University Admissions Tests in the UK: Which Test for Which Course

University admissions tests in the UK are set for a small group of courses and universities: the UCAT for medicine and dentistry, the LNAT for law at a group of leading law schools, the ESAT, TMUA and TARA run by UAT-UK for science, engineering, mathematics, computer science, economics and social-science courses at Cambridge, Durham, Imperial, LSE, Oxford, UCL and Warwick, and STEP as part of some mathematics offers. Most UK degree courses have no admissions test at all, so the first step is to check the course page for each university on your UCAS list. The tables below show which test applies to which course, how the tests differ and when each one is sat.

Which admissions tests do UK universities use?

Six tests cover most of the admissions tests UK universities ask applicants to book in advance, and each is run by a different organisation with its own account, booking system and deadlines. Registering for one does not register you for another, and none of them counts as a university application.

The UCAT, LNAT and UAT-UK tests are sat before or around the application and feed into shortlisting. STEP is different: it is sat in June after an offer is made, and the grade becomes part of the offer conditions.

Which test do I need for my course?

The test depends on the course and the university together, so the same subject can need a test at one university and nothing at another. The table groups the most common subjects; the course list each organiser publishes is the authority, and the UAT-UK course list names every course and ESAT module combination at its member universities.

Cambridge also sets College admission assessments for many arts and humanities courses, which need no advance registration, and Peterhouse and Trinity ask Computer Science applicants to sit the CSAT as well as the TMUA. The Oxford and Cambridge admissions tests guide sets out every course at both universities, including the ones with no test.

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How do the tests differ?

Each test measures something different, which is why preparation for one transfers only partly to another. The UCAT and LNAT test reasoning without subject knowledge, the ESAT and TMUA test mathematics and science you have already studied, and the TARA combines critical thinking, problem solving and a written task.

The detail for each test, including question types and how universities read the results, is in the UCAT guide, the LNAT guide, the ESAT guide, the TMUA guide, the TARA guide and the STEP guide.

When are admissions tests sat?

The tests run on different calendars, and the earliest deadlines fall in the summer before Year 13. UCAT testing runs from mid-July to late September, ahead of the 15 October UCAS deadline for medicine and dentistry. The ESAT, TMUA and TARA have an October sitting, which most Oxford and Cambridge applicants must use, and a January sitting that the other universities also accept. The LNAT runs from September to January, with a mid-October cut-off for Oxford and Cambridge and later ones elsewhere, and STEP is sat in June of Year 13.

The exact dates for the current cycle are in the key facts on this page, and the ESAT, TMUA and TARA dates and UCAT dates pages carry the full timelines. Booking early matters for all of them, since test-centre appointments fill up and none of the organisers makes exceptions to its deadlines.

How do you register, and what does it cost?

Registration is your responsibility, not your school's, for every test except STEP. You create an account with the organiser, apply for any bursary or access arrangements first, and then book a slot at a test centre.

• UCAT: register at ucat.ac.uk, then book at a Pearson VUE centre. A bursary waives the fee for eligible UK candidates.
• LNAT: register at lnat.ac.uk, choose your universities and book a Pearson VUE centre. The fee is waived for UK and EU students receiving certain state benefits.
• ESAT, TMUA and TARA: create a UAT-UK account at esat-tmua.ac.uk, apply for any bursary or access arrangements, then book. Bursaries cover the full test cost for eligible UK candidates.
• STEP: your school or college enters you with OCR, as for a public exam.

Access arrangements must be approved before booking for the UCAT and the UAT-UK tests, so a student with extra time at school should apply as soon as registration opens.

Which admissions tests have been replaced?

Several long-running tests have been withdrawn, and older guides and forums still refer to them. Past papers from these tests can still be useful practice where the content overlaps, but none of them is set now.

Each of the retired tests has its own page explaining the change, including the MAT, PAT, BMAT and TSA.

How should you prepare for an admissions test?

Preparation starts with the official materials, since every organiser publishes free practice tests or past papers, and the practice works best spread over several weeks. The work divides into learning the format, practising question types untimed until the method is secure, and then sitting full papers under timed conditions.

• UCAT: the UCAT preparation plan, practice questions, walkthroughs for Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning and Situational Judgement, and the UCAT score converter.
• TMUA: TMUA past papers, the TMUA specification, TMUA score conversion and a TMUA preparation plan.
• ESAT: ESAT past papers, the ESAT specification, ESAT scores and results and an ESAT preparation plan.
• LNAT: LNAT practice tests, LNAT essay questions, LNAT scores and an LNAT preparation plan.
• TARA: TARA practice questions and past papers.
• STEP: STEP past papers.

Admissions tests sit alongside the rest of the application, and the strongest applicants prepare for them in parallel with wider reading in the subject. The super-curricular activities guide covers that side, with subject versions for law, medicine, maths, engineering, economics and PPE.

Related guides

• Oxford and Cambridge admissions tests: which test for which course
• How to apply to UK medical schools
• Applying for law at Cambridge
• Oxford PPE: the application and the TARA
• Applying for maths at Cambridge
• The UCAS application, step by step
• Oxford acceptance rates by subject

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