around me...

For the selection of colleges, Id not worry too much. You could ask @Stiffy Byng for some personal experience, though there is obviously balancing that goes on in the application process and you may not end up where you apply, assuming youre successful. Life will go on.

Similarly for a personal statement, youve probably doing enough stuff and I guess the key things are to show some passion/motivation/reading around the subject, so what interests you. One thing oxford/cambridge are fairly clear about is that they dont really want to read tutor prepared statements.

Interview preparation is probably less about knowing the questions, more about talking/discussing maths regularly with someone. So if you can do that where you are and have a dig over some of the typical interview questions (theyre not that realistic, but it helps to give an idea of expectations), a tutor isnt going to add that much.

The mat livestream and the online maths club probably cover most of this, with your own supercurriculars.

Reply 6

mqb2766

21

Original post by RouvenJ

Thanks! Yeah that is a good evidence, but unforunatlly I have no other people who have any experiences with these application-steps, so I think it could be helpfull if there are somebody...
But yeah the prices are very high. I have a call with one tutor from "Oxbridge tutors" and there I'll ask how they could help me and how much it costs...

There was a thread on here "recently" where someone said theyd used one of these groups (or a group like them) sparingly, so a couple of times when they submitted their personal statement and a couple of times when they were preparing for their interview. So that might be one way to get a bit of reassurance. But, for me, it would be more of an expensive comfort blanket and you should be able to get all the necessary info easily and freely. So ask oxford admissions, read their info, ask on here ...

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 7

RouvenJ

OP

3

Original post by mqb2766

There was a thread on here "recently" where someone said theyd used one of these groups (or a group like them) sparingly, so a couple of times when they submitted their personal statement and a couple of times when they were preparing for their interview. So that might be one way to get a bit of reassurance. But, for me, it would be more of an expensive comfort blanket and you should be able to get all the necessary info easily and freely. So ask oxford admissions, read their info, ask on here ...

Ok, yeah that is a good idea. Those were my thoughts too, that it's a thing before the interviews take place. Thank you for the help!

Reply 8

xyz1234567

10

I would be very sceptical of these agencies. Most of what they are selling is not worth it.

If you want to spend money on tutoring, spend it on a maths tutor to give you help with approaching advanced problems and stretch you. You are going to be selected on the basis of your mathematical ability and nothing else. The interview will be entirely maths questions. The MAT is far more important than the personal statement.

Reply 9

Harik0

9

Original post by RouvenJ

Hello everyone!
I am planning to apply to Oxbridge for the 2026 entry in Mathematics. To prepare in the best possible way and navigate the application process effectively, I have come across several online tutors and mentors who offer support with the personal statement, MAT, interviews...
For example, these websites:
- https://oxfordtutors.com/
- https://oxbridgemind.co.uk/mat-online-course/
- https://www.uniadmissions.co.uk/university-application-consultation/
- https://www.theprofs.co.uk/contact-the-profs/
Do any of you have experience with such tutors? Or do you think that this kind of preparation is not really necessary?
Many thanks in advance!

obviously if you have a tutor, that's extra prep and that doesn't hurt, but there are a few things you should keep in mind:

1.

Even with a tutor, you'll still put a similar amount of time in on the side.

2.

MAT isn't really coachable in that the syllabus is just A level. STEP is slightly more coachable, but again, the hard part is generally the problem solving as opposed to the actual content. So I seriously doubt that them 'teaching' you will be any more help than just doing past papers.

3.

For both MAT and STEP, there are SO MANY past papers, like 40 years or something for STEP and 20+ for MAT. You shouldn't be running out of these, and that will be ample prep.

In terms of stuff like interview and personal statement, Oxbridge (especially STEM and even more especially maths) don't care about personal statement. For interview, it shouldn't be necessary to get a tutor. The main part of the interview is just maths questions and if you can do STEP and MAT at a good level, you can do an interview well. You might benefit from a mock interview for calming your nerves and getting a practice run in, but this is not necessary, and you can usually get your school to arrange one for free (or ask someone here?).

Reply 10

KWad

11

You may find this bank of Mathematics personal statements useful (some of them are from Oxbridge offer holders): (1) Mathematics personal statements | The Student Room
Note that many of them are old, so the general quality may have increased a bit since then. Still, it is good for getting an idea of the kind of thing you will have to write.

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 11

Scotney

20

Original post by Harik0

obviously if you have a tutor, that's extra prep and that doesn't hurt, but there are a few things you should keep in mind:

1.

Even with a tutor, you'll still put a similar amount of time in on the side.

2.

MAT isn't really coachable in that the syllabus is just A level. STEP is slightly more coachable, but again, the hard part is generally the problem solving as opposed to the actual content. So I seriously doubt that them 'teaching' you will be any more help than just doing past papers.

3.

For both MAT and STEP, there are SO MANY past papers, like 40 years or something for STEP and 20+ for MAT. You shouldn't be running out of these, and that will be ample prep.

In terms of stuff like interview and personal statement, Oxbridge (especially STEM and even more especially maths) don't care about personal statement. For interview, it shouldn't be necessary to get a tutor. The main part of the interview is just maths questions and if you can do STEP and MAT at a good level, you can do an interview well. You might benefit from a mock interview for calming your nerves and getting a practice run in, but this is not necessary, and you can usually get your school to arrange one for free (or ask someone here?).

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6465960
Lots of useful info here
Youtube have lots of mock interviews.Look out for Jesus College videos that cover all aspects.
Join us on University of Oxford Applicants thread 2026 coming soon.
Reputable tutors Spires.

Oxbridge application: Is a tutor necessary?

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