Hughes Hall ESAT scores for Cambridge Engineering (mature college)

In the 2025 admissions cycle, applicants who received an offer for Engineering (H100) at Hughes Hall, Cambridge averaged 7.85 in ESAT Mathematics 1, 5.5 in Physics and 7 in Mathematics 2. Hughes Hall is a mature college, admitting only applicants aged 21 and over, so its ranks are computed among the 4 mature colleges alone: 1st in Mathematics 1, 1st in Mathematics 2 and 4th, the last place in that pool, in Physics. The gap between its highest and lowest module is 2.35, which on FrontierVUE's arithmetic is the widest module spread of all 29 colleges. Across everyone who applied to the college that year the module averages were 6.15, 5.65 and 5.52. These are cycle averages, not entry requirements; Cambridge publishes no ESAT score threshold of any kind. The FOI response also gives no applicant counts per college, and a mature college's sample is smaller still, so a handful of candidates can move any of these averages.

Hughes Hall ESAT scores at a glance (2025 cycle, mature college)

What offer-holders scored: Mathematics 1 averaged 7.85, Physics 5.5 and Mathematics 2 7; 6.78 across the three modules
What the whole applicant field scored: Mathematics 1 averaged 6.15, Physics 5.65 and Mathematics 2 5.52; 5.77 across the three modules
Applicant-to-offer gap: 1.7 up in Mathematics 1 and 1.48 up in Mathematics 2; Physics runs 0.15 the other way, with offer-holders averaging below the applicant field
Rank within the mature college pool: Out of 4 colleges: 1st in Mathematics 1, 4th in Physics, 1st in Mathematics 2
Distance from the mature pool median: 1.55 above in Mathematics 1 (median 6.3), 0.45 below in Physics (median 5.95), 0.72 above in Mathematics 2 (median 6.28)
Spread across the three modules: 2.35, highest in Mathematics 1 and lowest in Physics, the widest module spread of the 29 colleges

These are averages and extremes for applicants and offer-holders at this college in the 2025 Engineering (H100) cycle, not entry requirements; Cambridge publishes no ESAT score threshold. The FOI response gives no applicant counts per college, so sample sizes are unknown, and a mature college's sample is usually smaller still, which lets a handful of candidates move an average. Hughes Hall admits only applicants aged 21 and over, so its ranks are computed among the 4 mature colleges alone and are not comparable with the 25 undergraduate colleges. ESAT results are reported on a 1.0 to 9.0 scale to one decimal place. Pool ranks, pool medians, the overall three-module averages, the module spread and the various gaps are calculated by FrontierVUE from the same response; Cambridge publishes no such rankings.

What Hughes Hall's ESAT numbers actually are

Here is the full set of figures for Hughes Hall from the University's official Freedom of Information response FOI-2025-956, covering the 2025 admissions cycle for Engineering (H100). ESAT results are reported on a 1.0 to 9.0 scale to one decimal place. The applicant column covers everyone who applied to the college that year; the offer column covers the offer-holders reported under the same college. Both are grouped by the college applied to in that cycle, and the University notes that some applicants change college or course mid-cycle. Before reading the table, keep one thing in mind: Hughes Hall admits only applicants aged 21 and over, so the people behind these numbers are not the same population as at an undergraduate college.

	Applicant average	Applicant range	Offer-holder average	Offer-holder range
Mathematics 1	6.15	5 to 8.3	7.85	6.7 to 9
Physics	5.65	4.9 to 6.8	5.5	4.9 to 6.1
Mathematics 2	5.52	3.6 to 8	7	7 to 7

The averages and the lowest and highest scores in the table come line by line from official response FOI-2025-956; the overall three-module averages of 5.77 and 6.78 are calculated by FrontierVUE from that same response. The ranges are the lowest and highest score in each group, not boundaries.

6.78

Overall three-module average for Hughes Hall offer-holders, 2025 cycle

5.77

Overall three-module average across all applicants in the same cycle

2.35

Spread between the three offer averages, Mathematics 1 highest and Physics lowest, the widest of the 29 colleges

Two shapes in this table are highly unusual. First, the Mathematics 2 offer column reads 7 for its lowest, average and highest score alike, three identical values, which normally happens only when very few people, perhaps a single person, received an offer; the FOI gives no counts, so that cannot be confirmed. Second, the Physics offer average of 5.5 sits 0.15 below the college's own applicant average of 5.65, and the top Physics score among offer-holders, 6.1, is lower than the applicant maximum of 6.8. Neither is a boundary of any kind. Cambridge publishes no ESAT score threshold.

How to read these numbers at a mature college

These are averages, not entry requirements

Every figure above is an average or an extreme for one group of people in the 2025 cycle. Cambridge publishes no ESAT score threshold, and no college has published a minimum score of its own. The accurate phrasing is that Hughes Hall's offer-holders averaged 7.85 in Mathematics 1 that year, not that 7.85 is what you need.

Ranks are computed among the 4 mature colleges only

Hughes Hall, Lucy Cavendish, St Edmund's and Wolfson admit only applicants aged 21 and over, so their applicant pool is a different population from the 25 undergraduate colleges, and every rank on this page is computed among those 4 alone. In a pool of 4, only two colleges separate 1st from 4th, and the median is set by just 4 numbers, so 1st and 4th describe a very narrow relative position. Setting Hughes Hall's 7.85 beside any undergraduate college would be meaningless, and this page does not do it.

No applicant counts, and a mature college's sample is smaller

Response FOI-2025-956 gives no number of applicants per college. A mature college receives fewer Engineering applications than most undergraduate colleges to begin with, so a few unusually high or low scores can shift an average noticeably. Hughes Hall's three identical Mathematics 2 values of 7 are what a small sample looks like at its most visible. Read these figures for direction rather than as a stable baseline to track year on year.

The 1.0 to 9.0 scale, and mid-cycle college changes

ESAT results are reported on a 1.0 to 9.0 scale to one decimal place, so a reverse gap of 0.15 or a distance of 0.45 from the median is a small quantity on that scale and should be judged against the scale itself. The University also notes that some applicants change college or course mid-cycle, with figures grouped by the year of application, so the two columns under one college are not strictly nested, which is one reason an offer column can contain a lower figure than the applicant column.

One line to hold on to: this page answers what the mature applicants to Hughes Hall scored last cycle, not what you must score, and not whether Hughes Hall is harder or easier than some undergraduate college. Cambridge publishes no ESAT score threshold of any kind.

To see the 4 mature colleges side by side, or the cross-college comparison of the 25 undergraduate colleges, there is a separate piece on this site: Cambridge ESAT scores by college, which carries the comparisons and interactive charts for every college, with the two pools shown separately.

Three things specific to Hughes Hall

1 / 4

Where the Mathematics 1 offer average of 7.85 ranks in the mature pool, which it also tops

4 / 4

Where the Physics offer average of 5.5 ranks, the floor of the mature pool on that module

1 / 4

Where the Mathematics 2 offer average of 7 ranks, again the top of the pool on that module

Spread across the three modules

2.35

Mathematics 1 highest at 7.85, Mathematics 2 at 7, Physics lowest at 5.5; the widest spread of the 29 colleges

Versus the mature pool median in Mathematics 1

1.55 above

Hughes Hall 7.85 against a pool median of 6.3, in a pool that runs from 5.93 to 7.85 on this module

Versus the mature pool median in Physics

0.45 below

Hughes Hall 5.5 against a pool median of 5.95, the only one of the three modules below the median

Versus the mature pool median in Mathematics 2

0.72 above

Hughes Hall 7 against a pool median of 6.28, in a pool that runs from 5.98 to 7 on this module

Applicant-to-offer gap

1.7 / 0.15 reverse / 1.48

Mathematics 1, Physics and Mathematics 2 in order; Physics is the only module where offer-holders averaged below the applicant field

Overall position

Top of the pool in both maths modules, bottom in Physics

Offer-holders averaged 6.78 overall, the whole applicant field 5.77

Put together, Hughes Hall's shape is a top and a bottom. First, the two maths offer averages of 7.85 and 7 are the highest in the mature pool, and the lowest Mathematics 1 score among offer-holders, 6.7, is not low either. Second, the Physics offer average of 5.5 is the lowest in the pool and sits 0.15 under the college's own applicant average of 5.65; that does not mean Hughes Hall ignores Physics, and is more plausibly a very small number of people who happened not to score highly on it, though with no applicant counts in the FOI response the inference cannot be pushed further. Third, the 2.35 spread is the widest of the 29 colleges, but it rests on a module whose three values are all 7, so it is itself a product of a small sample.

Preparing with Hughes Hall's shape in mind

01Step one

Do not read the Physics 5.5 as permission to relax

Hughes Hall's Physics figure is the shape of one year's small group at a mature college. All three ESAT modules are sat for Cambridge Engineering, so Physics keeps its normal share of your time. Reading it as physics not mattering is the most common misuse of this data.

02Step two

Make the upper reaches of both maths modules steady

This group of offer-holders scored between 6.7 and 9 in Mathematics 1 and exactly 7 in Mathematics 2, which suggests the two maths modules did more of the separating in this pool. The practice is not to stare at 7.85 but to raise accuracy and speed on the harder questions together.

03Step three

Take your own baseline, module by module

Sit a timed paper from the past paper list at /papers/esat and record accuracy and timing for each module separately. Mature applicants have often been out of the classroom for a while, and a baseline tells you where the time should go far better than any college's rank.

04Step four

Go back to full timed sittings

Run the modules back to back to rehearse the switches and the time budget, then work through the per-question solutions and error analysis. Hughes Hall's offer group averaged 6.78 across the three modules; that comes from the whole paper, not a peak in one subject.

Where practice weight goes for Hughes Hall's shape

Priorities inferred from the 2025 mature-pool offer-group distribution, not an official requirement

Mathematics 1 (1st of 4, 7.85)Offer range 6.7 to 9, gap 1.7

Raise accuracy and speed on hard questions together, filing errors by topic
Under timing, secure the routine questions before pushing the hard ones

Mathematics 2 (1st of 4, 7)All three offer values 7, gap 1.48

Treat it alongside Mathematics 1, with algebraic manipulation and function work to fluency
Keep one mixed set a week so practice does not circle the comfortable types

Physics (4th of 4, 5.5)Offer range 4.9 to 6.1, a small sample, not a reason to cut time

Keep its normal share, with mid-level mechanics and circuits as the standing workload
Let your own baseline, not the college's last place in the pool, decide how much extra it gets

Tap a branch to unfold

The ESAT past papers live at /papers/esat, and some papers are free to try; the free labels on the list page show which ones are currently open. FrontierVUE is not affiliated with or endorsed by the University of Cambridge or any college; this page only organises and interprets officially released data.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What ESAT score do you need for an offer at Hughes Hall?

There is no such score. Cambridge publishes no ESAT threshold, and Hughes Hall has never stated a minimum of its own. What can be said is what happened in the 2025 cycle: applicants who received an offer at this mature college averaged 7.85 in Mathematics 1, 5.5 in Physics and 7 in Mathematics 2, with the same group scoring from 6.7 to 9 in Mathematics 1, from 4.9 to 6.1 in Physics and exactly 7 in Mathematics 2. The FOI gives no applicant counts, and this group may be very small; the figures describe those people, not a line.

Offer-holders averaged 5.5 in Physics, below the applicant field's 5.65. Does Hughes Hall not care about physics?

That reading does not hold. A reverse gap of 0.15 is a small quantity on the 1.0 to 9.0 scale, and a mature college sees few Engineering applicants in a year and fewer offer-holders, so the physics scores of a handful of people decide which way this average leans. The University also notes that some applicants change college or course mid-cycle, so the two columns are not strictly nested. All it shows is that this small group did not pull away on Physics in 2025; it says nothing about the college's preferences, and nothing about doing less physics.

Hughes Hall's Mathematics 1 average of 7.85 is higher than many undergraduate colleges. Is it harder to get into?

The comparison itself does not stand. Hughes Hall admits only applicants aged 21 and over, so its applicant pool is a different population from the 25 undergraduate colleges, and the ranks on this page are computed among the 4 mature colleges alone: 1st in Mathematics 1, 1.55 above the pool median of 6.3. Lining the pools up against each other is meaningless, and since the FOI response gives no applicant counts per college, and a mature college's sample is smaller, the 7.85 may itself rest on very few people.

Mathematics 2 shows 7 as the lowest, average and highest score. What does that mean?

Three identical values mean every offer-holder reported under Hughes Hall in the 2025 cycle had the same Mathematics 2 score, and the most natural explanation is that the group was tiny, possibly a single person. The FOI gives no counts, so that remains an inference. The practical reminder is that Hughes Hall's Mathematics 2 average of 7, its 1st place and its 2.35 spread all rest on this one figure, so read them with the weight of a small sample rather than as a stable feature of the college.

Sources

Official sources

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