1. Ultimate Oxford PAT guide
   1. What is a good PAT score?
   2. Do not aim for >90%
   3. Know your maths
   4. Attempt “weird” problems
   5. Go beyond the syllabus
   6. PAT tutoring
   7. Review, revise, repeat
2. Oxford PAT solutions
   1. PAT 2021 Solutions – Video guide
   2. PAT 2021 Solutions – Written answers
3. PAT tutoring with an Oxford expert

Ultimate Oxford PAT guide

PAT problems are hard. They require high mathematical profficiency and excellent problem-solving skills coupled with a thorough understanding of physics. The time pressure doesn’t help either. This is why having an exam strategy is extremely important.

What is a good PAT score?

The most common misconception my students have is that you need to score more than 90% in PAT in order to qualify for an interview. This is almost impossible in 2 hours that you have to sit the exam. Most years, a score of 65% is sufficient to guarantee an interview invitation. Is it difficult to score 65%? Not with this guide!

Do not aim for >90%

I get it, you’re smart and you’re used to >90% scores in your school exams. However, aiming for >90% in PAT will do you more harm than good. It means you will be stuck on problems you cannot solve, wasting your precious time. Accept that you will not solve every third or fourth problem. Skip the challenging problems and focus on the problems you are confident about. This will remove time pressure and allow you the mental clarity needed for such a difficult exam.

Know your maths

Power factors and factorials in binomial expansion, first-order and small-angle approximations, odd and even integrals, trigonometric identities involving secant… Really make sure you know these mathematical tricks. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check the worked PAT solutions below. And yes, you really need to learn logs.

Attempt “weird” problems

Have you noticed those weird PAT problems with crystal lattices, quantum physics, … and delay lines?! Each PAT has a couple of long problems with an unfamiliar material. They do this because the examiners want to test how well you learn new topics. Everything you need to know is usually given in the problems. Just make sure you read carefully and they will be quite easy. Oh, yes, that 2019 problem 21 on delay lines is an exception. I still haven’t figured it out.

Go beyond the syllabus

Read the whole PAT paper syllabus to make sure you cover all of the topics mentioned there. My students often skip diffraction, wave harmonics, Kepler’s laws, orbits and moon phases. There are some topics that come up although they are not in the syllabus, such as capacitors and basic magnetic fields.

PAT tutoring

Working with a tutor is fun. I can motivate you, explain things in an interesting way, assess your level, give structure to your learning process, provide personalized learning tips, help you deal with exam anxiety, and give general career and life advice. If you are interested, book a lesson with me.

Review, revise, repeat

Start early enough; optimally you would start preparing in June. This will allow you enough time to review all the topics and revise. Do not delay solving PAT problems until you’ve reviewed everything. Instead, learn on PAT problems and then redo them later in timed conditions. Repetitio est mater studiorum (I feel so fancy using Latin).

Oxford PAT solutions

Here are my worked solutions for PAT past papers. The videos are meant to complement the written answers, so make sure you use both. You can ask your questions in the comments section below. I will reply within 24 hours.

PAT 2021 Solutions – Video guide

PAT 2021 Solutions – Written answers

PAT tutoring with an Oxford expert