Is the ESAT hard?
The maths and science are A-level. The clock makes it hard: 27 questions in 40 minutes per module, about 89 seconds each, with no calculator. For 2026 entry, the middle Mathematics 1 score was 4.4 out of 9 across 14,193 candidates.
The clock, not the content
- Every module is 27 multiple-choice questions in 40 minutes.
- No calculator: arithmetic has to be quick and clean.
- Questions take familiar topics one step past the usual exam question.
How candidates scored for 2026 entry
| Module | Candidates | Average | Middle score | Top 10% from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics 1 | 14,193 | 4.58 | 4.4 | 6.7 |
| Physics | 11,290 | 4.25 | 4.1 | 6.5 |
| Mathematics 2 | 12,113 | 4.40 | 4.2 | 6.5 |
| Chemistry | 3,146 | 4.61 | 4.5 | 7.0 |
| Biology | 1,547 | 4.44 | 4.5 | 7.0 |
Scores run from 1.0 to 9.0. Physics had the lowest average, 4.25.
What score to aim forTry one
Worked example Mathematics 1: index laws under time
Solve .
Take out the common factor:
Why this works: one factorisation turns the sum into a single power. Ten seconds, no logs.
The trap: taking logs of each term separately. A log of a sum is not a sum of logs.