[jvvw]

I have interviewed maths applicants at Oxford, with the caveat that it was 20 years ago.

The things that struck me were that a lot is dependent on the individual interviewers. I tried hard to look for potential as did most of the interviewers I spoke to did but can be easier said than done. The exam wasn't a big factor in the decision making I found, unless somebody did really well or really badly, as the marks were all very bunched up and we couldn't see the scripts to see what people were getting right and wrong.

Also, the course is really hard for somebody who hasn't done double maths A-level, so if somebody only has single maths, you have to pretty confident that they will be able to basically teach themselves further maths A-level. There is obviously some support from tutors with that, but the set-up is aimed at people with double maths.

They definitely don't only take groomed Maths Olympiad winners and the questions are much easier than Olympiad questions (in my undergraduate year there were only two of us who had made it to the top 20 country in the British Maths Olympiad stuff for example - Cambridge filters them all off!)

I also don't think even the top schools train up for the interviews as much as you say - I went to a school that was top ten in the A-level league tables nd only had one mock interview.