Engineering and Science Admissions Test · Cambridge, Imperial, UCL & Oxford
ESAT is the computer-based test now standing between most engineering and science offers and the place itself: Cambridge, Imperial, UCL and, from 2027, Oxford. It rewards fast, accurate multiple-choice reasoning under a strict clock rather than long written proof, and that is a different skill from the one A-levels train.
1 & 2
Mathematics modules, always module 1 first
40 min
per module, no calculator
3 of 5
modules sat, occasionally four
Oct · Jan
two sitting windows a year
Why it's different
Every module is multiple-choice against a hard clock, and a wrong answer costs exactly the same as a blank one: nothing on the mark, but a blank guarantees it. That single rule rewards a very specific skill: narrowing options fast, committing, and moving on, rather than the slow, fully-justified argument A-levels and STEP reward.
Mathematics 1 is compulsory on every sitting, and it draws on the broader half of the specification. Mathematics 2 layers harder material on top for the courses that ask for it. Training the two together, in that order and in that proportion, is exactly what this platform is built to do.
Where it's the gate
The exact module combination depends on your course. I'll confirm your offer's requirement on our call.
What the modules ask
Number and units, ratio and proportion, algebra, geometry, coordinate geometry, and probability and statistics: the broader spread of the specification, and the module every offer names first.
Sequences and series, exponentials and logarithms, differentiation, integration, plus the harder end of algebra and trigonometry: content most offers only ask for once Mathematics 1 is already secure.
Multiple-choice throughout, negative marking never applies, and no calculator is allowed on either module.
The preparation
Reading the options before the working, and using them to shortcut a full solution whenever they legitimately can.
Forty minutes, split across every question in the module, rehearsed until the pace is automatic rather than a source of panic.
Since a wrong answer costs nothing, every question gets a considered attempt: the reflex of narrowing options fast when a full solution will not come in time.
Real modules, worked to time, then taken apart question by question so every mistake becomes a method you keep.
Why me for ESAT
An Oxford MPhil and award-winning LSE tutor, admissions maths across written-proof and multiple-choice formats alike. ESAT rewards a different reflex from a long-form written paper or the A-levels, and building that reflex, fast and accurate under a hard clock, is exactly what structured one-to-one training is for.
ESAT questions
No: ESAT is computer-based, so no ESAT paper is ever released. The questions worked here come from the historic papers UAT-UK itself points candidates to as ESAT preparation material, each with a correction written from scratch rather than copied from a third party.
Yes, all five modules: Mathematics 1 and 2, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. The sciences are worked the same way as the maths, from the historic papers UAT-UK points candidates to, with a fresh correction for every question and the method that cracks it. Each module has one free paper to try.
Mathematics 1 is compulsory on every sitting. Most offers then ask for three modules in total, occasionally four, and the exact combination depends on your course: I'll confirm it on our call.
Take the first step
Pick a time that suits you on the calendar. You'll get an instant confirmation and a video-call link in your inbox. Fifteen minutes, no obligation: we'll look at where you stand and exactly how I'd help.