Students aiming for maths, computer science or physics at Oxford still search for "MAT past papers" and "PAT syllabus". Neither test exists any more. Since the 2026 application cycle, Oxford uses the TMUA instead of the MAT, and the ESAT instead of the PAT, the two shared tests already used by Cambridge and Imperial. For a student in terminale (the final year of the French lycée) applying this autumn, the change alters the preparation, and only partly the use of the old past papers.
The MAT replaced by the TMUA
The Oxford Mathematical Institute says so on the MAT page: from 2026, the MAT no longer takes place, and all applicants for mathematics or computer science, joint honours included, take the TMUA. The test is taken on computer at a Pearson VUE centre, in two 75-minute papers of 20 multiple-choice questions each, without a calculator. The first covers applying mathematical knowledge, the second mathematical reasoning, including logic and proof. The score is given on a scale from 1 to 9.
Oxford requires the October sitting, before the December interviews: the January sitting does not count for its applicants. For 2027 entry, booking a slot closed on 28 September 2026, and the test runs from 12 to 16 October. Shortlisting takes place in November, interviews in December, decisions in January.
MAT Oxford past papers: what they are still worth
The MAT past papers remain online, from 2007 to 2025, with solutions, and Oxford writes that the mathematical topics of the TMUA are "very similar" to those of the MAT. They therefore remain good practice on the content: polynomials, inequalities, differentiation and integration, graphs of functions and their transformations, logarithms, trigonometry, sequences and geometric series. For a student taking French specialist maths, almost everything is on the Year 12 or Year 13 syllabus; what often needs work is the habit of handling function graphs without a calculator and working through a curve transformation by hand.
They do not prepare for the format. The MAT had long written questions, with partial marks; the TMUA has only multiple-choice questions, on computer, at a pace of nearly four minutes per question. For that, Oxford points to the official TMUA resources, past papers included, on the UAT-UK website.
The averages published for the last MAT, in 2025, give an idea of the selection: 49.6 out of 100 for all mathematics applicants, 66.7 for those shortlisted for interview, 74 for those who received an offer.
The PAT replaced by the ESAT
In physics, and in physics and philosophy, all applicants now take the ESAT, with three modules set by Oxford: Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2 and Physics, two hours in total. Each module lasts 40 minutes, has 27 multiple-choice questions, without a calculator, and is scored from 1 to 9. The physics department warns that the syllabus and difficulty of the October 2026 ESAT differ from those of the PAT, and points to the ESAT resources.
The ESAT score is the main shortlisting criterion. The department usually counts eight to ten applicants per place, invites about 2.5 applicants per place to interview, roughly 500, and makes just over 200 offers. We have covered the content of the ESAT and how to prepare for it in ESAT from a French lycée.
Calendar and fees for 2027 entry. TMUA and ESAT: registration on UAT-UK from 1 June 2026, booking from 20 July to 28 September, test from 12 to 16 October 2026. Fee outside the UK and Ireland: £133 per test. UCAS deadline for Oxford: 15 October 2026. The 2028 entry dates are to be checked on the Oxford and UAT-UK pages.
Preparing from a French lycée
Preparation starts in the spring of première (Year 12), not at the start of terminale: registration opens in June and booking closes at the end of September. It combines three things: the content, with the MAT and PAT past papers as a pool of exercises; the format, with timed TMUA and ESAT past papers and specimen tests; and calculation without a calculator, to be practised for its own sake. For the TMUA in detail, see TMUA preparation from a French lycée, and for all the Oxford and Cambridge tests, Oxford and Cambridge admissions tests.
I prepare these tests in maths private lessons, from the official past papers, and we build the rest of the application, UCAS and interview, at Carmine.