Selwyn ESAT Scores (Cambridge Engineering, H100)

In the 2025 admissions cycle, applicants who received an Engineering (H100) offer from Selwyn College, Cambridge averaged 7.06 on ESAT Physics, 2nd among the 25 undergraduate colleges. The same group averaged 6.23 on Mathematics 1 (15th) and only 5.79 on Mathematics 2 (23rd). The spread across the three offer averages is 1.27, unusually wide for the undergraduate pool, and it is the thing to remember about Selwyn: within a single group of offer-holders, the Physics average and the Mathematics 2 average sat 1.27 apart. These are averages and extremes for two groups of people in one cycle, not entry requirements; Cambridge publishes no ESAT score threshold of any kind.

Selwyn ESAT scores at a glance (2025 cycle)

Offer-holder averages by module: Physics 7.06, Mathematics 1 6.23, Mathematics 2 5.79; 6.36 across the three modules
Applicant-field averages by module: Mathematics 1 4.58, Physics 4.51, Mathematics 2 4.47; 4.52 across the three modules
Rank within the undergraduate pool: Out of 25 colleges: 2nd on Physics, 15th on Mathematics 1, 23rd on Mathematics 2
Gap to the pool median: 0.59 above on Physics (median 6.47), 0.13 below on Mathematics 1 (median 6.36), 0.43 below on Mathematics 2 (median 6.22)
Applicant-to-offer gap: 2.55 on Physics, 1.65 on Mathematics 1, 1.32 on Mathematics 2
Spread across the three modules: 1.27, highest on Physics and lowest on Mathematics 2

These are averages and extremes for Selwyn Engineering (H100) applicants and offer-holders in the 2025 cycle, together with ranks and gaps derived from them. They are not entry requirements: Cambridge publishes no ESAT score threshold of any kind. The FOI response gives no applicant count per college, so the sample size behind each figure is unknown and a handful of candidates can move an average. Ranks are computed within the undergraduate college pool only and are not comparable with the mature colleges, which admit applicants aged 21 and over. 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 and the various gaps are calculated by FrontierVUE from the same response; Cambridge publishes no such rankings. FrontierVUE is not affiliated with the University of Cambridge or any of its colleges.

What Selwyn's ESAT scores actually look like

Cambridge's freedom of information response FOI-2025-956 sets out ESAT scores for Engineering (H100) applicants and offer-holders, college by college, for the 2025 cycle. Selwyn's applicant column is almost flat: module averages of 4.58, 4.51 and 4.47, sitting close together. The offer column then opens out into 6.23, 7.06 and 5.79. The gap between modules is not something the applicant field brought with it; it appears only after selection, and it opens wider than is usual in the undergraduate pool.

	Applicant average	Applicant range	Offer-holder average	Offer-holder range
Mathematics 1	4.58	1.6 to 9	6.23	4.5 to 9
Physics	4.51	1.1 to 9	7.06	4.9 to 9
Mathematics 2	4.47	1.0 to 8.9	5.79	4.1 to 8.2

The averages and the lowest and highest scores come line by line from official response FOI-2025-956; the overall three-module averages of 4.52 for applicants and 6.36 for offer-holders are calculated by FrontierVUE from that same response. ESAT reports a scaled score from 1.0 to 9.0 to one decimal place. Each range is the lowest and highest score in that group, not a boundary.

7.06

Physics offer average, 2nd of the 25 undergraduate colleges

1.27

Spread across the three offer averages, Physics highest and Mathematics 2 lowest

2.55

Physics applicant-to-offer gap, the largest of the three modules

6.36

Offer average across all three modules (applicants: 4.52)

The row to watch is Mathematics 2. Offer-holders topped out at 8.2 on this module, the only offer range of the three that does not reach 9, and even the applicant column stops at 8.9. Physics runs the other way: the offer range spans 4.9 to 9, the highest floor of the three. Within one group of people, one module's ceiling fell short of 9 while another's floor never dropped below 4.9. It is still one year and one group, not a line drawn anywhere.

How to read these numbers

7.06 is an average, not a bar to clear

It is the average Physics score of Selwyn Engineering offer-holders in the 2025 cycle. Cambridge publishes no ESAT score threshold of any kind, and no college has published a minimum score of its own. Within that same group, actual Physics scores run from 4.9 to 9; the average marks the centre of that spread, not its entrance.

Sample size unknown: the FOI gives no applicant count per college

The response gives averages and extremes only, with no applicant or offer count for any college. For a college with gaps as wide as Selwyn's this matters even more: if the offer group that year was small, a few candidates who were very strong on Physics and comparatively weak on Mathematics 2 would be enough to produce a 1.27 spread on their own. Read these figures for direction, not digit by digit.

Rankings are pooled: mature colleges sit outside this one

Selwyn's 2nd, 15th and 23rd places are all calculated within the 25 undergraduate colleges. The mature colleges, which admit applicants aged 21 and over (Hughes Hall, St Edmund's, Wolfson, Lucy Cavendish), draw on a different pool, so rankings are computed separately and this page never lines their figures up against Selwyn's.

Ranks, median gaps and applicant-to-offer gaps are ours, not Cambridge's

The official response contains only averages and lowest and highest scores. Pool ranks, pool medians, gaps to the median, applicant-to-offer gaps and the three-module spread are arithmetic worked out by FrontierVUE on top of them; Cambridge publishes no such ranking of colleges. Both the 2nd and the 23rd are this site's calculation, not from the response.

Use this page to read a shape, not to set a target. Selwyn sits higher than almost all of its pool on Physics and drops into the back of the pool on Mathematics 2. That shape is worth letting into how you split your practice time; it should not be translated into a number you have to hit, and it should not be read as permission to drop Mathematics 2.

These figures answer what people at this college scored last year, not what you need to score. The first is a distribution that already happened; Cambridge has never answered the second. To place Selwyn among all 29 colleges side by side, see the Cambridge college ESAT score comparison, which carries the cross-college comparison and interactive charts that this page does not repeat.

Three things specific to Selwyn

2 / 25

Where the Physics offer average ranks in the undergraduate pool

23 / 25

Where Mathematics 2 ranks, the furthest back of Selwyn's three modules

15 / 25

Where Mathematics 1 ranks, mid-pack

Physics

Offer average 7.06, ranked 2nd

0.59 above the 6.47 pool median, with the largest gap of the three at 2.55

Mathematics 1

Offer average 6.23, ranked 15th

Only 0.13 under the 6.36 pool median, mid-pack

Mathematics 2

Offer average 5.79, ranked 23rd

0.43 under the 6.22 pool median, with an offer ceiling of only 8.2

On the applicant side

Module averages of 4.58, 4.51 and 4.47

Almost level with one another, so the module gap opens up only on the offer side

Overall position

One module high, one in the middle, one low

Offer-holders averaged 6.36 overall, the whole applicant field 4.52

Read the three together and Selwyn's profile is clear. Physics ranks 2nd, carries the largest applicant-to-offer gap at 2.55 and has the highest floor of the three offer ranges at 4.9: all three point the same way, that Physics separated this college's offer group most sharply. Mathematics 2 ranks 23rd, sits 0.43 under the median and tops out at 8.2, so this module ran lower across Selwyn's offer group as a whole. Note, though, that Mathematics 2 still shows a gap of 1.32, with an offer average of 5.79 well above the applicant average of 4.47: it was not ignored, it just separated less than Physics did. None of this means Selwyn looks only at physics; it means a mark carries different amounts of information depending on the module.

How to train for the shape Selwyn has

The sequence below follows from the shape above. It is not official advice and not a line anyone has drawn for you. Selwyn's 1.27 spread states its priorities plainly, but the wider the spread, the easier it is to misread as permission to practise one module only, so take step 3 seriously.

01Step 1

Put Physics on the main line

Selwyn's offer group bottoms out at 4.9 here, averages 7.06, ranks 2nd in the pool and shows a gap of 2.55. Get physics to a steady state first, then talk about gains elsewhere.

02Step 2

Hold Mathematics 1 at mid-pack

An offer average of 6.23 ranks 15th, just 0.13 under the 6.36 pool median. Make accuracy and speed on routine questions solid so that it never becomes the weak link of the paper.

03Step 3

Do not drop Mathematics 2; build a floor

23rd is not a reason to drop it. Selwyn's offer group still averaged 5.79 here, 1.32 above the applicant average of 4.47, with a floor of 4.1. The module still did some separating; it just did less than physics.

04Step 4

Reassemble the three modules under full timing

After module drills, sit the paper whole and timed. Selwyn's combined offer average of 6.36 comes from all three being present, not from one spike. The 1.27 spread orders your priorities; it is not a reason to drop a module.

Where practice weight goes for Selwyn's profile

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

Physics (2nd, 7.06)0.59 above the 6.47 pool median, largest gap of the three at 2.55

Mid-to-hard mechanics and circuits as the standing workload
File errors by quantity and model, not by which paper they came from
Under timing, protect the physics run first and leave no half-attempted items

Mathematics 1 (15th, 6.23)Just 0.13 under the 6.36 pool median, and the module every candidate sits

Target accuracy and speed, clearing arithmetic slips first
Once steady, drop to maintenance

Mathematics 2 (23rd, 5.79)0.43 under the 6.22 pool median, yet still a gap of 1.32

Make the routine question types in the specification watertight before chasing anything exotic
Keep a fixed weekly quota so a low rank never turns into no practice at all

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. The module guides under /exams/esat/guides/ cover what each module tests and how to work through it.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What ESAT score do you need for a Selwyn offer?

There is no such number. Cambridge publishes no ESAT score threshold of any kind. What can be said is the distribution: in the 2025 cycle, Selwyn Engineering offer-holders averaged 7.06 on Physics, 6.23 on Mathematics 1 and 5.79 on Mathematics 2, with actual scores running from 4.9 to 9 on Physics and from 4.1 to 8.2 on Mathematics 2. An average describes where a group sat, not a condition of entry.

Is Selwyn a physics college?

On this data, Selwyn's offer group did separate most on Physics: an average of 7.06, 2nd of the 25 undergraduate colleges, and the largest gap of the three at 2.55. But that is the distribution of one group in the 2025 cycle. The FOI response gives no applicant count per college, so the sample size is unknown, and a few very strong physicists would be enough to lift a college's Physics average. Reading one year's shape as a fixed preference of the college over-reads what this data is.

Mathematics 2 ranks 23rd of 25. Can I do less of it?

Not advisable. 23rd describes where Selwyn's Mathematics 2 offer average sits relative to other colleges, not how little the module matters inside Selwyn. The same offer-holders averaged 5.79 on it, 1.32 above the applicant average of 4.47, with a floor of 4.1, so the module still separated applicants from offer-holders. The sensible move is to build a solid floor on it, not to drop it.

What does a 1.27 spread actually mean?

It is the distance between the highest of Selwyn's three offer averages, 7.06 on Physics, and the lowest, 5.79 on Mathematics 2, calculated by FrontierVUE from the same response. ESAT results sit on a 1.0 to 9.0 scale, and 1.27 is a sizeable stretch of that scale, an unusual shape in the undergraduate pool. It orders preparation clearly: physics first, Mathematics 1 held in the middle, Mathematics 2 given a floor. It is not a reason to drop any module, and it is not an official requirement.

Sources

Official sources

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