PAT: Physics Aptitude Test

The PAT ran until 2025 and Oxford still hosts its past papers, now re-parented under the ESAT section of the physics department's own site, which tells you how Oxford intends them to be used: as preparation for the test that replaced them.

The physics and mathematics carry across almost entirely. What does not carry across is the shape of the exam, and the difference is larger than it looks. The PAT was a single two-hour paper. The ESAT is five separately timed 40-minute modules of 27 multiple-choice questions each, of which most candidates sit three.

That works out at just under 90 seconds a question, against a PAT that gave you time to develop a multi-step problem. A candidate who prepares on PAT papers alone arrives trained at roughly the wrong speed, and speed is what the ESAT actually tests once the content is known.

Format

Who needs the PAT

How the PAT is scored

• The PAT was marked out of 100.
• Oxford stated there was no pass mark as such, but a threshold below which candidates were unlikely to be shortlisted for interview, set only once results were in.
• For physics, the post-interview score combined the PAT mark with interview scores.
• None of this transfers. The ESAT reports a separate score per module on a 1.0 to 9.0 scale with no aggregate, so a PAT percentage is not convertible into an ESAT target.

Key dates

• Final sitting: 2025. The last PAT was sat in the 2025 admissions round, for 2026 entry. There is no 2026 sitting. Check the official site for your cycle.
• What to sit instead: October 2026. Oxford physics and engineering applicants for 2027 entry sit the ESAT, registered through Pearson VUE. Check your course page for the required module combination. Check the official site for your cycle.

What official practice actually exists

• The PAT past-paper archive is still online and free, hosted by the Oxford Department of Physics, with year-stamped papers going back to at least 2006.
• The archive now sits under the department's ESAT section rather than its own, which is a strong hint about how Oxford expects it to be used.
• Prefer the 2024 and 2025 papers for format practice, because those are the multiple-choice ones. Earlier papers are better physics but a worse simulation.
• Nothing new will be added to it.

Moving from the PAT to the ESAT

What carries over

• Nearly all of the physics: mechanics, electricity, waves, matter and radioactivity are the ESAT Physics module's territory too.
• The mathematics. The PAT assumed elementary mathematics to around AS level, which is what ESAT Mathematics 1 and Mathematics 2 assess directly.
• Estimation, graph sketching and checking an answer for physical plausibility, all of which the ESAT rewards under time pressure.
• The 2024 and 2025 PAT papers specifically, which are multiple choice and so are the closest legacy material in format.

What does not

• The pacing, which is the big one. The ESAT gives under 90 seconds a question; the PAT gave time to develop a problem.
• The single-paper structure. The ESAT is modular and separately timed, and unused time on one module is lost rather than carried into the next.
• Partial credit. Pre-2024 PAT papers gave marks for working; the ESAT is multiple choice, so partial progress is worth nothing and an abandoned question should be guessed.
• The mark out of 100. ESAT modules are scored 1.0 to 9.0 separately, with no aggregate.

Use PAT papers untimed for the physics, and prefer 2024 and 2025 when you want format practice. Do not use pre-2024 papers to build timing habits; they will train you at roughly half ESAT speed. Then check the ESAT specification for the topics the PAT never covered, because the ESAT Physics module has its own list.

PAT questions students ask

Is the PAT still used by any university?

Not for 2027 entry. Oxford, the only university that used it, retired it and moved physics and engineering applicants to the ESAT.

Are PAT past papers still worth doing?

Yes, for the physics. They are free on Oxford's own site, which now hosts them under its ESAT pages. Use them untimed, and do not build your pacing on them.

Which PAT papers are most like the ESAT?

The 2024 and 2025 papers, because those are the multiple-choice ones. Earlier papers used written questions with partial credit, which the ESAT does not offer.

Are there ESAT past papers?

No. The ESAT began in 2024 and UAT-UK does not release live questions, so the PAT and the legacy NSAA and ENGAA papers are the closest proxies that exist.

How many ESAT modules do I sit?

Most candidates sit Mathematics 1 plus two others. The combination is set by your course, so check every course page before you register.

Sources

Every fact on this page is checked against the official specification and the administering body. Status: Replaced. Last verified 2026-09-05.

• PAT syllabus (University of Oxford, Department of Physics, read 2026-09-05). The published syllabus quoted in the strand below. A verified partial extract, not the complete specification.
• Engineering and Science Admissions Test (ESAT) (University of Oxford, Department of Physics, read 2026-09-05). Oxford's own page on the replacement test.
• PAT past papers (University of Oxford, Department of Physics, read 2026-09-05). The archive, now hosted under the ESAT section of the site rather than its own.