Admission Test
Oxbridge, Medicine, Veterinary and Law
Admission tests are required for many courses at Oxford and Cambridge, some universities for Law and all for Medicine.
It is up to you to check which tests your course requires. The earlier you know this the better as practice is vitally important.
How do I know which tests I need to take?
- Nearly all Oxford courses require you to take a pre-interview assessment test. Tests are standard across the university and all applicants for each course will take the same test. Eg all applicants for History will take the HAT test, all applicants for English will take the ELAT test. You need to check your test requirements on your relevant course information page. Here is a good starting point.
- At Cambridge some courses require a pre-interview assessment test, but fewer than at Oxford. Some other courses require an at-interview assessment test. And some colleges operate their own at-interview admissions tests for some courses. You need to check your test requirements on your relevant course information page. It can be a bit confusing but a good starting point is here.
- For Law some universities, including Oxford, require the LNAT test. The list can be found here. Cambridge run their own Law admissions test (check the link above).
- For Medicine all UK universities will require either the BMAT or UCAT. You will need to check each course to see which one is needed.
If you are unsure which test you need to take please speak to Mrs Phillips for Oxbridge courses and Mrs Davies for Medicine.
How can I prepare for the tests?
The importance of practicing the tests cannot be emphasised enough. All applicants will have good grades at GCSE, meet the required grade predictions and have outstanding personal statements and references. The tests are a way for universities to filter and short-list for interview. You need to start practicing early. You can do this by:
- Being realistic and honest with yourself about how hard the tests are and how you are doing in them. What scores are you getting? Are you improving as you practice?
- Downloading past papers from your relevant course website. These come with mark schemes attached which you can use to mark the tests yourself. There are usually lots of videos and instructions that go with them – watch these first, before you attempt a test.
- There are various websites and YouTube tutorials which offer free test advice (eg The Lawyer Portal and Medic Portal).
- Ask a relevant subject teacher at school to help go through them with you.
- It is strongly recommended you buy a guidance/practice book such as the ones below which will give you lots of practice questions and key tips on what the tests are assessing for and how to do them:
If you are unsure how to prepare please speak to Mrs Phillips for Oxbridge courses and Mrs Davies for Medicine.
How and when do I register and take the test?
King Edward’s pupils can register for most university admission tests through the school via the Exams Office, contact Mrs Todd with your information details.
The pupils need to email Mrs Todd with the following details before they can be registered to sit an admission test at King Edward’s:
- Full name & date of birth dd/mm/yyyy
- University to which they are applying
- Title and code number of the course they are applying to do
- Their UCAS ID number eg. 123-456-7890
- Permission to put the charge on their school bill from whoever pays it, if it has a cost
King Edward’s is an authorised test centre with Cambridge Admissions . Cambridge offers all the tests below, irrespective of the university the pupils are applying to:
- BMAT STEP Maths TMUA
- The above tests all incur a charge of between £33 to £55, which can be added to the school bill.
The following tests are all free:
- CTMUA ECAA ENGAA NSAA CAT
- GAT HAT MLAT OLAT PAT
- ELAT TSA MAT the Oxford Philosophy test
Registration usually opens on 01 August but you can only book test slots from 01 September. No-one can book a test before 01 September. Deadline to enter is 01 or 15 October, it varies between the tests. COVID-19 and Admission Tests – Always check the websites for the most current information. You must register to take your tests before you submit your UCAS application.
The exception to the above is the STEP Maths papers (which should be happening in June, but are not happening in 2020), The test date is Wednesday 04 November 2020, this usually falls in half term, but not this year.
