Which Past Papers Should I Use for ESAT?

Official ESAT Practice Materials

As the ESAT is a new exam in 2024, there are very few official practice resources available. Pearson VUE has released a set of specimen tests and a set of practice tests on their website, which allow students to familiarise themselves with the online test platform. You can find the specimen and practice tests here.

We recommend trying the specimen tests near the beginning of your exam preparation, to get a feel for the test format, timing, and question style: it's important to understand what you are aiming for! The practice papers should be saved and attempted nearer to the time of the test, definitely in timed conditions.

From 2016-2023, the University of Cambridge used the NSAA (Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment) and ENGAA (Engineering Admissions Assessment) to aid in the decision of shortlisting candidates for interview. The NSAA and ENGAA are by far the most relevant resources available for ESAT preparation; in fact, many of the questions on the Pearson VUE specimen tests have been taken straight from NSAA past papers!

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NSAA Past Papers

The NSAA is structured as two shorter tests (Section 1 and Section 2), which were taken consecutively. The number and style of questions in each section has changed several times, but generally the structure can be described as:

• Section 1 is entirely multiple-choice and divided into sections for maths and each science.
• From 2016-2019, Section 2 consisted of six long-form questions on physics, chemistry, and biology, of which students would answer two.
• From 2020-2023, Section 2 consisted of further multiple-choice questions on each science. Candidates completed one section.

Therefore, the volume of multiple-choice questions makes NSAA papers particularly relevant for ESAT preparation. For interested students who are serious about maximising their score (and improving their problem solving skills in general), we suggest completing the long-form NSAA Section 2 questions (2016-2019). You can find all NSAA resources here.

If you have looked at the UAT-UK website, you may have noticed that a number of questions have been marked as irrelevant on their copy of the resources. This is because the NSAA specification was broader than the ESAT specification, particularly in the advanced physics sections. However, the questions build transferrable skills so should still be used for ESAT preparation if you are serious about maximising your chances of an interview/offer.

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ENGAA Past Papers

Like the NSAA, the ENGAA is structured as two shorter tests (Section 1 and Section 2) which were completed consecutively.

• Section 1 consists of multiple-choice questions on mathematics and physics. It is separated into two parts.
• From 2016-2017, Section 2 is multiple-choice but requires extended explanation of your answer.
• From 2020-2023, Section 2 is traditional multiple-choice.

The ENGAA is also very useful as an additional resource for students taking Mathematics 2 and/or Physics on the ESAT. There are many multiple-choice questions available to complete, but many appear identically in the NSAA past papers. Like the NSAA, the ENGAA specification was broader than the ESAT specification, so some questions may be marked as irrelevant on the UAT-UK website. However, we recommend completing them for extra practice if you are committed to improving your ESAT score.

ENGAA resources can be found at the bottom of our ESAT resources page.

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Past Paper Guidance

When you have established which sections of the NSAA and ENGAA are relevant for you, the next challenge is working out which questions to complete. There is significant overlap between the mathematics and physics sections of the NSAA and ENGAA papers each year. Fortunately, we have done the hard work for you and produced a document outlining precisely which questions you should complete to avoid unnecessary repetition.

Generally, the rule is:

1. Working from the earliest year, all students should first complete all relevant sections of the NSAA past papers. For example, if you are taking Physics and Chemistry on the ESAT, you should complete all physics and chemistry questions on NSAA Section 2 papers, even though candidates would only complete a limited number in the real exam.
2. Students taking Mathematics 2 and Physics on the ESAT should complete all relevant maths and/or physics questions on the ENGAA papers of the same year. The question numbers are listed on the ESAT Past Paper Guidance document below.

Click here to view a full-size, printable version of our guidance document.

As we discuss below, it is best to complete everything in timed conditions first if possible. This should be simple for NSAA Section 1 because you will generally complete the paper as intended. For NSAA Section 2, you will complete more questions than intended if you are being thorough! You can adjust the timing accordingly (this will generally mean doubling the time if you are completing two science sections rather than one). For the ENGAA, timing becomes more complicated, because you might only be completing a handful of questions. In this case, try to stick to the intended time per question on the paper, which is usually around 90 seconds per question for multiple-choice questions.

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TMUA Past Papers

The TMUA (Test of Mathematics for University Admissions) has been used in Mathematics, Computer Science, and Economics admissions since 2016. The TMUA provides an excellent further bank of questions for students who are taking Mathematics 2 on the ESAT. We recommend it particularly for students who are starting ESAT preparation early and may run out of NSAA and ENGAA papers to practice. If this is the case, we suggest alternating NSAA/ENGAA and TMUA papers.

The TMUA is an entirely multiple-choice test, consisting of two papers each year. All questions on TMUA Paper 1 are relevant. TMUA Paper 2 emphasises some concepts which are not relevant to the ESAT, such as logic and proof, so only some of the questions should be completed.

To learn more about the TMUA, visit our TMUA page. To access TMUA past papers, click here.

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How to Complete a Past Paper

In order to benefit fully from the resources that are available, we suggest the following structure. The most important parts are the timed mock exam and second attempt: try to be disciplined about completing past papers in timed conditions, then don't give up and look at the answers too early!

1. Timed Mock Exam
   Past papers should ideally be completed as a timed mock. This means practising completing all relevant sections consecutively, like in the real exam. This will help you to build stamina and become accustomed to the time pressure. You should set this work aside for marking later on.
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2. Second Attempt
   This is the important part: you should now work through the paper again, taking as long as you need to reattempt the questions you didn’t solve before. This is crucial because it will allow you to think through the problems again without the additional time pressure. You will gain valuable insight from solving the problems yourself, even if you couldn't do it during the timed mock. Don't refer to the mark scheme or solutions during your second attempt.
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3. Mark work
   When you have completed as much of the paper as possible, mark your timed mock using the Cambridge Assessment answer key. While the raw mark is important, converting your score to a scaled score (1.0-9.0) is far more useful, because it indicates how well do you in comparison to students who took the test. On some NSAA past papers, a raw mark as low as 15/20 is scaled to highest possible score 9.0! The scaled scores are what the admissions tutors will receive when assessing your application. Conversion tables for NSAA and ENGAA are available here.
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4. Review
   After determining your scaled score, you should consult solutions, teachers, or friends to work out how to solve the questions you couldn't complete in your second attempt. It's important to ensure that you understand how to 'come up with' the idea of using a certain method, rather than merely managing to follow the steps of someone else's solution. Students on the Vantage ESAT Programme have access to detailed video and typed solutions for all NSAA, ENGAA and TMUA past papers.
   

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Need More Resources?

If you are looking for more ESAT preparation resources, consider joining our ESAT Programme. The programme includes the ESAT Primer Course, which is a course of up to 16 lessons introducing the most important topics and themes which are likely to appear in the ESAT. Each lesson (90 minutes long on average) is accompanied by worksheet of problems which are designed to ensure mastery of each topic. Our ESAT Programme is suitable for students taking Mathematics 1, Chemistry, Physics, and/or Mathematics 2 (no biology resources are provided at present). Book a consultation with Vantage director, Rowan Wright, to find out more.