ESAT preparation resources: what do you need?
Start free, test an explanation and choose a book, bank or tutor for a specific learning gap.
ESAT guides
ESAT Chemistry: track particles, amounts and evidence
Work through a limiting reactant, explain properties and reactions, and choose targeted practice from your mistakes.
ESAT Biology: turn knowledge into an explanation
Connect mechanisms with experimental evidence, read graphs carefully and turn errors into specific revision tasks.
ESAT Physics: choose the model before the equation
Set up physical models, interpret graphs, check units and choose the next task from the cause of a mistake.
How to prepare for the ESAT
27 questions in 40 minutes is 89 seconds each, and the median candidate uses every one of them. The structured path from diagnosis to test day, a six-week sprint and a twelve-week plan with hours, the timing drills, and an honest answer to why the specimen papers feel easier than the real thing.
What is a good ESAT score?
The 1.0 to 9.0 scale, the module-by-module distribution UAT-UK actually published, and an honest answer about Cambridge and Imperial offer-holder scores.
ESAT vs TMUA: which one do you need?
A course-first Cambridge and Imperial table, plus why ESAT averages 89 seconds per subject question while TMUA allows longer mathematical arguments.
The 1.5-minute rule
A pacing plan for 27 questions in 40 minutes that treats banking, elimination and approximation as first-class methods, with checkpoints you can remember under pressure.
ESAT Maths 1 feels harder than A-Level. Here is why.
The syllabus looks familiar. The recognition load, option traps and 89-second route choices do not. Here is how to train that difference.
The trap question field guide
Unit conversions, boundary conditions, subtle wording and sign traps, each with a worked ESAT-calibre example and the clue that gives it away.
ESAT Chemistry: did 20% score the minimum? No, about 2.6% did.
No: the official chart puts the 1.0 bin at about 2.6%. Here is the evidence, the reasoning Chemistry rewards and a two-week hardening plan.
Exam day, decoded
The Pearson VUE screen, an A4 whiteboard system, a concise pacing handoff to the canonical timing guide, October surprises and the incident procedure people learn too late.
Which past papers should you actually use?
No released live ESAT papers, two official practice versions per module, and an honest NSAA/ENGAA map showing what transfers and what misleads.
ESAT past papers: the official archive and what to use
The official archive is five specimen tests, five sample tests and the 2016 to 2023 ENGAA and NSAA Section 1 papers. Use each for its actual job and do not convert a legacy mark into an ESAT score.
ESAT specimen papers: why the real test can feel harder
The specimen teaches the screen and format. The sample test is the timed dress rehearsal. Neither awards an official score when you finish.
ESAT Maths 2 preparation: topics, timing and question sources
Mathematics 2 combines the ESAT clock with its hardest items. Use the topic map, the first-move route and an honest review log to protect accessible marks.
How Cambridge and Imperial actually use your ESAT score
Four Cambridge courses, eight Imperial department groups, the interview interaction and the honest path from separate module scores to an admissions decision.
The six-week ESAT plan
A diagnostic-first sprint for late starters that ranks gaps by recoverable marks per hour, repairs Mathematics 1 transfer skills and builds towards full sittings.
The night before the ESAT
A calm 45-minute landing sequence, one-page formula recall, test-centre logistics and the topics, mocks and score predictions not worth cramming.
The ESAT specification, decoded
Every module's official spine, point-ID corners strong students skip, explicit exclusions and a worked example where the integral is zero but the area is not.
Build a dated ESAT revision plan or turn the syllabus into useful study sessions.