ESAT vs NSAA and ENGAA: what changed?

If you are researching engineering and science admissions tests, you will still find plenty of material about the NSAA and the ENGAA. Both have been retired. The ESAT replaced them, so it helps to know what carried over and what changed.

What the NSAA and ENGAA were

The Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment (NSAA) was used for natural sciences and related courses, and the Engineering Admissions Assessment (ENGAA) for engineering. They were run by Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing, which also ran other admissions tests. When that organisation stopped delivering these assessments, they were discontinued.

What the ESAT is now

The ESAT, or Engineering and Science Admissions Test, took their place. It is administered by UAT-UK, a partnership between Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge, and delivered on computer at Pearson VUE test centres. It was introduced for 2025-entry admissions and first sat in October 2024.

The most visible changes are in how you sit the test and how it is structured:

• Delivery. The ESAT is sat on screen at a Pearson VUE test centre, rather than on paper at a school or college.
• A single modular test. Instead of separate NSAA and ENGAA papers, the ESAT is one test with five available modules: Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Mathematics 1 is compulsory, and the modules you sit are set by your course.
• Format. Each module has 27 multiple-choice questions in 40 minutes, with one mark per question, no calculator and no negative marking.
• Scoring. Each module is scored separately from 1.0 to 9.0, with no combined total and no pass mark.

For a fuller breakdown, see what is the ESAT.

Are the old papers still worth doing?

Yes. The subject content of the NSAA and ENGAA overlaps closely with the ESAT, and the questions are the same multiple-choice style, so the retired papers are useful extra practice once you have worked through the official ESAT material. The main thing to keep in mind is that the question counts and timings differ, so use the old papers to drill topics and technique rather than as a like-for-like mock.

You can practise ESAT-style questions under timed conditions with our past papers, and rebuild any weak topics with the topic-by-topic textbook. When you are ready to plan your revision, follow how to prepare for the ESAT.

For the official test details, see the UAT-UK ESAT page and the free ESAT preparation materials.