The ESAT, the Engineering and Science Admissions Test, is the test taken by applicants in engineering and science at Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial and a few other British universities. It is run by UAT-UK, the same body as the TMUA, and taken in October of the final year of school at an approved centre. For a student from a French lycée, it raises the same difficulties as the TMUA, plus one: modules have to be chosen, and that choice cannot be undone.
ESAT: the format
The test has five modules: Mathematics 1, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics 2. Each module lasts 40 minutes and contains 27 multiple-choice questions. Most candidates take Mathematics 1 and two other modules, two hours in total. Calculators and dictionaries are not allowed. Wrong answers lose no marks. Each module is scored from 1 to 9, to one decimal place, with no pass mark.
Modules are timed separately: time saved on one does not carry over to the next. With less than a minute and a half per question, pace is the first obstacle.
ESAT: which modules for which course
| Course | Required modules |
|---|---|
| Cambridge, Engineering | Maths 1, Maths 2, Physics |
| Cambridge, Natural Sciences, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Veterinary Medicine | Maths 1 and any two of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths 2 |
| Oxford, Engineering, Physics, Physics and Philosophy | Maths 1, Maths 2, Physics |
| Oxford, Biomedical Sciences | Maths 1 and any two modules |
| Imperial, Aeronautical, Civil, Electrical Engineering | Maths 1, Maths 2, Physics |
| Imperial, Biology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology | Maths 1, Chemistry, Biology |
UAT-UK warns that modules cannot be changed without cancelling and rebooking. A student applying to two courses, one with compulsory modules and one with a free choice, must take the compulsory modules. The full list, course by course, is published by UAT-UK every year.
The ESAT syllabus, compared with the French curriculum
The official specification covers GCSE and A level content. Mathematics 1 covers the basics: number, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, sequences. Mathematics 2 goes further: functions, coordinate geometry, differentiation and integration, up to the fundamental theorem of calculus. Physics covers electricity, forces and Newton's laws, momentum, energy, waves and radioactivity.
A good student in the French maths and physics-chemistry specialisms has seen most of it. Three points nonetheless often catch them out. Integration first, which is only taught in the final year of lycée and not always before the mid-October test. Calculating without a calculator next, on numerical values that French lycées often leave to the machine. English vocabulary last, in physics and chemistry alike: terminal velocity, half-life, yield. I cover the same difficulties on the maths side in TMUA preparation from a French lycée.
Example: the October 2026 sitting. Accounts from 1 June, booking from 20 July to 28 September 2026, tests from 12 to 16 October, results on 16 November. £133 outside the UK and Ireland. The January sitting does not apply to standard Cambridge and Oxford applicants.
Preparing for the ESAT from a French lycée
The plan fits into the summer before the final year: a full mock without a calculator to measure the gap, the missing chapters with integration first, English scientific vocabulary, then timed modules every week until October. UAT-UK publishes a detailed specification and maths notes: these are the starting documents.
The ESAT is only one part of the application: there is also the UCAS form, the personal statement and, at Cambridge and Oxford, the December interview. The full calendar is in UCAS with the French baccalaureate and Oxford and Cambridge admissions tests. I prepare the maths and physics modules in private lessons, and Carmine supports the rest of the file.