Which ESAT Modules Should I Take?

As the successor of both the NSAA and ENGAA, the ESAT is taken by students applying to a range of university courses. The ESAT is structured so that students from a variety of disciplines can sit the same test. The test comprises 4 separate modules, each lasting 40 minutes and consisting of 27 multiple-choice questions:

• Mathematics 1 (compulsory for all candidates)

• Biology

• Chemistry

• Physics

• Mathematics 2

Students must take 3 sections from this list, including Mathematics 1. They might have some choice over the remaining 2 sections they take, though this depends on the university courses applied for. Students must declare which sections they intend to take when they register for the test, so it is an important decision to make fairly early in the preparation process. On the day of the test, the sections will be taken back-to-back, as three separate assessments. The sections last 40 minutes each, and any time left over in one section does not roll over to the next.

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Courses Requiring Specific ESAT Sections

Many university courses requiring the ESAT specify which sections must be taken, so most students have the decision made for them! This is to reflect the demands of the university courses and ensures all students are equipped with the required knowledge and a good ability to solve unfamiliar problems. Students applying to study Engineering at the University of Cambridge must take Mathematics 1, Physics, and Mathematics 2.

Imperial College London uses the ESAT for courses in the Engineering Faculty and the Department of Physics. The table below details the specific ESAT sections for each Imperial course:

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Note that Design Engineering at Imperial is the only course requiring only two ESAT modules; however, if you are applying to Design Engineering at Imperial and another course requiring the ESAT (e.g. Cambridge Engineering), you will still be required to take the standard three modules.

Therefore, if you are applying to any Engineering course or Physics at Imperial, you should simply start preparing to take the required modules.

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Choosing the Most Suitable Sections

If you are applying to the following courses at the University of Cambridge, you can choose which ESAT sections you take:

• Natural Sciences

• Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology

• Veterinary Medicine

If you are applying for Electrical and Electronic Engineering at University College London, you can also choose the remaining two modules.

You can, of course, rule out any subject you don't study for A Level, but don't necessarily rush to choose your ESAT sections based on your preferred A Level/IB subjects and the focus of the course you are applying for. We encourage students to consider the options carefully and try some past papers before making a decision.

We advise students to take 3-4 years of NSAA past papers in full before making their decision, because their favourite A Level subject may not necessarily be the most suitable option for ESAT. For example, a student choosing between Biology and Chemistry who finds it difficult to process a large volume of written information quickly will probably prefer Chemistry to Biology on the ESAT, even if they do better at Biology in school.

We strongly encourage mathematically inclined students, particularly those applying to study Physical Natural Sciences or Chemical Engineering, to consider taking Mathematics 2: they should not rule it out without trying several years of NSAA past papers. The reason for this is that Mathematics 1 is compulsory, so preparing for Mathematics 2 will automatically facilitate improvement in Mathematics 1. Furthermore, preparing two mathematics sections will require less revision and memorisation of content, and staying in the same mindset for two sections of the test may prove beneficial. This advice may not apply to all students: for example, a biologist who does better in Chemistry NSAA past paper questions than advanced Mathematics questions should choose their sections accordingly.

When completing NSAA past papers, remember to convert your raw mark to a scaled mark using the conversion tables. In the NSAA, a scale of 1.0-9.0 was used, where 9.0 was the highest score. This takes into account the varying difficulty every year, and a similar scaling system is used for the ESAT. Each section of the NSAA/ESAT is scaled individually, so you will have three separate scores in total. In some years, a raw mark as low as 15/20 scales to 9.0! Make sure you take this into account when assessing your performance on different sections (don't compare raw marks). Update for 2025: the scale was changed from 2024 onwards so that the typical ESAT candidate scores approximately 4.5, which is ~1.0 lower than they would have scored on the old NSAA. Keep this in mind when comparing your NSAA past paper scaled scores to the current scale.

Finally, you should consider the focus of the course you are applying to study. If you are hoping to study Physical Natural Sciences with an emphasis on Physics, admissions tutors might be surprised if you choose to take Biology and Chemistry on the ESAT!

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For more information about the ESAT, including our recommended preparation strategy, read our free ESAT Handbook. If you are looking for further advice or help with ESAT preparation, you are welcome to book a free consultation with Vantage director, Rowan Wright.