University admissions tests in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom there are various standardized tests for admission to university. Most applicants to universities in the UK take national examinations such as A-levels or Scottish Highers. Separate admissions tests are used by a small number of universities for specific subjects (particularly law, mathematics and medicine, and courses at Oxford and Cambridge), many of these administered by Cambridge University's Admissions Testing Service. ^[1]

English Literature Admissions Test

This section is an excerpt from English Literature Admissions Test.[ edit ]

The English Literature Admissions Test (ELAT) was a subject-specific admissions test, used as part of the admissions process for undergraduate courses in English language and literature, combined English and modern languages and classics and English at the University of Oxford. As of 2016,^{[ ambiguous ]} ELAT had also been used by the University of Cambridge for admission to its undergraduate English course. ^[2]

ELAT was held pre-interview stage, in late October/early November. Results were available to candidates and test centres via the Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing Results Online website up to and including October 2022. Administration of the test in 2023 was conducted by Tata Consultancy Services. ^[3]

History Aptitude Test

The History Aptitude Test (HAT) is a standardized test used as part of the admissions process to Oxford University for undergraduates applying to read history, or a subject including history, for example English with history.

The one-hour test is currently only employed by Oxford University, though other universities are considering adopting a similar examination as part of admissions.

Modern and Medieval Languages Test

The Modern and Medieval Languages Test (MML) is a university admissions test used in the United Kingdom. It is currently used by the University of Cambridge. ^[4]

National Admissions Test for Law

This section is an excerpt from National Admissions Test for Law.[ edit ]

The National Admissions Test for Law, or LNAT, is an admissions aptitude test that was adopted in 2004 by eight UK university law programmes ^[5] as an admissions requirement for home applicants. The test was established at the leading urgency of the University of Oxford as an answer to the problem facing universities trying to select from an increasingly competitive pool with similarly high A-levels. With effect from its second year, the LNAT is required for UK and overseas applicants alike. There are now nine participating law schools and hundreds of test centres worldwide.

Sixth Term Examination Paper

This section is an excerpt from Sixth Term Examination Paper.[ edit ]

The Sixth Term Examination Papers in Mathematics, often referred to as STEP, is currently a university admissions test for undergraduate courses with significant mathematical content - most notably for Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Starting from 2024, STEP will be administered by OCR, replacing CAAT, who was responsible for administering STEP in previous years.

Being after the reply date for universities in the UK, ^[6] STEP is typically taken as part of a conditional offer for an undergraduate place. There are also a small number of candidates who sit STEP as a challenge. The papers are designed to test ability to answer questions similar in style to undergraduate Mathematics. ^[7]

The official users of STEP in Mathematics at present are the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, and the University of Warwick. Since the 2025 entry application cycle, the STEP exams have been superseded by the TMUA exam at Imperial College London and the University of Warwick.

Candidates applying to study mathematics at the University of Cambridge are almost always required to take STEP as part of the terms of their conditional offer. In addition, other courses at Cambridge with a large mathematics component, such as Economics and Engineering, occasionally require STEP. Candidates applying to study Mathematics or closely related subjects at the University of Warwick can take STEP as part of their offer. Imperial College London may require it for Computing applicants as well as Mathematics applicants who either did not take MAT or achieved a borderline score in it.

Mathematics Admissions Test

The Mathematics Admissions Test (MAT) is a 2-hour 30-minute subject-specific admissions test for applicants to the University of Oxford, and until the 2024-2025 school year, also both the University of Warwick and Imperial College London ^[8] for undergraduate degree courses in mathematics, computer science and their joint degrees. It is set with the aim of being approachable by all students, including those without further mathematics A Level.

The MAT is held pre-interview stage at the beginning of November. Test results are not published automatically, but for the University of Oxford, candidates may request their test score as part of the usual University of Oxford feedback process. ^[9]

Physics Aptitude Test

The Physics Aptitude Test (PAT) is a 2-hour subject-specific admissions test for applicants to the University of Oxford for undergraduate degree courses in engineering, materials science and physics undergraduate degree courses.

The PAT is held pre-interview stage at the beginning of November. ^[10] Test results are not published automatically, but candidates may request their test score as part of the usual University of Oxford feedback process. ^[11]

University Clinical Aptitude Test

University Clinical Aptitude Test

Acronym	UCAT
Type	Multiple choice
Administrator	Pearson
Year started	2006
Duration	2 hours
Score range	900–2700 and Bands 1–4
Score validity	For admission to Consortium universities in the year following the test
Offered	Early July–late September for UCAT UK and early July–early August for UCAT ANZ
Restrictions on attempts	Once per cycle
Languages	English
Annual number of test takers	41,354 (UK 2025) 16,950 (ANZ 2025)

The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) is an admissions test used by most medical and dental schools in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand in their applicant selection processes. ^[12] Launched in 2006 as the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT), it was renamed in 2019 following the launch of the test in Australia and New Zealand as a replacement for the Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test (UMAT). ^{[13] [14]}

In the UK, the UCAT was one of two main admissions tests used for medical, dental and other health-related courses, the other being the BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT). Following the BMAT's cancellation from 2024 onwards, all ex-BMAT universities have moved to using the UCAT for their undergraduate medical courses, including Oxford and Cambridge. ^{[15] [16]}

In 2025, the UK version of the test had 41,354 test takers whilst the ANZ version had 16,950. ^{[17] [18]}

References

1. "Admissions Tests". UCAS. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
2. http://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/english University of Cambridge. Retrieved 2018-05-22.
3. Smith, Martha; Ledgard, Ed (3 November 2023). "Oxford scraps results of botched admissions tests". Cherwell. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
4. Modern and Medieval Languages Test (MML), UCAS, UK.
5. Education: New entry test for law students, BBC News, UK.
6. "Heard from all your chosen unis?". UCAS. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
7. "About STEP". Cambridge Assessment. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
9. "About MAT | Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing". www.admissionstesting.org.
10. "PAT Oxford: The Definitive PAT Starter Guide For 2022". Exams Ninja. 9 February 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
11. "About PAT". University of Cambridge. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
12. Which universities don't require you UCAT for medicine and why, ucatmasterclass, excess 9 August 2023.
13. "UKCAT rebranded to UCAT as the test is launched in Australia and New Zealand". www.nottingham.ac.uk. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
14. "UKCAT rebranded to UCAT as the test is launched in Australia and New Zealand". UCAT Consortium. 23 January 2019. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
15. "Ojas Rajkumar - UCAT Replacing BMAT". www.ojasrajkumar.com. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
16. "BMAT Cancelled In 2024". www.theukcatpeople.co.uk. February 2024. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
17. "Test Statistics". UCAT Consortium. 3 October 2025. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
18. "Summary statistics for UCAT ANZ 2025" (PDF). UCAT ANZ. 3 October 2025. Retrieved 3 October 2025.