What is the ESAT? Format, subtests and scoring

The ESAT, or Engineering and Science Admissions Test, is the admissions test several UK universities use for engineering and science courses. It is run by UAT-UK, a partnership between Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge, and you sit it on a computer at a Pearson VUE test centre rather than on paper at school.

What the ESAT replaced

If your research keeps turning up the NSAA and the ENGAA, that is because the ESAT took over from both. The Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment and the Engineering Admissions Assessment were retired, and their content and question style were folded into the new modular test. The old papers are still worth practising, but the tests themselves are gone. Our guide on what changed from the NSAA and ENGAA goes into the detail.

ESAT format and subtests

The ESAT has five available modules. Every one is built the same way: 27 multiple-choice questions in 40 minutes, one mark per question, no calculator, and no negative marking.

Module	Questions	Time
Mathematics 1	27	40 min
Mathematics 2	27	40 min
Physics	27	40 min
Chemistry	27	40 min
Biology	27	40 min

How many subtests you sit

You do not sit all five. Most candidates take three modules and spend two hours in total. Mathematics 1 is compulsory for everyone. The other two depend on the course, not on you: a Cambridge Engineering applicant sits Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2 and Physics, while some courses let you pick two of the sciences. Because the combination is fixed by where you apply, the first job in any ESAT preparation is to find out yours. Check it on our university requirements pages or in which ESAT modules you need to sit.

ESAT scoring explained

Each module is scored on its own, from 1.0 (low) to 9.0 (high), to one decimal place. There is no aggregate across modules and no pass mark. A university looks at your scores in the specific modules it asked for, alongside the rest of your application, rather than against a published threshold. For what a strong result looks like, see what is a good ESAT score.

Which universities require the ESAT

For 2027 entry the ESAT is required by Cambridge, Imperial, UCL and Oxford across a range of engineering and science courses, with the exact modules varying by course. The full list, and the module combination each course needs, is on our requirements pages.

ESAT vs TMUA

The two tests share an administrator and a scoring scale but not much else. The TMUA is one maths and reasoning test that produces a single score. The ESAT is modular, covers sciences as well as maths, and gives you a separate score for each subtest you sit. A few applicants take both, because their course list spans universities that use different tests, so check every course you are applying to rather than assuming one test covers all of them.

Getting ready

Timed practice on real questions, followed by honest review, is what raises a module score. Work through past papers, close the gaps you find with the topic-by-topic textbook, and follow the plan in how to prepare for the ESAT.

Official ESAT resources

The ESAT is set and run by UAT-UK, a partnership between Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge. Its pages are the authoritative source for the test itself, and the practice tools on esat.fyi are supplementary to them.

• ESAT test and format, UAT-UK
• ESAT preparation materials and subject guides, UAT-UK
• Booking and specimen tests, Pearson VUE
• Course requirements from the source: Cambridge, Imperial and UCL