Course content for PAT course

Course material

Preparing for the PAT course

Preparing for the Pat - 2025

Welcome to the 'Preparing for the PAT' course run by the Department of Physics at Oxford University on behalf of all subjects which require the PAT as part of their admissions process. The course has now finished for 2025 and the materials can all be accessed below. 

Click here for our introduction to physics problem solving, "How to be a physicist".

The problems which were used in the 2025 preparing for the PAT course are all drawn from two workbooks. These workbooks and their solutions are collated here for you:

Click here for workbook 1

Click here for workbook 2

Click here for the solutions  to workbook 1

Click here for the solutions to workbook 2

 

The PAT is administered by Pearson Vue and sat at registered test centres around the world. For students who would like to know what the experience of going into a test centre is like, Pearson have created a video which is linked below.

Click here for a video from Pearson about their test centres

 

This clip from a previous preparing for the PAT course (2024) has advice on using the test platform and multiple choice technique

Click here for a video about using the test platform and multiple choice technique

About the course

The 2025 PAT course consisted of four study focus webinar sessions, four problem sets with solution webinars, three summer assignments and numerous Isaac physics boards. 

Study Focus Webinars

The Study Focus webinars were led by physics teachers or by the physics access officer. The sessions focused on developing problem solving skills which help with tackling some of the questions within the PAT and with the practicalities of the PAT itself. 

Solution Webinars

The Study Focus webinars were led by current undergraduates. The sessions provided an idea of how the PAT problem sets might be solved. 

Three summer assignments

These consisted of sets of questions to help develop thinking skills and problem solving techniques.

Recording and Other Materials

Recordings of the webinars, the workbooks used in them and the problem sets for home study used in 2025 course, will be added below as they become available. 

Webinar 1, 11th June 2025 - Study Focus  Session 1 (problem solving skills)

In this webinar, our colleague Rachel presented three problems which showcase a selection of problem solving skills. 

Webinar 2, 18th June 2025 - Solutions Webinar 1 (general problem solving)

In this webinar, three of our students presented solutions to Problem Set 1.

Webinar 3, 25th June 2025 - Study Focus  Session 2 (waves and optics)

In this webinar, our colleague Rachel presented problems on the topics of waves and optics. 

Webinar 4, 2nd July 2025 - Solutions Webinar 2 (waves and optics)

In this webinar, three of our students presented solutions to Problem Set 2.

Summer Assignments and PAT Problem Solving Videos

Webinar 5, 10th September 2025 - Study Focus  Session 3 (problem solving skills for tricky problems)

In this webinar, our colleague Justin presented problems which showcase a selection of problem solving skills, specifically focussing on tricky problems. 

Webinar 6, 17th September 2025 - Solutions Webinar 3 (tricky problem solving)

In this webinar, our students presented their solutions to Problem Set 3.

Webinar 7, 24th September 2025 - Study Focus  Session 4 (circular motion)

In this webinar, our colleague Justin presented problems which use circular motion to develop physics problem solving skills.

Webinar 8, 1st October 2025 - Solutions Webinar 4 and Extended Q and A session

In this webinar, our students presented their solutions to Problem Set 4 and we were joined by colleagues from Materials Science and Engineering for an extended Q and A session.