oxford math phd interview

Decision timeline

Completing your application.

Once you have submitted your application and it has been processed by the Graduate Admissions Office, you will be able to log in to access Graduate Applicant Self Service .

You can use self-service to edit and replace your referees, track your application status, view your application and upload any missing documents.

Look out for our automated emails to let you know when each reference is submitted. Check self-service regularly and stay in contact with your referees to make sure all documents have been sent in by the deadline.

Once we have everything we need for your application to be ready for assessment, we will let you know by email and in your self-service.

Academic assessment

Depending on your course, you may be interviewed (usually via video call or in-person).

Check whether applicants to your course are usually interviewed in the entry requirements on your course page , under ‘Performance at interview’.

You will usually receive the outcome of your application from your academic department about 8 to 10 weeks after the application deadline.

If you are successful, you will receive an email to notify you of this and the department’s certificate of offer will be available to you to download via self-service. It will set out the steps you need to take to become a student at the University. It will give details of any conditions on your offer and how to respond to your offer, including any deposit required to secure your place.

For a list of courses that require a deposit, see our Deposits webpage .

Funding and scholarships

Scholarships are usually awarded between late February and June. If you are awarded a scholarship, you may be notified at the same time as your department (or college) offer or later on, depending on the source of the funding.

College placement

If you are accepted to a course that has college membership, you are guaranteed a college place and will automatically be considered by our colleges.

To check if you can expect a college offer, see the college information on your course page .

After you have got an offer from your academic department, it will usually take 8 to 10 weeks to find out which college will offer you a place, though it can sometimes take longer.

If you chose a college when you applied and that college did not offer you a place, you will usually find out 4 to 6 weeks after the department makes you an offer.

• Once you have a college place, your college will ask you to complete a Financial Declaration to confirm that you have enough funding to undertake your course.

Finalising your offer

Once you have met all the conditions of your offer, you will be sent a final Completion of Conditions letter with a form to return that confirms that you intend to enrol at Oxford.

If you need a student visa for your course, the process can start after you have received your Completion of Conditions.

Arriving in Oxford

For more information on the University contract and what you should do before you arrive, see the University's webpages for new students .

We understand that waiting for the outcome of your application can be a tense and difficult time. Below are answers to some of our most common questions, which you might find helpful while you wait for the outcome of your application.

How do I know if my graduate application has been received?

Once you have submitted your application, you will receive an email confirming that your application has been successfully submitted. This email will only acknowledge receipt of your application: it does not confirm that your application arrived in time for a particular deadline, nor that you have submitted all of the required documents for your application for it to be assessed by the department.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you submit your application and all of the required supporting documents, and make sure that your referees have submitted their references, by the relevant deadline.

After you have submitted your application, you will have access to the Graduate Applicant Self Service portal , where you can check whether your application has fulfilled all of the requirements for it to be assessed, including the status of your references. 

What happens to my graduate application once it has been submitted?

After submitting your application, you will receive a confirmation email. Your application will be processed by the Graduate Admissions Office. Processing is usually completed within a few working days but it may take longer around the application deadlines. 

Within a few days of submitting your application, you can access the  Graduate Applicant Self Service portal  and check whether your application has fulfilled all of the requirements for it to be assessed (including the status of your references).

If your application includes all of the required documents in the correct format, the department will assess it and communicate the outcome to you directly within 8-10 weeks of the relevant deadline under which you applied. If you have not heard back from the department 10 weeks after the relevant deadline, please contact them directly using the  contact details on the course page .

How can I check if my graduate application is ready for assessment?

You can check whether your application is complete and ready for assessment using the  Graduate Applicant Self Service portal.  This platform becomes available within a few days of your application being submitted.

If you submit your application at least one week before the deadline, we will try to let you know whether your application is ready for assessment within one week of you submitting the application.

It is your responsibility to ensure that all necessary documents, including references in support of your application, are received by the deadline, which falls at 12:00 noon (ie midday) UK time.

If you submit your application in the week leading up to the deadline, it is very unlikely that we will be able to check your application and inform you whether your application is ready for assessment, or to assist you with any queries. During the week leading up to the deadline and the two weeks following the deadline, we will be unable to let you know if we have received your references or documents sent by post and email, as this is not clear to us until we have finished processing the high volume of applications and documents we receive. Once we have processed all the applications and documents, we will let you know the status of your application.

You can find further information about how your  application is assessed  in  'After you apply' .

How can I check the status or progress of my graduate application?

After you have submitted your application, you will have access to the Graduate Applicant Self Service portal , where you can check whether your application has fulfilled all of the requirements for it to be assessed, including the status of your references.

When the academic department has made a decision, you will receive the outcome by email and the outcome will also be available in Self-Service.

We understand that you want to know information on the progress on your application as early as possible, and the University will keep you updated by email throughout the admissions process.

When will I hear the outcome of my graduate application?

If you submitted your application correctly (including all required supporting documents and at least two references), a decision will be sent to you via email and your Self-Service portal 8-10 weeks after the application deadline.

If you have not heard back from the department 10 weeks after the relevant deadline, please contact them directly using the contact details on the course page.

Decisions are made and communicated by the academic department. Graduate Admissions will not be able to tell you the outcome of your application.

If you receive an offer of a place, the Self-Service portal is not used to communicate college or funding decisions - these will be sent via email only.

Decision timescales

Please note that all timescales are indicative. Notifications may take longer or you may hear before the usual timeline. 

You can find answers to some of the most common questions about the process in our article ' What to expect when you're expecting a decision ' on our Medium blog.  

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Mathematics

Mathematics – oxford interview questions, “how can i prepare when the interviewer could ask me absolutely  anything about maths”.

By understanding how the interview works and, crucially, what it is that the interviewer is looking for. The interviewer is  not  looking to catch you out, but rather for you to demonstrate your curiosity, knowledge and passion for Maths.

“How am I able to do that?”

Demonstrate your enthusiasm and personality

You might be asked general interview questions so that the interviewer can learn more about you – review our list of General Interview questions to prepare.

Show that you enjoy studying Maths independently The easiest way to demonstrate your enthusiasm for Maths is to show that you are self-motivated and have studied the subject in your free-time for enjoyment – for example through online lectures and independent reading. If you don’t know where to start, review our suggested reading list below.

Demonstrate your subject knowledge about and passion for Maths The key to answering these questions is to always demonstrate your thought process aloud. The interviewer does not expect you to be able to answer every question immediately, but rather wants to determine that you are able to think about and work on unknown topics with confidence, intelligence and clarity – and they won’t be able to do that if you sit in silence! Use the list of questions below to prepare. Perhaps you can have a friend or relative ask you these questions so that you can develop your skills of thinking under time pressure and speaking out loud.

Subject Interview Guide – Maths

Our Subject Interview Guides help you to prepare and go into your interview with confidence.

Each guide discusses ten Oxford Interview Questions in depth with answers and approaches – along with possible points of discussion to further demonstrate your knowledge. They have been specially edited for applicants for each subject by a team of Oxford and Cambridge graduates.

Download a sample page from our Physics Guide here.

Please Note: Currently “The Oxford Interview Guide” is available for Chemistry and Physics (available to download below). Other subjects will be available for download in November – please enter your email below to receive a notification when your subject guide is available for download.

Your Email Address (required)

Subject for which you are applying (optional) Archaeology and Anthropology Biological Sciences Chemistry Classics Computer Science Earth Sciences Economics and Management Engineering Science English Geography History History of Art Law (Jurisprudence) Materials Science Mathematics Medicine Modern Languages Music Oriental Studies Philosophy PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) Physics Theology

Mathematics Suggested Reading

Maths Practice Questions

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• Researcher Training & Development
• Self-Access Resources
• Completing your DPhil

Preparing for the Viva Exam

Introduction.

The Viva exam is an integral part of completing your DPhil. See the links at the bottom of this section for information and guidance on the formal University processes and what you need to do. This section also includes advice and hints and tips on how to prepare.

Don’t expect to do your Viva without preparing for it - take the preparation as seriously as writing your thesis. Take and plan the time to do the preparation – have a look at the Time Management section for help with this. You won’t be able to do everything that is suggested in this section, so think about the areas where you feel less confident, and prioritise those.

This content draws on the presentation made by Professor David Gavaghan on the   Completing your DPhil  course, and on material from Dr Melanie Ghoul , who delivers the Viva Preparation and Practice course for the Division.

The aim of the Viva is

• To check that the research in your thesis is of the required standard for a DPhil*
• To check that the work in your thesis is your own
• To check that you have a general knowledge of the research area covered by your thesis commensurate with holding a DPhil in that area

*The standard is 'that the student present a significant and substantial piece of research, of a kind which might reasonably be expected of a capable and diligent student after three or at most four years of full-time study in the case of a full time student, or eight years in the case of a part-time student.'

How to prepare

There is a lot you can do to prepare for your Viva and make it an effective and also – dare we say it – enjoyable experience! Yes, people do find it enjoyable to talk about their work and discuss it with their examiners – who are also after all, knowledgeable in your field. Remember that however many experts there are in your field, you are the only person who has done your specific piece of research, so you are the expert in your DPhil, and your examiners will be interested to hear about it.

Dr Melanie Ghoul delivers the Viva Preparation and Practice Course  for the Division. Her slides for the Viva Preparation course  provide comprehensive information and advice on the kind of things you can do to prepare in different areas. Working through them will help you get ready for the exam. These are some suggestions to help you replicate the face to face activities referred to in the slides:

Listing concerns

You are encouraged to think about and note your concerns, and discuss them with friends / colleagues / supervisor / others in your field. If that’s not possible, think about and note what you can do to address each concern.

• What strategies can you formulate?
• Who can you ask to help you?
• Where can you find information?

The examiner’s perspective

Talk to your supervisor and other academics in your field who have acted as examiners. What is their perspective?

• What are they looking for the candidate to demonstrate during the viva?
• What is their advice?
• What is the purpose of the viva, in their opinion?
• What makes a strong viva performance?
• What makes a weak performance?
• Advice on how to prepare beforehand
• Advice on how to cope during the viva.

 The University’s Memorandum for Examiners will also give you a perspective on what they are looking for.

The Student's Perspective

Find someone – in your field or another – who has recently completed their Viva. Ask them how it was.

• What did they do to prepare?
• What do they wish they had done differently?
• What kind of questions did the examiners ask?
• What advice do they have for appointing examiners?
• What other advice do they have for you?

Practice Session

The face to face Viva preparation course offers an opportunity for a ‘live’ short practice session with other students. You could organise the same kind of session with fellow students or colleagues.  There are some ideas for questions in this Vitae resource .

Other resources and ideas

Vitae pages on The Viva . These contain useful information, including book recommendations and a Viva preparation checklist.

Book: How to Survive your Viva, R Murray

Formal bits

The Division's pages on Examination and Graduation , which include a section on the Viva.

The University page on Research Examinations .

On this page

Oxford Mathematics: Tips & Questions for Interview

This article guides candidates you how to best prepare for the Oxford Maths interview. There are guides on past Oxford Maths interview questions, interview tips, mock examples and real experiences from students who have sat the Oxford Mathematics panel interview.

This article has been made from a collection of accounts from Oxbridge applicants.

Table of Contents

What is the Oxford Mathematics Interview structure?

Generally, interviewees will have one or two interviews at their first college (which will most likely be their chosen college, if they specified a preferred college in their application), along with at least one additional interview at another college. All of the interviews will take place over 3 days.

Each interview will be around 25 minutes long, and almost all the maths interview questions Oxford tutors will ask will be mathematical. The interviewers’ aim during the interview is to see how your thought process works when you do mathematics and think through mathematical problems. 

Candidates may be given a short pre-interview task to do, so that they can be asked related Oxford interview maths questions and discuss answers in the interview. Whether this happens will depend on the college that candidates are interviewing at, and they will be informed of it in advance.

If candidates are applying for a joint course like Maths and CS or Maths and Philosophy, they will most likely have separate interviews for each subject. Though in some cases, they could have tutors from both subjects sitting in on one interview. They’ll be informed if this is the case when they are invited to interview.

What are the Oxford Mathematics interview dates?

Most of the interviews for Oxford Mathematics will take place the first two weeks of December. International applicants will follow a similar timeframe. Candidates will be informed of the exact interview dates when they are invited to interview.

If the interview is held online, candidates will also need another device (preferably a tablet, but a phone may be ok) that they can write on. This is because they will likely be using a Miro whiteboard to show your working to Oxford University maths interview questions to the interviewers.

Example Maths Oxford Interview Questions

• Why have you applied to study mathematics at university?
• Why do you want to come to Oxford?
• Is there anything you would look forward to studying here if you gained an offer?

Specific Oxford interview questions Oxford

• Connecting points: You have n points on the plane. Can you show me a way to connect them in a closed circuit using line segments, so that the circuit doesn’t intersect itself? For a past applicant, this initial question eventually led to the question “prove that the sum of two diagonals is greater than the sum of any two opposite sides, using the triangle inequality”.
• Nilpotent matrix: Here is a matrix. Can you find the value of n for which A n =0 .
• Ladder: A ladder’s middle rung is painted a different colour on the side (when we look at the ladder side on, we can see the different colour). I lean the ladder against a vertical wall, with its feet on the ground. If the ladder falls to the floor, what shape will the middle rung trace?
• Covering a grid: How many ways can I cover a 2 x n grid with 2 x 1 tiles?
• Equilateral triangle: I have the parabola y=x2. The points A, B, C, all lie on the parabola, with B being the origin. A lies to the left of B, while C lies to the right. Where can I put A and C so that the triangle ABC is equilateral?

Further Oxford Maths Interview Questions

• Questions on differentiation and integration
• Questions on trigonometry and trig identities (sin, cos, tan)
• Questions asking you to sketch various curves
• Factorial: How many ‘0’s are there in 40!
• Dice game: I play a game against my friend. We each take turns to roll a die, and we win if we roll a 6. What is the probability that I win?
• Covering a chess board: I have a chess board, but two of the corner squares have been removed. Is it possible to cover the board with dominoes if the two squares removed are adjacent corners? What if they were diagonally opposite corners?
• Cutting pizza: How many pieces of pizza can I get from n cuts?
• Pythagoras: Can you prove Pythagoras’ Theorem?
• Birthdays: There are 40 people in a room. What is the probability that 2 of them share a birthday?
• Questions based on A-level mechanics and statistics
• Questions on geometry
• Painting a cube: I have a cube that I want to paint with 6 different colours, painting each side a different colour. How many different ways can I paint the cube? What if I had n colours instead?
• Roots: Prove that root 3 is irrational.
• Pepper game: My friend and I are playing a game where we take it in turns to eat hot peppers. 6 of the peppers are mild, and 2 are hot. I want to avoid eating the hot peppers. What is the probability that I eat a hot pepper if I go first? Is it a disadvantage for me to go first? What if there were instead 7 mild peppers and 1 hot pepper?

Jesus College, Oxford has a sample Oxford interview maths questions on their Youtube, which can be helpful to see some questions being worked through:

Insider Guides: Oxford Mathematics Interview

What happens on the day of your oxford mathematics interview .

All of my interviews were online, and they were around 30 minutes each. I just joined the online meeting a few minutes ahead of the start time, and was let in on time for my interviews.

What do you have to bring to your Oxford Mathematics interview?

Since the interviews were online, I was required to have a graphics tablet or a writable digital surface available, so that we could collaborate on a digital whiteboard and they could see my workings.

I would also recommend having pen and paper on hand, so that you can easily do rough work or make notes on the questions being asked.

What is the interview setting and how long is it?

It was over Microsoft Teams. There were two tutors present in each Mathematics interview, and they had some papers in front of them to look at during the interview. Each interview was about 25 minutes long, with 5 minutes at the beginning for introductions.

What are the Oxford Maths interviewers like? 

All of my interviewers were very friendly. One of them was a bit pushy when I got stuck on one of the problems, but the others were all patient and eagerly listened to what I had to say, helping me when I got stuck on certain maths Oxford interview questions.

I had some interviews at St John’s, which were all based on follow up Oxford math interview questions. They would start with simple questions, then build on top of those base questions with further, more complicated, questioning. They also asked me some extra follow up Oxford interview maths questions based on what I had said in my answers to previous parts. I was also interviewed at St Anne’s, where they only asked about 5/6 short mats Oxford interview questions, without any follow up questions.

What are the best tips for planning my trip for my Oxford Maths Interview?

I can’t give advice on planning a trip to Oxford, as my interview was online – but yours will be online too, so you don’t have to worry about that! I’d say, in terms of planning for the few days, you should make sure you get enough sleep and eat well. You should also wear whatever you feel comfortable in, and that is presentable. Don’t feel like you have to wear a suit. A nicely ironed shirt, a jumper, or even a T-shirt would do just fine!

Are there any academic or challenging Mathematics questions at the Oxford Interview?

The majority of the maths interview questions Oxford tutors asked me during the interviews were challenging mathematical questions. They were all based around A-level material, but I was introduced to some new ideas and tested to see how well I could pick up new information and apply it.

Are there any personality, work experience or extracurricular based Mathematics questions at the Oxford Interview? 

They asked me about my participation in maths olympiads, which I had mentioned in my Oxford maths personal statement . The question was something like: “we see you’ve participated in the IMO before, can you explain the journey of this experience to us?” I also mentioned in my personal statement that I had studied a little bit of linear algebra and measure theory, so they asked me how much I had studied for these topics and how I went about doing so.

Top Tips for the Oxford Maths Interview

• You should practise speaking your thoughts out loud when solving problems. It would be useful to do Oxford Maths interview preparation , even if just with a friend or family member, so that you can practise vocalising your thought process – this is the key to performing well in your interviews.
• If you get stuck during the interview, don’t just sit silent and think to yourself. Keep communicating with the tutors – tell them what you’re thinking and why those ideas aren’t working. This means that they can help give you hints, and they can see how your brain is working on the problem. You don’t have to get everything right, you just have to show that you have the ability to learn and excel in the Oxford Mathematics course.
• Remember that it’s okay to ask for help if you get stuck . Just ask if they can give you a hint, and they’ll be more than happy to help you. 
• Relax! The tutors are super friendly, and they will try their best to make you feel comfortable. They are not there to gauge how much you know from high school, they are there to see if they would enjoy teaching you for the next 3/4 years. So do your best to communicate, and try to feel at ease. 
• Make sure you understand the question properly before you start working on them. If you have any trouble understanding, or any questions, don’t hesitate to ask the tutors.

Top Tips for the “Why Oxford” interview question

I don’t think your answer matters as long as you are sincere about your reason – so find a few things about Oxford and about the Oxford Mathematics course in particular that genuinely make you want to attend university here! Perhaps it is the tutorial system, perhaps it is a few particular modules that are offered here, perhaps you really want to be in an institution surrounded by other students all as passionate about your subject as you are.

My Favourite Things about Studying Mathematics at Oxford University

I study Maths and Computer Science as a joint degree, and I really love studying both subjects at Oxford. I think it gives me a lot of flexibility about what I want to study, and I get to choose my favourite parts from each subject!

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OCIAM Research Group

If you're interested in Applied Mathematics then Professor Ian Griffiths from the OCIAM group has some interesting stories to tell about the links between mathematics and industrial processes.

And if you found that interesting then watch Professor Ian Hewitt talk about his research on modelling melting ice sheets and glaciers...

In the meantime, why not   watch some of the sessions from last year's Postgraduate Open Day.