ESAT · Practice statistics
What ESAT students get wrong
The topics candidates most often get wrong, the questions that take them longest, and how each module compares, from practice answers across all students on this site.
Totals across all students only: nobody is named, and every figure describes a large enough group that no one student can be picked out.
From the answers of at least 20 students to more than 11,300 ESAT practice questions, 63% were answered right. Updated 19 October 2026.
Module averages
| Module | Answered right | Time per question | Students |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biology | 49% | 1 min 50 s | at least 20 |
| Chemistry | 67% | 1 min 25 s | at least 20 |
| Mathematics 1 | 70% | 1 min 35 s | at least 20 |
| Mathematics 2 | 61% | 1 min 45 s | at least 20 |
| Physics | 60% | 1 min 30 s | at least 20 |
Most missed topics and slowest questions, by module
Biology
| Topic | Answered right |
|---|---|
| Human physiology | 61% |
| Section | Time per question |
|---|---|
| Respiration | 2 min 00 s |
Chemistry
| Topic | Answered right |
|---|---|
| Energetics | 62% |
| Rates of reaction | 71% |
| Atomic structure | 89% |
| Section | Time per question |
|---|---|
| Energy changes from specific heat capacity | 2 min 00 s |
| Atomic structure | 20 s |
Mathematics 1
| Topic | Answered right |
|---|---|
| Geometry | 61% |
| Units and compound measures | 62% |
| Probability | 66% |
| Ratio and proportion | 67% |
| Number | 69% |
| Section | Time per question |
|---|---|
| Geometry | 2 min 35 s |
| Geometry | 1 min 55 s |
| Probability | 1 min 55 s |
| Number | 1 min 50 s |
| Units and compound measures | 1 min 45 s |
Mathematics 2
| Topic | Answered right |
|---|---|
| Integration | 42% |
| Trigonometry | 50% |
| Exponentials and logarithms | 54% |
| Algebra and functions | 62% |
| Graphs and transformations | 68% |
| Section | Time per question |
|---|---|
| Integration | 2 min 40 s |
| Trigonometry | 2 min 00 s |
| Algebra and functions | 1 min 45 s |
| Sketching graphs of common functions | 1 min 45 s |
| Algebra and functions | 1 min 40 s |
Physics
| Topic | Answered right |
|---|---|
| Matter | 50% |
| Magnetism and electromagnetism | 53% |
| Waves | 56% |
| Radioactivity | 58% |
| Thermal physics | 60% |
| Section | Time per question |
|---|---|
| Electricity | 1 min 45 s |
| Radioactivity | 1 min 35 s |
| Magnetism and electromagnetism | 1 min 25 s |
| Waves | 1 min 25 s |
| Waves | 1 min 25 s |
How these figures are made
- Every figure describes at least 20 students. A topic or section with fewer is left out, and so is its count.
- Each student counts once in a figure, however many questions they answered, so no one student can tip it.
- The page is rebuilt once a week, and a figure changes only once at least 20 more students have answered in it, so two versions of the page never differ by one person.
- Nobody is named, and nothing here can be traced back to an account. Our own test accounts are left out.
Practise the topics on this page
Every topic here has free questions with full worked solutions on the ESAT hub, and a free practice account keeps your own results by topic, so you can see whether you share the common weak spots.
Where to go from here
Everything on this page is free and stays free. These are the things worth doing next.
- Take the 15-question ESAT diagnostic - Twenty minutes, scored instantly, with a worked solution for every question you miss
- Follow the dated preparation plan - Every ESAT page on this site, dated backwards from your sitting
- How every question on this site is checked - How every question is checked, and how a mistake is reported and fixed
- Sitting another admissions test as well? - TMUA, PAT, MAT and STEP each have their own preparation page and free practice
- Join the ESAT preparation list - One email a week through the preparation season, and nothing else
- See what can actually be checked about this tutor - What is published, counted from the pages themselves, and the credentials behind it
- Enquire about one-to-one preparation - For candidates who want the gap closed rather than mapped
- Free sample pack for schools - Ten questions in every module with mark schemes and a syllabus reference, ready to sit as a timed mock
- A book of shortcuts for the ESAT - The ESAT Move Register: eleven moves shown on worked examples, with a preview of its pages
One-to-one places are limited and taken by application, not by the hour. This site is independent of UAT-UK, which administers the ESAT, and of every university that uses it; nothing here is endorsed by them, and the official specification and past papers remain the final word.