There is no official “good” ESAT score: UAT-UK sets no pass mark and no grade boundaries. Each module is scored separately from 1.0 to 9.0, and UAT-UK says typical candidates score around 4.5 and approximately 10% score higher than 7.0. Cambridge says a strong performance is usually needed to reach interview.
By Archie Dyer, founder of Cognivia Tutoring · Last checked 11 October 2026
A score for each module1.0 to 9.0, to one decimal place. No overall ESAT score.
Typical score: around 4.5UAT-UK’s wording, for the October 2025 and January 2026 sittings.
About 10% score above 7.0Also UAT-UK’s wording.
No pass markAnd no marks lost for incorrect answers.
No published thresholdsNone of the four universities’ pages I checked gives one.
What counts as a good ESAT score?
A good ESAT score is one that is strong for the course you are applying to, in each module that course asks for; there is no official definition. UAT-UK, which runs the test, states: “UAT-UK does not provide any grade boundaries or a pass mark.” What it does publish is where scores fall, summarised below.
What UAT-UK publishes about ESAT module scores, checked on 11 October 2026
Module score
What UAT-UK says
Where it says it
1.0
The lowest reported score. “Low scores are capped at 1.0”.
Explanation of Results, October 2025 and January 2026
Around 4.5
“The scale has been designed so that typical candidates will score around 4.5.”
Explanation of Results, October 2025 and January 2026
Above 7.0
“Approximately 10% of candidates will achieve scores higher than 7.0.”
Explanation of Results, October 2025 and January 2026
9.0
The highest reported score. “High scores are capped at 9.0.”
Explanation of Results, October 2025 and January 2026
Pass mark
None. “There is no pass or fail for the ESAT.”
About the ESAT page; Test Scores page
So a module score above 4.5 is above the typical candidate, and one above 7.0 is in roughly the top tenth of those who sat that module. Whether that is enough is decided by each university, and Cambridge, Imperial and Oxford each say they weigh the score with the rest of the application.
The ESAT gives a separate score for each module you sit, each on a scale from 1.0 to 9.0 to one decimal place, based on the number of questions answered correctly. UAT-UK states: “You do not lose marks for incorrect answers, so it’s worth attempting all questions.”
No overall score
UAT-UK: “For the ESAT you will get a score per module.” A candidate sitting three modules receives three scores, and no total or average is reported.
Modules scaled separately
“For the ESAT and the TARA each module is equated and scaled separately.”
Statistical model
Responses are analysed with “the Rasch item response theory (IRT) model”, and small differences in difficulty between test forms are “removed through a process of equating”.
Both sittings
UAT-UK describes the scale by reference to the October candidates, and says “scores from the January sitting are mapped to the same scale”.
UAT-UK’s own pages disagree on one number. Its Prepare page, and one section of its Test Scores page, say the scale has “the median fixed at 4.5 and the 90th percentile fixed at 7.0”. A different section of the same Test Scores page, “How our Tests are Scored”, says the scale has “the 50th percentile of the October candidate score distribution at 4.5 and the 90th percentile at 9.0”.
Both statements were on the site on 11 October 2026. The Explanation of Results says approximately 10% of candidates score higher than 7.0. I am reporting the conflict as it stands; if the figure matters to you, ask UAT-UK.
UAT-UK does not publish a mean score for any module, but it says the scale is designed so that “typical candidates will score around 4.5”. That is the closest thing to an official average, and because each module is scaled separately it applies module by module.
UAT-UK also publishes a bar chart of scores for each of the five modules from the October 2025 and January 2026 sittings. Read from those charts, the tallest bar is at 4.5 for Mathematics 1 and at 4.0 for Mathematics 2 and for Chemistry; for Physics the bars at 3.5 and 4.5 are almost level, as are those at 4.5 and 5.0 for Biology. In every module the bars become short above 7.0. The charts come without a table of figures, so I have not turned them into percentages.
UAT-UK is direct about why scores feel low: “Candidates should not expect to score as highly on these tests as they have in their school exams.”
What ESAT score do you need for Cambridge Engineering, Imperial, Oxford or UCL?
None of the four universities that use the ESAT gives a minimum score on the pages I checked. The table reports only what each university’s own website said on 11 October 2026. It leaves out figures from tutoring companies and forums.
What each university officially publishes about ESAT scores, checked on 11 October 2026
Publishes no threshold. “There’s no pass or fail mark for the tests, but a strong performance is usually needed to get through to interview.” If you are shortlisted, the score “will be looked at together with the rest of your application”. The statement covers all its pre-interview tests, Engineering and Natural Sciences included.
Publishes no threshold. “There aren’t any grade boundaries or pass marks for the ESAT or TMUA.” It offers an interactive dashboard of mean scores and score ranges by department, and says those scores “should not be taken as indicative of requirements”.
Publishes no threshold. “Selection is based on a candidate’s performance in the ESAT, information in their UCAS application and other contextual information”. Applicants are told to select Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2 and Physics.
Publishes no threshold. It requires “Maths 1 and any two out of Physics, Maths 2, Chemistry and Biology” and says nothing on the course page about the score it looks for.
2027 cycle
Imperial puts the general position plainly: “Achieving a high score does not necessarily mean that you will be offered a place, while a low score does not mean that your application will be unsuccessful.” Its dashboard is the only official source I found that shows how past applicants’ ESAT scores related to offers, and it is interactive, so I have linked to it and not copied figures out of it.
Check which modules your course reads. Because there is no overall score, a university sees each module on its own. The modules a course requires are set out in the ESAT modules guide, and the course page on the university’s own website is the final authority.
Can you work out an ESAT score from a practice test?
No: UAT-UK publishes no table that converts a number of correct answers into a score from 1.0 to 9.0. Its specimen and practice tests show which answers were right, but in its words “the tests do not award a score upon completion”, because “the score scale in any particular year is based on the ability distribution of the cohort”.
UAT-UK adds that “performance on a practice test will not necessarily be indicative of performance under exam conditions”. A practice mark is useful for seeing which topics and which module cost you the most, and much less useful as a prediction. Be cautious of any predicted score.
How Cognivia can help
Cognivia Tutoring is independent, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by UAT-UK, Pearson VUE or any university. I am Archie Dyer, a second-year Theoretical Physics student at UCL and the only tutor at Cognivia, and I sat the ESAT myself. I teach four of the five modules one to one, Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics and Chemistry, but not Biology. Lessons are one hour: £45 online on Google Meet or £55 in person around Marylebone, London. A 5-pack of five lessons saves £15, at £210 online or £260 in person, and a 30-minute online trial is free with no card needed. None of this is a promise about a score.
There is no official definition. UAT-UK says it does not provide any grade boundaries or a pass mark. It says the scale is designed so that typical candidates score around 4.5 and approximately 10% of candidates score higher than 7.0. Whether a score is good enough depends on the course and on each module it asks for.
UAT-UK does not publish a mean for any module. Its Explanation of Results for the October 2025 and January 2026 sittings says the scale has been designed so that typical candidates will score around 4.5. Each module is scaled separately.
Each module gets its own score from 1.0 to 9.0, to one decimal place, and there is no overall ESAT score. UAT-UK says each module is equated and scaled separately, that final scores are based on the number of correct answers, and that no marks are lost for incorrect answers.
No. UAT-UK states that there is no pass or fail for the ESAT and that it does not provide any grade boundaries or a pass mark. Cambridge and Imperial say the same on their own pages.
Cambridge publishes no threshold. Its admissions tests page for 2027 entry says there is no pass or fail mark, but a strong performance is usually needed to get through to interview, and that the score is then looked at together with the rest of the application.
Imperial publishes no threshold. It says there are no grade boundaries or pass marks, and that a low score does not mean an application will be unsuccessful. It offers an interactive dashboard of 2025 entry score data by department, which it says should not be taken as indicative of requirements.
No. UAT-UK says that for the ESAT you will get a score per module. A candidate who sits Mathematics 1 and two further modules receives three separate scores, with no total or average reported.
Not officially. UAT-UK says its specimen and practice tests do not award a score, because the score scale in any particular year is based on the ability distribution of the cohort. It also says performance on a practice test will not necessarily indicate performance under exam conditions.
Where to go next
The pages below cover the modules, the dates and the tutoring.
