RENZO DIAZ — Reference library
ESAT for IB Students: Modules, Dates and What the IB Already Covers
4 min readBy Renzo DiazLast reviewed October 7, 2026
The ESAT (Engineering and Science Admissions Test) is the computer-based test that Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial and UCL require for engineering and science courses in 2027 entry. Every candidate sits Mathematics 1, and most sit two more modules; each module is 27 multiple-choice questions in 40 minutes, with no calculator, and is scored from 1.0 to 9.0. An IB student with Mathematics: analysis and approaches HL and Physics HL has already studied most of what Mathematics 2 and Physics assume; the gaps are few and specific, and listed below.
Most of what is written about the ESAT assumes an A-level student. The test itself is the same for everyone, but an IB student starts from different courses, so the useful question is narrower: which parts of the specification has an IB Diploma not covered yet?
I read the official ESAT specification for Mathematics 2 and Physics line by line against the IB guides for Mathematics: analysis and approaches and for Physics. The tables below are the result, alongside the format, the dates and the courses that require the test, all taken from the test's own pages.
The test is the same for everyone. An IB student's job is to find the few lines of the specification the Diploma has not covered.
Key takeaways
- Who sits it: applicants to engineering and science courses at Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial and UCL in 2027 entry. Oxford uses it for the first time this cycle.
- The format: Mathematics 1 for everyone, plus two of Mathematics 2, Physics, Chemistry and Biology for most courses; 27 questions in 40 minutes per module, no calculator, no marks lost for wrong answers.
- The score: 1.0 to 9.0 for each module, with no pass mark.
- The dates: 12–16 October 2026, results on 16 November; or 4–8 January 2027, results on 8 February, for courses that accept January. One sitting per admissions cycle.
- The IB gaps: for Mathematics 2, circle geometry, recurrence relations and the trapezium rule; for Physics, alternating current, transformers and hydrostatic pressure, plus induction for SL students.
Which courses require the ESAT in 2027 entry
The ESAT is run by UAT-UK, a collaboration between Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge, and delivered on computer by Pearson at test centres worldwide. For 2027 entry it is required by four universities, and Oxford uses UAT-UK's tests for the first time. A candidate applying to several of these universities sits the test once.
The required modules depend on the course. Most engineering and physics courses fix them as Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2 and Physics; some science courses leave two of the four optional modules to the candidate. The table summarises the official course list; the university's own course page is the final word.
| University | Courses | Modules |
|---|---|---|
| Cambridge | Engineering | Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics |
| Cambridge | Natural Sciences; Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology; Veterinary Medicine | Mathematics 1 and any two of Mathematics 2, Physics, Chemistry, Biology |
| Oxford | Engineering Science; Physics; Physics and Philosophy; Biomedical, Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Information and Mechanical Engineering | Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics |
| Oxford | Biomedical Sciences | Mathematics 1 and any two of Mathematics 2, Physics, Chemistry, Biology |
| Imperial | Aeronautical, Civil, Electrical and Electronic, Electronic and Information, and Mechanical Engineering; Physics | Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics |
| Imperial | Chemical Engineering | Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Chemistry |
| Imperial | Design Engineering | Mathematics 1 and Mathematics 2 only |
| Imperial | Biochemistry; Biological Sciences; Biotechnology; Ecology and Environmental Biology; Microbiology | Mathematics 1, Chemistry, Biology |
| UCL | Electronic and Electrical Engineering | Mathematics 1 and any two of Mathematics 2, Physics, Chemistry, Biology |
Source: UAT-UK, Course List 2027 Entry (last updated April 2026), confirmed against the Cambridge and Oxford admissions-test pages. Checked 7 October 2026. Foundation-year and year-abroad variants are omitted; they follow the same modules.
Check this first
Modules cannot be changed after booking
If two of your courses need the ESAT and one fixes its modules while the other leaves a free choice, you must sit the fixed ones. A wrong selection means cancelling and re-booking, subject to availability.
The format and the score
There are five modules. Every candidate sits Mathematics 1, and most courses ask for two of the other four, so most candidates sit for 120 minutes in total. Each module is 27 multiple-choice questions in 40 minutes, about 89 seconds a question. There is no calculator and no dictionary, and wrong answers cost nothing, so every question is worth an attempt.
Each module gets its own score on a scale from 1.0 to 9.0, to one decimal place, so that different versions and sittings can be compared. UAT-UK sets the scale on each year's cohort, with the median at 4.5 and the 90th percentile at 7.0. There is no pass or fail; universities read the scores alongside the rest of the application.
The ESAT at a glance
- Modules
- 5
- Mathematics 1 for everyone; most courses add two of Mathematics 2, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
- Per module
- 27 in 40 min
- Multiple choice, no negative marking.
- Calculator
- None
Dates, booking and fees for 2027 entry
There are two sittings, and a candidate can sit only once in an admissions cycle. Cambridge and Oxford undergraduate applicants must take the October sitting; the January sitting is open to other courses, and at Cambridge and Oxford only to a mature college with a January deadline or to Oxford's Astrophoria Foundation Year. UAT-UK states there is no advantage in either sitting.
Booking is two steps: create a UAT-UK account, with the name exactly as on the ID you will show and the same details as your UCAS application, then book a slot in Pearson's system. The fee is £78 at a test centre in the UK or Ireland and £133 elsewhere, set by where the centre is, not by nationality, so most IB families abroad pay £133.
| Step | October 2026 sitting | January 2027 sitting |
|---|---|---|
| Booking opens | 20 July 2026 | 26 October 2026 |
| Booking closes (6pm UK time) | 28 September 2026 | 21 December 2026 |
| Test window | 12–16 October 2026 | 4–8 January 2027 |
| Results | 16 November 2026 | 8 February 2027 |
| Open to | All 2027-entry candidates | Not Cambridge or Oxford undergraduate applicants, with the two exceptions above |
Sources: UAT-UK key dates and registration pages; Oxford's admissions-tests page gives the same dates. Checked 7 October 2026. Candidates in China, Hong Kong and Macau sit on specific days within each window.
Mathematics 2 against IB Mathematics: analysis and approaches
Mathematics 2 shares its specification with Paper 1 of the TMUA, and UAT-UK's notes say it is built to test the use of familiar mathematics on problems a candidate is unlikely to have met, with no advantage from having studied more advanced topics. Set against the AA guide, almost all of it is IB content. Three areas are in neither AA SL nor AA HL, and two more are HL only.
| Mathematics 2 area | AA SL | AA HL |
|---|---|---|
| Indices, quadratics and the discriminant, simultaneous equations, functions | Yes | Yes |
| Surds and rationalising the denominator | Surds as prior learning; rationalising not listed | Yes, as prior learning |
| Polynomial division and the factor theorem | No | Yes |
| Arithmetic and geometric series, binomial expansion | Yes | Yes |
| Sequences defined by a recurrence relation | No | No |
| Straight lines | Yes | Yes |
| Equation of a circle and circle properties (chords, tangents) | No | No |
| Sine and cosine rules, radians, exact values, trigonometric graphs and equations | Yes | Yes |
| Exponentials and logarithms | Yes | Yes |
| Differentiation and integration of polynomials and powers of x | Yes | Yes |
| Trapezium rule | No, enrichment only | No, enrichment only |
| Graph transformations and curve sketching | Yes | Yes |
Sources: UAT-UK, Notes on Mathematics for TMUA Paper 1 and ESAT Mathematics 2 (June 2026), sections MM1–MM8; IB Mathematics: analysis and approaches guide (first assessment 2021), syllabus content and prior learning. Checked 7 October 2026.
Applications and interpretation students
Check the same list against AI
This table is for AA. Students taking Mathematics: applications and interpretation should go through the same Mathematics 2 list against their own course, which covers different ground, before choosing modules.
ESAT Physics against IB Physics
The ESAT Physics specification has seven parts: electricity, magnetism, mechanics, thermal physics, matter, waves and radioactivity. Against the IB Physics guide (first assessment 2025), most of it is standard level content. Three things are missing at both levels, and electromagnetic induction is missing for SL students only, because the IB teaches it as a higher level topic.
| ESAT Physics area | IB Physics SL | IB Physics HL |
|---|---|---|
| Electrostatics; circuits, including thermistors and LDRs | Yes | Yes |
| Magnetic field of a current, the motor effect | Yes | Yes |
| Electromagnetic induction | No: an HL topic | Yes |
| Alternating current, transformers, power transmission | No | No |
| Kinematics, forces and Hooke's law, Newton's laws, momentum, energy | Yes | Yes |
| Conduction, convection, thermal radiation, heat capacity | Yes | Yes |
| States of matter, ideal gases, changes of state, density | Yes | Yes |
| Hydrostatic pressure | No: gas pressure and buoyancy only | No: gas pressure and buoyancy only |
| Waves, reflection and refraction, sound, electromagnetic waves | Yes | Yes |
| Atomic structure, radioactive decay, ionising radiation, half-life | Yes | Yes |
Sources: UAT-UK, ESAT Guide: Physics (June 2026), parts P1–P7; IB Physics guide (first assessment 2025), which states that alternating current circuits are not required. Checked 7 October 2026.
How an IB student can prepare
UAT-UK publishes everything it expects candidates to use, free: a guide for each module and the 2016–2023 papers of two earlier admissions tests, ENGAA and NSAA, which contain questions of the ESAT's type, with the ones outside the current specification marked. It also says plainly that it does not recommend or endorse any preparation course.
Preparing for the ESAT from the IB
Confirm the modules for every course on your UCAS form
Use the course list and each course page, before booking: the selection cannot be changed afterwards.
Close the specific gaps first
Work through the sections of the official guides that the tables above mark as missing from your IB courses. They are short, and they are the only questions an IB student can lose for lack of content.
Practise without a calculator
IB Physics papers and AA Papers 2 and 3 allow a calculator; the ESAT does not. Estimation, exact values and clean algebra need practice of their own.
Sit the official past papers under time
ENGAA papers for Mathematics and Physics, NSAA papers for the sciences, at about 89 seconds a question. Skip the questions marked as outside the specification.
Keep the IB grades first
The ESAT is one part of the application. The offer still rests on the Diploma, and the HL subjects it names.
Terms used in this article
- ESAT
- Engineering and Science Admissions Test: a computer-based multiple-choice test for engineering and science applicants, scored from 1.0 to 9.0 per module.
- UAT-UK
- University Admissions Tests UK, the collaboration between Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge that runs the ESAT, the TMUA and the TARA.
- Module
- One 40-minute, 27-question part of the ESAT: Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics, Chemistry or Biology.
- TMUA
- Test of Mathematics for University Admission, UAT-UK's mathematics test for mathematics, computer science and economics courses. Its Paper 1 shares a specification with ESAT Mathematics 2.
- ENGAA and NSAA
- The Engineering Admissions Assessment and the Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment, earlier tests whose 2016–2023 papers UAT-UK publishes as ESAT practice.
Questions about the ESAT
Do IB students need to take the ESAT?
Yes, if the course requires it. The ESAT is the same for every applicant, whatever their school qualification. For 2027 entry it is required for engineering and science courses at Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial and UCL.
Which ESAT modules should an IB student take for engineering?
Usually Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2 and Physics. Cambridge Engineering, Oxford Engineering Science and Imperial's main engineering courses fix those three. Imperial Chemical Engineering takes Chemistry instead of Physics, and Design Engineering only the two mathematics modules.
Can you use a calculator in the ESAT?
No. Calculators and dictionaries are not allowed in any module.
What is a good ESAT score?
There is no pass mark, but the scale is fixed so that 4.5 is the median and 7.0 the 90th percentile. Each module is scored from 1.0 to 9.0 on that scale, set on each year's cohort, and universities read the scores alongside the rest of the application, so check each course's own guidance.
When are ESAT results released?
16 November 2026 for the October sitting and 8 February 2027 for the January sitting, through the candidate's UAT-UK account.
Does the IB syllabus cover the ESAT?
Mostly, for AA HL and Physics HL students. The gaps are the equation of a circle and circle properties, recurrence relations and the trapezium rule in Mathematics 2, and alternating current, transformers and hydrostatic pressure in Physics. AA SL students also need polynomial division and the factor theorem, and Physics SL students electromagnetic induction.
Written by
Teaching IB since 2016. Seven years of IB reviews you can check on Google — and named results with the documents behind them.
Last reviewed October 7, 2026
Sources
Format, scoring, dates, fees, preparation materials and the course list come from UAT-UK's own pages and documents; the Cambridge and Oxford pages confirm the courses and dates. The comparison with the IB uses the IB Mathematics: analysis and approaches guide (first assessment 2021) and the IB Physics guide (first assessment 2025), which the IB makes available to schools. Everything was checked on 7 October 2026; course requirements change every cycle, so the university's course page is the final word.
- UAT-UK — ESAT: test format and scoring
- UAT-UK — Key dates and deadlines, 2027 entry
- UAT-UK — Course List 2027 Entry (April 2026)
- UAT-UK — Registering for a test (fees)
- UAT-UK — ESAT preparation materials
- UAT-UK — ESAT Guide: Physics (June 2026)
- UAT-UK — Notes on Mathematics for TMUA Paper 1 and ESAT Mathematics 2 (June 2026)
- University of Oxford — Admissions tests (2027 entry)
- University of Cambridge — Admission tests and assessments
- UAT-UK — Prepare (score scale and statement on commercial preparation)