If your DC got to interview stage for Oxford maths ...

[teezmayd]

... were they pretty confident beforehand because they had done the MAT practice papers and consistently scored more than the interview threshold?

My DC has done two practice papers but not yet reached the threshold (which is different for each paper) but he has a "never say die" attitude and a week to practice..I've always thought it was a long shot, and we're certainly not pinning any hopes on it, but I'm just interested in others' experiences of whether the practice papers are a good indicator of success or not.

She's not a maths student but DD had to take the MAT. I'd have to be honest and say that yes, she scored consistently above what she perceived to be the minimum threshold. I don't know if it officially exists in reality, but your DC certainly won't get a place if he doesn't give it a shot.

DS1 wasn't exactly confident, because he knew it all depended on the actual MAT that he had to sit, but yes I think by the time he sat it he was fairly confident he could do well enough in a 'typical' MAT. From what I remember he spent more time practising individual problems than entire papers.

Sounds like your DS (and you) have a good attitude - no point getting uptight about it and practice can make a big difference. Anything can happen on the day and if he's not nervy that could stand him in good stead.

If you look on the Merton College website there is a fairly detailed paper of how decisions are made including graphs. I think it's under the Admissions tab, Admissions feedback.

I've just had a little explore of the MAT web pages and realised that the mark he said he was (slightly) below was the average mark of all applicants rather than the threshold for interview. I'm not sure that's better, but its more in line with my understanding - I'd read that they use some contextual factors in the selection process so there isn't a clear cut off mark.

My son’s sitting the MAT next week and has applied to Oxford (and Imperial) for maths. He’s done a fair bit of practice but we will see. He’s realistic and knows that so many more apply than places, and since he’s visited a few other places he knows Oxford isn’t the be all and end all

Mine also sitting the MAT next week and talks about average score for those getting interviews snd also for successful applicants.