Checked 25 September 2026. From Cambridge's admissions dashboard (2025 apply year), Imperial's ESAT dashboard (2025 entry cycle), UAT-UK's technical report 2025-26 and the Oxford and UCL pages. Scales are re-fixed each cycle; treat all figures as context, not targets.
UAT-UK sets no pass mark: "UAT-UK does not make any admissions decisions, or implement any cut score." What a "good" score is depends on the university, the course and the year — but Cambridge and Imperial now publish real numbers, and they are more useful than the rules of thumb on coaching sites. This guide collects them, with the caveats their publishers attach, and what Oxford and UCL say about how they use the score.
Cambridge admissions dashboard; UAT-UK Candidate Handbook §8.1 and results page.
Cambridge: averages by outcome
| Status (2025 apply year) | Maths 1 | Biology | Chemistry | Physics | Maths 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applicant | 4.67 | 4.75 | 4.81 | 4.77 | 4.80 |
| Offer holder | 5.62 | 5.92 | 5.93 | 6.24 | 6.13 |
| Accepted | 5.69 | 6.07 | 6.05 | 6.29 | 6.18 |
From Cambridge's Undergraduate Admissions Statistics dashboard, "Admissions Tests Scores for the 2025 Apply Year" — the first ESAT cycle (tests October 2024). All ESAT courses are pooled; the dashboard has no course filter. Cambridge's caveat: the averages "should not be seen as a collective pertaining to an individual candidate".
Cambridge admissions dashboard, 2025 apply year.
Read these carefully. The gap between applicants (about 4.7–4.8) and offer holders (about 5.6–6.2) is roughly one to one-and-a-half points on the 1–9 scale — a large gap, but offer holders' averages sit well below 7.0, the October 90th percentile. And Cambridge's own guidance is that there is "no pass or fail mark", that "a strong performance is usually needed to get through to interview", and that "some strong applicants may not even complete the paper in the time given. Almost no one gets full marks." Because the scale is re-anchored each cycle, these first-cycle averages are context, not a threshold.
Imperial: department dashboard
| Department (2025 entry cycle) | Offer rate | Mean score, offered |
|---|---|---|
| Aeronautics | 20.3% | 17.5 |
| Chemical Engineering | 43.5% | 14.2 |
| Civil and Environmental | 58.0% | 12.6 |
| Design Engineering (two modules, so out of 18) | 24.5% | 8.9 |
| Electrical and Electronic | 26.3% | 16.6 |
| Mechanical | 16.6% | 15.8 |
| Physics | 37.1% | 17.5 |
From Imperial's "ESAT scores: applicant outcomes – 2025 entry cycle" dashboard, where the mean is headed "Mean test score (maximum is 27)" — evidently the three module scores added together (our reading; Design Engineering takes two modules). Imperial: "the scores shown here should not be taken as indicative of requirements or outcomes for the current or future admissions cycles." Its "All departments" row does not match the department figures and is not reproduced.
For Imperial's "Overseas" applicant group (as the dashboard labels it, alongside Home and Home widening-participation groups), the dashboard shows lower offer rates in several departments than overall — Mechanical 14.2%, Electrical and Electronic 16.0% — with higher mean scores for those offered, such as 19.8 in Electrical and Electronic and 19.4 in Physics. Imperial is equally clear that "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".
| Imperial department (applicants from overseas) | Offer rate | Mean score, offered (max 27) |
|---|---|---|
| Aeronautics | 23.1% | 18.6 |
| Chemical Engineering | 38.8% | 15.4 |
| Civil and Environmental | 57.1% | 13.0 |
| Design Engineering (two modules, out of 18) | 15.7% | 11.1 |
| Electrical and Electronic | 16.0% | 19.8 |
| Mechanical | 14.2% | 16.8 |
| Physics | 31.4% | 19.4 |
Overseas rows of Imperial's 2025-entry ESAT dashboard, quoted as shown. Imperial's Life Sciences departments are not in the dashboard.
Oxford and UCL
| University | How the ESAT is used |
|---|---|
| Oxford Physics | "The primary shortlisting criterion is the ESAT score, interpreted in the light of contextual data" — about 8–10 applicants per place, shortlisted to about 2.5 per place |
| Oxford Engineering Science | Shortlisting and decisions use all information "without any set weighting" — grades, statement, reference, ESAT, interview |
| UCL Electronic and Electrical Engineering | "Additional information" alongside grades, statement and reference |
From the Oxford Physics and Engineering pages and UCL's ESAT page. Neither university has ESAT score data yet — Oxford's first ESAT cycle is October 2026.
What the scores do not tell you
Every one of these figures describes a group, not a person. Cambridge reports averages across four courses and several thousand applicants; Imperial reports department means with its own warning attached; UAT-UK's cohort figures mix October and January candidates on one scale. None of them tells you the lowest score that got an offer, and none is a promise about next year, when the scale is re-anchored. What they do show is consistent: Cambridge's offer holders averaged well above the 4.5 median in every module, and very few candidates are near the top of the scale.
How competitive the courses are
| Cambridge course (2025 cycle) | Applications | Offers | Acceptances |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering | 3,263 | 392 | 335 |
| Natural Sciences | 2,644 | 672 | 576 |
| Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology | 541 | 92 | 77 |
| Veterinary Medicine | 341 | 80 | 57 |
From Cambridge's undergraduate admissions statistics for the 2025 cycle (Table 3.2). Engineering accepts about one applicant in ten; Natural Sciences about one in five.
UAT-UK Technical Report 2025-26, Table 8. India-specific figures are not published.
The cohort picture
By design the median October candidate scores 4.5 and one in ten scores 7.0 or more in each module. In the 2026-entry cycle, all candidates combined, the 90th percentile ranged from 6.5 (Physics, Maths 2) to 7.0 (Biology, Chemistry). Candidates from outside the UK and EU — which includes India — had the highest means of any group. And Cambridge's own 2025-cycle statistics show how competitive the courses are: 370 applicants domiciled in India across all Cambridge courses, 38 offers and 25 acceptances.
Where other pages get this wrong
UAT-UK publishes no pass mark and no raw-to-scaled conversion; 7.0 is the October 90th percentile, not a target.
Commonly published instead: "A good ESAT score is 7.0 or higher", "scores below 5.5 are a significant obstacle", and "Imperial offer holders averaged 5.2 per module".
None of these is an official threshold. Cambridge's accepted students averaged 5.69–6.29 per module in the first cycle; Imperial publishes department means out of 27 with a warning not to treat them as requirements.
One more thing the official histograms show: very few candidates reach the top of the scale. In the 2026-entry cycle only about 2–3% of candidates scored 9.0 in Maths 2 or Chemistry, and under 2% in Physics, according to UAT-UK's Explanation of Results (read from its charts, so approximate). A score in the 6s is already a strong one; chasing a 9.0 is not the point.
How to use these numbers
- Treat Cambridge's accepted-student averages (about 6) as a sense of the level, not a cut-off.
- Aim to be comfortably above the October median (4.5) in every module you sit, and higher in the ones your course weights.
- Remember scores are re-anchored each cycle — a 6.0 this year is not the same as a 6.0 last year.
- The rest of your application — grades, reference, statement, interview — still counts at every university.
Practise it, don't just read it
Timed practice is the most direct way to raise a module score. Start with your weakest module.
The ProSyllabus ESAT library has topic quizzes for Maths 1 (algebra, geometry and trigonometry, statistics and probability), Maths 2 (functions and calculus), Physics (mechanics, electricity, waves), Chemistry and Biology — the first one is free.
What is a good ESAT score for Cambridge?
Cambridge sets no pass mark. In the first ESAT cycle its accepted students averaged 5.69 (Maths 1) to 6.29 (Physics) per module; applicants averaged about 4.7–4.8.
What ESAT score do I need for Imperial?
Imperial publishes no required score. Its 2025-entry dashboard shows mean totals of offered applicants from 12.6 (Civil) to 17.5 (Aeronautics, Physics) out of 27 — Design Engineering, with two modules, 8.9 out of 18 — with a warning not to treat them as requirements.
Is 7.0 a good ESAT score?
7.0 is the October 90th-percentile anchor by design — about 10% of October candidates score higher in that module.
What is the average ESAT score?
The October median is fixed at 4.5. In the 2026-entry cycle, all-candidate means ranged from 4.25 (Physics) to 4.61 (Chemistry).
Does Oxford have an ESAT cut-off?
No published cut-off. Oxford Physics says the ESAT score is its primary shortlisting criterion, read with contextual data.
Can I see my raw ESAT marks?
UAT-UK reports only the 1.0–9.0 scaled score per module and does not accept appeals of scores.
Are Cambridge ESAT averages published by course?
No. Cambridge's dashboard pools all ESAT courses; per-course figures quoted online come from Freedom of Information requests, not from Cambridge's published statistics.
What ESAT score do Oxford Physics applicants need?
Oxford publishes none; the ESAT is its primary shortlisting criterion for Physics, read with contextual data, and its first ESAT cycle is October 2026.
Can I compare my ESAT score with last year's?
Not directly. UAT-UK re-anchors the scale each cycle and says scaled scores cannot be compared across cycles or modules.
Does a high ESAT score guarantee an interview?
No. Cambridge says a strong performance is usually needed for interview, and Imperial that a high score does not necessarily mean an offer; the whole application counts.
How many Indian students get into Cambridge?
Across all courses in the 2025 cycle, Cambridge received 370 applications from India, made 38 offers and had 25 acceptances.
Do international students score higher on the ESAT?
Candidates living outside the UK and EU had the highest mean scores in the 2026-entry cycle, for example 5.21 in Maths 1 against 4.07 for UK candidates.
Is there an ESAT score conversion table?
No. UAT-UK publishes none. Within a cycle all test forms are equated onto one scale, but the raw-to-scaled conversion differs by module and form and is re-fixed each cycle.
Sources
- official — University of Cambridge — application statistics (dashboard, 2025 apply year)
- official — University of Cambridge — undergraduate admissions statistics, 2025 cycle
- official — University of Cambridge — admission tests and assessments
- official — Imperial College London — understanding your ESAT and TMUA scores (dashboard, 2025 entry)
- official — Imperial College London — ESAT
- official — Oxford Physics — admissions procedures
- official — Oxford Engineering Science — ESAT
- official — UCL — ESAT for Electronic & Electrical Engineering applicants (2027 entry)
- official — UAT-UK — Candidate Handbook, 2027 entry
- official — UAT-UK — Test results
- official — UAT-UK — ESAT Technical Report 2025-26
- official — UAT-UK — ESAT Explanation of Results, Oct 2025 & Jan 2026
- reported — Clavis Education — what is a good ESAT score (reported; see corrections)
- reported — UniAdmissions — ESAT results (reported; see corrections)
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
