For Year 12 · Applying in autumn 2027 · Written to be forwarded
The ESAT in Year 12: What to Do This Year, and When
I am Lucas Rey, an Oxford engineering DPhil candidate with a Cambridge MRes, and I teach the ESAT. You do not need to be ready yet. You need to know what it asks, and where you stand. This page is the timeline from now to your sitting, what to do this year, and what the test is.
- The ESAT is an admissions test. Imperial, Cambridge, Oxford and UCL use it for some engineering and science courses.
- You sit it once, in the cycle you apply in. For you, that cycle starts in 2027. An old score never carries over.
- Your dates are not published yet. UAT-UK, which runs the test, publishes the year ahead in May. For you, that is May 2027.
- This year is for learning, not booking. Accounts open in June. Until then, the work is the content and the question style.
- Everything official is free. The specification, the guides, the old papers and the practice tests cost nothing.
- Every fact here is sourced. Each one links to UAT-UK or the university that published it. Checked on 26 September 2026.
Two readers, one page
If you are a student
Start with the timeline
Read the timeline, then what to do this year. It takes five minutes. Then try a few questions and see where you stand.
If you are a teacher
Start with the school's part
Some steps need the school: evidence letters, bursaries and ID. They are in one list below. The rest of the page is safe to forward as it is.
The timeline, from now to your sitting
UAT-UK has not published the dates for your year. It will in May 2027. Where a date below is for 2027 entry, the year before yours, it says so. Use it for the shape, not as your date.
- Now to spring 2027: learn. Read the specification. Find out which modules your courses need. Work through the free official material. Try some questions to see where you stand.
- May 2027: your dates arrive. UAT-UK publishes all the information for the year ahead in May. That includes your sitting dates and every deadline. Write them down that day. Source: UAT-UK Candidate Handbook.
- June 2027: accounts open. UAT-UK accounts open in June, and so do bursary and access arrangement requests. Make one account only, with your name exactly as it is on your ID. Source: UAT-UK Candidate Handbook and UAT-UK, register.
- Before you book: bursary and extra time. Apply for a bursary or access arrangements first. Neither can be added to a test you have already booked. For 2027 entry, for the October sitting, access arrangement requests closed on 14 September 2026 and bursary applications on 21 September 2026. Source: UAT-UK, access arrangements and bursary scheme.
- Booking. For 2027 entry, booking for the October sitting closed on 28 September 2026 at 6pm UK time. Late bookings are not accepted. Booking early gives the best choice of centre and time. Source: UAT-UK, deadlines.
- Summer 2027: practise against the clock. The time is tight. For 2026 entry, most candidates used 35 to 40 minutes of every 40 minute module. Source: UAT-UK technical report.
- The sitting. For 2027 entry there are two sittings: 12 to 16 October 2026, and 4 to 8 January 2027. If you apply to Cambridge or Oxford, you must sit in October. The exceptions are Cambridge mature colleges with a January deadline, and Oxford's Astrophoria Foundation Year. Source: UAT-UK, deadlines.
- Results. They appear in your UAT-UK account about four weeks after the test. They go to your universities automatically. For 2027 entry, October results come out on 16 November 2026, and January results on 8 February 2027. Source: UAT-UK Candidate Handbook and deadlines.
What is not known yet, and when it will be
None of these is published for your year. UAT-UK publishes them in May 2027. Until then, nobody can tell you them for certain, and this page will not guess.
- Your sitting dates. The 2027 entry dates are above, for the shape only.
- Booking dates. When booking opens and closes for your sitting.
- Bursary and access deadlines. Both fall before booking closes.
- Results dates. For your October and January sittings.
- The fee. The 2027 entry fee is in the table below.
- The course list for your year. Which courses use the test, and which modules each one asks for.
I will update this page when they are published. Source for the May publication: UAT-UK Candidate Handbook.
What to do this year
Six things, in order. None of them needs a booking, and none of them costs anything.
[01] Modules
Find out which modules you need
There are five: Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Everyone sits Mathematics 1. Most people sit two more. Your course decides which. Cambridge Engineering and Oxford Engineering Science both ask for Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2 and Physics. Check each course page, and check again when your year's list is out. Sources: UAT-UK course list, 2027 entry and Cambridge.
[02] Specification
Read what can be asked
The specification lists every topic. It also lists the formulae you must know, such as the quadratic formula and Pythagoras' theorem. Learn the SI units and the common prefixes. Every module assumes you know Mathematics 1. Source: ESAT content specification. My topic list follows it.
[03] Official material
Use the free official papers
UAT-UK publishes an ESAT Guide for Mathematics 1, Physics, Chemistry and Biology, and Notes on Mathematics for Mathematics 2. It also publishes old ENGAA and NSAA papers from 2016 to 2023, with answer keys, and marks the questions outside the ESAT syllabus. Source: UAT-UK preparation materials.
[04] Timing
Practise with no calculator
Each module is 27 multiple choice questions in 40 minutes. Calculators are not allowed. Mathematics 2 was the most rushed module for 2026 entry. Do the official practice tests in Pearson's test player, on a desktop computer, because the real test uses the same player. Sources: UAT-UK, ESAT, UAT-UK technical report and Pearson VUE, UAT-UK.
[05] Where you stand
Find your weakest topic
No practice test can give you a real 1 to 9 score, because real scores depend on each year's candidates. What practice can show is which topics cost you marks. My diagnostic is free and marks itself. A free account adds one timed mock, marked. Source for scores: UAT-UK, prepare.
[06] One sitting
Do not sit a real test for practice
You can sit the ESAT once in an admissions cycle. UAT-UK strongly advises against booking a real test for practice, and says there is no benefit. Planning a gap year? Sit it in the same cycle as your UCAS application. Source: UAT-UK FAQ.
Once you know your modules, Start Here puts the free material on this site in one order. If your sitting is a year away, work its early phases at your own pace, and take the timed phases in your last months.
What the test is
The Engineering and Science Admissions Test. It tests how well you use and apply maths and science you have mostly met at school. The rules below are for 2027 entry.
| Who runs it | UAT-UK, a not-for-profit set up by Imperial and Cambridge. Pearson VUE delivers it. Source |
|---|---|
| Who uses it | Imperial, Cambridge, Oxford and UCL, for some courses. Source |
| Modules | Five. Everyone sits Mathematics 1. Most people sit three in total. Source |
| Each module | 27 multiple choice questions in 40 minutes, timed on its own. Three modules take 120 minutes. Source |
| Calculator | Not allowed. Source |
| Wrong answers | Nothing is taken off. Answer every question. Source |
| Where | On a computer at a Pearson VUE test centre. You cannot sit it at your school. Source |
| Scores | Each module scores 1.0 to 9.0. No overall score and no pass mark. Source |
| What a score means | A typical candidate scores around 4.5. About 10 percent score above 7.0. Source |
| How often | Once per admissions cycle. Source |
| Fee, 2027 entry | £78 at a centre in the UK or Republic of Ireland, £133 anywhere else. A bursary can cover it in full for UK candidates in financial need. Source |
It is meant to be hard. It is designed to separate very able applicants, and UAT-UK says not to expect scores as high as in your school exams. Source: UAT-UK, prepare.
For teachers: the parts that need the school
Most of the ESAT is the student's to do. These steps usually need someone at school. The rules are for 2027 entry. Your year's are published in May 2027.
- Extra time and other arrangements need evidence. Usually a signed letter on school headed paper, setting out the student's normal arrangements in public exams. A copy of JCQ Form 8 or Form 9 is also accepted. Extra time is normally 25 percent. It is not given because English is not a first language. Source: UAT-UK, access arrangements.
- The request comes before booking. Reviews can take up to ten working days. If the school is closed for the summer, UAT-UK can approve a request provisionally, and the letter follows when school reopens. Sources: UAT-UK, access arrangements and Candidate Handbook.
- A bursary can cover the full fee. It is for UK candidates in financial need, sitting at a UK centre. Free school meals, a 16 to 19 bursary, being a care leaver, or a family means-tested benefit such as Universal Credit can qualify. One document is enough, for example a recent school letter confirming free school meals. Apply before booking. Source: UAT-UK, bursary scheme.
- A school letter can stand in for photo ID. UK candidates with no passport or photocard driving licence can apply for an ID exemption, at least five working days before the test. The letter is on headed paper, with a recent photo, signed and dated by staff, and emailed to UAT-UK from a school mailbox. Source: UAT-UK ID policy.
- A clash with school exams in October. A student not applying to Cambridge or Oxford can sit in January instead, and it will not count against them. Cambridge and Oxford applicants should message UAT-UK through their account. Source: UAT-UK FAQ.
- Names must match UCAS. Results reach universities matched to the UCAS application. The name, date of birth and email should be the same on both. Source: UAT-UK Candidate Handbook.
A note you can forward
If you are thinking about engineering or science at Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial or UCL, you will sit the ESAT in the cycle you apply in, which starts in 2027. This page sets out the timeline to the sitting, what the test is, and what to do this year. The official materials are free. So is a diagnostic that shows where you stand.
Applying from outside the UK
The test is the same everywhere. Some dates differ: for 2027 entry, centres in China, Hong Kong and Macau run it only on set days. Source: UAT-UK, deadlines. There are pages for Singapore, India and Malaysia, and the ESAT pages in 简体中文, 繁體中文, 한국어, 日本語 and Tiếng Việt.
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, sequenced backwards from the October 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 from June to October, 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.