Admissions tests / ESAT
UAT-UK, delivered by Pearson VUE
ESAT: Engineering and Science Admissions Test
The ESAT is a modular, no-calculator, multiple-choice science and mathematics test sat by applicants to engineering, natural sciences, physics, chemical engineering and related courses. Most candidates answer Mathematics 1 plus two further modules chosen from Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics 2. From 2027 entry it is also the test Oxford physics and engineering applicants sit, having replaced Oxford's own PAT. There are 1125 original practice questions with full worked solutions below.
The ESAT replaced four separate admissions tests at once. Cambridge's ENGAA and NSAA and Oxford's PAT and BMSAT have all been folded into one modular test, which means a much larger and more varied candidate pool now sits the same paper, and it means the preparation advice written for any of those four tests is now only partly applicable.
The modular structure is the thing to understand first. There are five modules; you sit Mathematics 1 plus the two your course requires. Each module is 27 multiple-choice questions in 40 minutes and each is separately timed, so finishing one early buys you nothing on the next. That is 120 minutes and 81 questions for a typical candidate, at just under 90 seconds a question.
Ninety seconds is the fact that shapes everything else. It is not enough time to derive anything from first principles, so the ESAT rewards recall that has become automatic and arithmetic that is done without a calculator without hesitation. Candidates who know the physics but compute slowly score badly, and that is a fixable problem.
There is one more thing worth knowing before you start: the ESAT has no past papers. It began in 2024 and UAT-UK does not release live questions, so official practice is the specimen material plus the legacy NSAA and ENGAA papers used as proxies. That scarcity is real, and it is why practice written directly to the published specification matters more here than for any other admissions test.
Format
| Module | Questions | Time | Format | Scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics 1 | 27 | 40 min | Multiple choice | Scored |
| Biology | 27 | 40 min | Multiple choice | Scored |
| Chemistry | 27 | 40 min | Multiple choice | Scored |
| Physics | 27 | 40 min | Multiple choice | Scored |
| Mathematics 2 | 27 | 40 min | Multiple choice | Scored |
Who needs the ESAT
| University | Courses | Status |
|---|---|---|
| University of Cambridge | Engineering, Natural Sciences, Chemical Engineering via Natural Sciences, Veterinary Medicine | Check the course page |
| Imperial College London | Aeronautical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials, Physics, Chemistry | Check the course page |
| University of Oxford | Physics, Physics and Philosophy, Engineering Science, Materials Science, Biomedical Sciences | Check the course page |
| University College London | Engineering programmes | Check the course page |
How the ESAT is scored
- Each module is 27 multiple-choice questions in 40 minutes. Every correct answer scores one mark and nothing is deducted for a wrong one.
- Results are reported PER MODULE. There is no aggregate ESAT score, so a strong Mathematics 1 does not compensate for a weak Physics in any published way.
- Each module score is reported on a scale from 1.0 to 9.0, to one decimal place. The scale is set so that a typical candidate scores around 4.5, and roughly 10 per cent of candidates score above 7.0.
- There is no pass mark, and universities do not generally publish the module scores they look for.
Key dates
- Registration opens: Late spring, ahead of the October sitting. Registration is through Pearson VUE. Check the official site for the exact opening date for your cycle. Check the official site for your cycle.
- Registration closes: Roughly two weeks before the sitting. Registration closes well before the test date and late entry is not generally available. Check the official site for your cycle.
- Test sitting: October, ahead of the 15 October UCAS deadline for Oxford and Cambridge. Sat at a Pearson VUE test centre on screen. Oxford's first ESAT sitting window is reported as October 2026. Check the official site for your cycle.
What official practice actually exists
- UAT-UK publishes a content specification covering all five modules, an explanation of results, and per-subject guides.
- Specimen material is published on the UAT-UK preparation pages.
- IMPORTANT: the ESAT has NO past papers. It was first sat in 2024 and UAT-UK does not release live questions, so no authentic past-paper archive exists or is going to.
- Legacy NSAA and ENGAA papers are the closest available proxies and are worth using, with the caveat that they were written for a different test with a different module structure and timing.
- Official material provides an ANSWER KEY, giving the correct option letter, rather than a worked solution.
Moving from the PAT to the ESAT
What carries over
- Nearly all of the physics content. The ESAT Physics module covers electricity, magnetism, mechanics, thermal physics, matter, waves and radioactivity, which is substantially the PAT's physics territory.
- The mathematics. The PAT assumed elementary mathematics up to AS level, which is what ESAT Mathematics 1 and Mathematics 2 assess directly.
- Graph sketching, estimation and the habit of checking an answer for physical plausibility, all of which the ESAT rewards.
What does not
- The pacing, and this is the big one. The PAT was a single long paper with substantial multi-step questions. The ESAT gives you under 90 seconds a question. A candidate who prepared for the PAT is trained at roughly the wrong speed.
- The structure. The PAT was one combined maths and physics paper. The ESAT is modular, separately timed and separately scored, so the strategy of banking easy marks across a whole paper no longer applies.
- The long-answer format. Pre-2024 PAT papers were long-answer; the ESAT is multiple choice throughout, which changes both the technique and what partial progress is worth, since it is worth nothing.
PAT papers up to 2023 are excellent physics and worth working through for content and for the pleasure of the problems, but do not use them to practise ESAT timing. Do the questions untimed for understanding, then practise speed against material written at ESAT length. The 2024 PAT moved to multiple choice and is the closest legacy paper in format.
Choosing your modules
Your course chooses for you, and the requirement is set per course rather than per university, so two engineering courses at different universities can want different combinations. Check every course page you are applying to before you register, because the module combination is fixed at registration.
Where a course genuinely leaves you a choice, pick on speed rather than on interest. Every module is scored on the same scale against the same distribution, so the right module is the one where you can answer 27 questions in 40 minutes, not the one you find most interesting. For most candidates that is Mathematics 2, because AS-level pure is the content they use most often and compute fastest.
Do not neglect Mathematics 1 because it looks easy. It is compulsory, it is separately scored, and its content is assumed knowledge in all four other modules, so weakness there costs marks twice.
Preparing for 90 seconds a question
The ESAT gives you just under 90 seconds per question with no calculator. That single constraint should shape your whole preparation, and it is the thing legacy PAT and NSAA practice will not teach you, because both were slower papers.
Practise arithmetic deliberately and separately. Multiplying in standard form, dividing by 0.25, taking a square root to two significant figures and estimating sensibly are all skills that decay when a calculator is always to hand, and all of them appear inside ESAT questions as sub-steps rather than as the question itself.
Learn the constants and formulae to the point of recall. There is no formulae booklet. A candidate reconstructing the equations of motion, or hesitating over the relationship between charge, current and time, has already spent a third of the time available for the question.
Train the decision to abandon. There is no negative marking, so a question you cannot see a route into within about twenty seconds should be guessed and left. Two questions answered well are worth more than one question answered perfectly, and candidates lose more marks to one stubborn question than to any other single habit.
Preparing for a test with no past papers
The ESAT is the hardest UK admissions test to prepare for, and the reason is not the content. It is that the authentic corpus is a handful of specimen questions, because the test began in 2024 and UAT-UK does not release live questions.
So work from the specification directly. It is unusually explicit, running to several hundred numbered points across the five modules, and every ESAT question is written against one of them. Working through it strand by strand and asking of each point whether you could answer a 90-second question on it is a better use of September than re-reading a textbook.
Use the legacy NSAA and ENGAA papers, but use them knowingly. The content overlaps heavily and the questions are good. The module structure, the timing and the balance between recall and application are all different, so treat them as a source of questions rather than as a simulation of the test.
Be sceptical of anything advertised as an ESAT past paper. There are none. What is being sold under that name is either specimen material, a legacy NSAA or ENGAA paper, or somebody's original questions, and knowing which you are working with matters.
The mistakes that cost the most marks
Treating Mathematics 1 as a warm-up. It is separately scored and it is assumed knowledge everywhere else.
Preparing at PAT or NSAA pace. Those papers gave you far longer per question; practising at their pace trains a rhythm the ESAT will not allow.
Carrying time between modules. You cannot. Finishing Physics five minutes early does not give Mathematics 2 forty-five minutes, so there is no reason to rush a module you are on top of.
Leaving questions blank. There is no negative marking, so every blank is a wasted chance.
Registering for the wrong module combination, or registering late. Both are unrecoverable, and both are more common than they should be.
ESAT questions students ask
- How many modules do I sit?
- Most candidates sit Mathematics 1 plus two further modules, giving 81 questions in 120 minutes. The exact combination is set by the course you are applying to, so check every course page before you register.
- Are there ESAT past papers?
- No. The test began in 2024 and UAT-UK does not release live questions. Official practice is the specimen material; the legacy NSAA and ENGAA papers are the closest proxies, and anything sold as an ESAT past paper is one of those or somebody's original questions.
- Is there one overall ESAT score?
- No. Each module is reported separately on a 1.0 to 9.0 scale. There is no aggregate score, so a weak module is visible.
- Is there negative marking?
- No. Nothing is deducted for a wrong answer, so answer every question.
- Can I use a calculator?
- No, and there is no formulae booklet. An erasable booklet is provided for working.
- Can I carry unused time into the next module?
- No. Each module is separately timed and unused time is lost.
- I was preparing for the PAT. Is that wasted?
- The physics and mathematics carry over almost entirely. The pacing, the modular structure and the multiple-choice format do not. See the transition section on this page.
- Does ESAT Mathematics 2 overlap with the TMUA?
- Yes, substantially. Both assess the same AS-level pure specification, and UAT-UK publishes shared companion notes for them, so preparation for one is genuine preparation for the other.
Sources
Every fact on this page is checked against the official specification and the administering body. Status: Currently sat. Last verified 2026-09-05.
- ESAT Content Specification (UAT-UK, read 2026-09-05). The content specification every strand on this page is quoted from, across all five modules.
- ESAT Explanation of Results, October 2024 (UAT-UK, read 2026-09-05). Source for per-module reporting on the 1.0 to 9.0 scale and for the absence of an aggregate score.
- ESAT Guide: Physics (UAT-UK, read 2026-09-05). Official subject guide for the Physics module.
- Notes on Mathematics for TMUA and ESAT Mathematics 2 (UAT-UK, read 2026-09-05). Companion notes shared with the TMUA, covering the AS-level pure content of Mathematics 2.
- About the ESAT (UAT-UK, read 2026-09-05). Format, module structure, timing and registration information.
- ESAT preparation materials (UAT-UK, read 2026-09-05). The official specimen material. The ESAT began in 2024 and has no past papers at all, so this is the entire authentic corpus.
Practice by module
Mathematics 1
Mathematics 1 is compulsory for essentially every candidate, and its content is ASSUMED KNOWLEDGE in all four other modules. It is Higher-tier GCSE mathematics, which makes it the module candidates most often under-prepare: it is the easiest content on the test and the easiest place to lose marks to speed.
5 strands. 240 practice questions across 16 sets.
Biology
The Biology module covers cells and transport, cell division and genetics, enzymes and animal physiology, ecosystems and plant physiology. It assumes all of the Mathematics 1 content, so quantitative biology questions are genuinely quantitative.
4 strands. 165 practice questions across 11 sets.
Chemistry
The Chemistry module runs from atomic structure and the Periodic Table through quantitative chemistry, bonding, group chemistry, acids, rates, energetics, electrolysis and organic chemistry. It assumes all of the Mathematics 1 content, and the quantitative strands are where the marks move.
6 strands. 270 practice questions across 18 sets.
Physics
The Physics module covers electricity and magnetism, mechanics, thermal physics, matter, waves and radioactivity. It assumes all of the Mathematics 1 content, and in practice most Physics questions are as much a test of algebraic fluency under time pressure as of physics.
4 strands. 210 practice questions across 14 sets.
Mathematics 2
Mathematics 2 is AS-level pure mathematics: algebra and functions, sequences and series, coordinate geometry, trigonometry, exponentials and logarithms, differentiation, integration and graphs. It assumes all of the Mathematics 1 content, and it shares its specification with the TMUA's Section 1 Part 1, so preparation for one is genuine preparation for the other.
5 strands. 240 practice questions across 16 sets.
75 printable ESAT sets, no login
Original questions written to the published specification, each with a full worked solution and a reason every wrong option is wrong.