Sidney Sussex ESAT Scores (Cambridge Engineering, H100)

In the 2025 admissions cycle, applicants who received an Engineering (H100) offer from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge averaged 5.98 on ESAT Mathematics 1, 6.02 on Physics and 5.97 on Mathematics 2. The spread across those three figures is just 0.05, so the modules sit almost perfectly level, which means no module at Sidney Sussex can be treated as the minor one. Placed back in the pool of 25 undergraduate colleges, all three offer averages fall below the pool median: 0.38 below on Mathematics 1, 0.45 below on Physics and 0.25 below on Mathematics 2. These are cycle averages, not entry requirements; Cambridge publishes no ESAT score threshold of any kind.

Sidney Sussex ESAT scores at a glance (2025 cycle)

Offer-holder averages by module: Physics 6.02, Mathematics 1 5.98, Mathematics 2 5.97; 5.99 across the three modules
Applicant-field averages by module: Mathematics 1 5.28, Physics 5.09, Mathematics 2 5.19; 5.19 across the three modules
Rank within the undergraduate pool: Out of 25 colleges: 16th on Mathematics 2, 19th on Physics, 20th on Mathematics 1
Gap to the pool median: 0.38 below on Mathematics 1 (median 6.36), 0.45 below on Physics (median 6.47), 0.25 below on Mathematics 2 (median 6.22)
Applicant-to-offer gap: 0.93 on Physics, 0.78 on Mathematics 2, 0.7 on Mathematics 1
Spread across the three modules: 0.05, highest on Physics and lowest on Mathematics 2, so the three sit almost level

These are averages and extremes for Sidney Sussex 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 Sidney Sussex'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. At Sidney Sussex both columns are flat: applicants averaged 5.28, 5.09 and 5.19 across the three modules, offer-holders 5.98, 6.02 and 5.97. The applicant-to-offer gaps are modest as well, at 0.7, 0.93 and 0.78, all inside 1 point. This is a college that looks much the same whichever module you read, so the question is less which module than where the whole sits in the pool.

	Applicant average	Applicant range	Offer-holder average	Offer-holder range
Mathematics 1	5.28	1.4 to 9	5.98	3.7 to 9
Physics	5.09	1.8 to 9	6.02	3.2 to 8.9
Mathematics 2	5.19	1.0 to 9	5.97	3.7 to 9

The averages and the lowest and highest scores come line by line from official response FOI-2025-956; the overall three-module averages of 5.19 for applicants and 5.99 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.

0.05

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

5.99

Overall three-module average for Sidney Sussex offer-holders, 2025 cycle

5.19

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

The three averages are almost identical, but the ranges differ a little. Physics is the only module whose offer ceiling stops short of 9, at 8.9, and it also has the lowest offer floor, at 3.2; Mathematics 1 and Mathematics 2 both run from 3.7 to 9 among offer-holders. Level averages do not mean identical distributions; an average is only the centre. One group of offers held both a 9 and a 3.2, which is not what a cut-off would look like. Cambridge publishes no ESAT score threshold of any kind.

How to read these numbers

6.02 is an average, not a bar to clear

It is the average Physics score of Sidney Sussex Engineering offer-holders in the 2025 cycle, and the same goes for 5.98 on Mathematics 1 and 5.97 on Mathematics 2. 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 3.2 to 8.9; 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. Cohorts differ a lot in size, and in a year with few candidates a handful of results can lift or depress an average. That all three of Sidney Sussex's modules sit under the pool median rests on a sample of unknown size too: read it for direction, not as a fixed trait of the college.

Rankings are pooled: mature colleges sit outside this one

Sidney Sussex's 16th, 19th and 20th 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 Sidney Sussex's.

Averages 0.05 apart, yet ranks from 16th to 20th: why

Because a rank is what FrontierVUE gets by lining up the 25 colleges' offer averages and counting, it depends on where the other colleges fall, not on the differences between Sidney Sussex's own three modules. Mathematics 2 ranks 16th mainly because the pool median for that module, 6.22, is lower than the medians of the other two (6.36 and 6.47), which is also why the college's distance from the median, 0.25, is smallest there. Ranks and the various gaps are arithmetic worked out on top of the official figures; Cambridge publishes no such ranking.

One line to hold on to: Sidney Sussex's shape is three level modules, all a little under the pool median. It answers what people who applied to this college scored last cycle, not what you must score, and it cannot be turned round into a claim that the college is easier to get into. Cambridge publishes no ESAT score threshold of any kind.

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 Sidney Sussex 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 Sidney Sussex

20 / 25

Where the Mathematics 1 offer average ranks in the undergraduate pool

19 / 25

Where Physics ranks, the module furthest under its pool median (0.45 below)

16 / 25

Where Mathematics 2 ranks, the module closest to its pool median (0.25 below)

Spread across the three modules

0.05

Physics highest at 6.02, Mathematics 1 at 5.98, Mathematics 2 lowest at 5.97

Versus the pool median in Mathematics 1

0.38 below

Sidney Sussex 5.98 against a pool median of 6.36

Versus the pool median in Physics

0.45 below

Sidney Sussex 6.02 against a pool median of 6.47, the widest of the three gaps

Versus the pool median in Mathematics 2

0.25 below

Sidney Sussex 5.97 against a pool median of 6.22, the narrowest of the three gaps

Applicant-to-offer gap

0.7 / 0.93 / 0.78

Mathematics 1, Physics and Mathematics 2 in order, all inside 1 point

Overall position

All three modules below the pool median

Offer-holders averaged 5.99 overall, the whole applicant field 5.19

Put together, the shape of Sidney Sussex is clear enough. First, the three offer averages are almost identical, only 0.05 apart, so revision time should be split evenly across the modules; there is no room for a plan that leans on one and settles for competence in the rest. Second, all three sit below the pool median, Physics furthest at 0.45 and Mathematics 2 nearest at 0.25, but the differences between the three ranks come mostly from where other colleges fall, not from Sidney Sussex itself. Third, the applicant-to-offer gaps of 0.7, 0.93 and 0.78 all sit inside 1 point, on top of an applicant field that already averaged 5.28, 5.09 and 5.19. None of that makes Sidney Sussex easier to get into: with no applicant counts in the FOI response there is no way to tell how steady these averages are.

Preparing with Sidney Sussex's shape in mind

01Step 1

Split the time three ways

With only 0.05 between Sidney Sussex's three offer averages, start by dividing revision time evenly between Mathematics 1, Physics and Mathematics 2, rather than deciding in advance that one of them can have less.

02Step 2

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. The college's three modules are level; yours may not be, and what you are looking for is your own weakest one.

03Step 3

Break the weakest module down to topic level

Take the module that came out worst and break it into topics, then drill those topics in the practice centre until it stops dictating the pace of the whole paper.

04Step 4

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. Because Sidney Sussex's three modules sit so close, whole-paper rhythm is worth more practice than a peak in any single subject.

Where practice weight goes for Sidney Sussex's profile

Three modules weighted equally, inferred from the 2025 offer-group distribution, not an official requirement

Mathematics 1 (20th, 5.98)The module every candidate sits, 0.38 under the 6.36 pool median

Target accuracy and speed, clearing arithmetic slips first
Keep one mixed set a week so practice does not circle the comfortable types

Physics (19th, 6.02)Highest of the three averages, and the lowest offer floor of the three at 3.2

Make routine mechanics and circuits watertight
File errors by quantity and model, not by which paper they came from

Mathematics 2 (16th, 5.97)Closest to its 6.22 pool median at 0.25 under, but no lighter than the other two inside Sidney Sussex

Bring algebraic manipulation and function work to the same fluency as the other two
Do not cut practice because the rank happens to be the better of the three

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 Sidney Sussex offer?

There is no such score. Cambridge publishes no ESAT threshold, and Sidney Sussex 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 college averaged 5.98 on Mathematics 1, 6.02 on Physics and 5.97 on Mathematics 2, while the lowest scores within that same group of offer-holders were 3.7, 3.2 and 3.7. Offers went both to candidates near the top of the scale and to candidates in the low threes, which is not what a score threshold looks like.

All three modules sit below the pool median. Is Sidney Sussex easier to get into?

That inference does not hold. Sidney Sussex's three offer averages do sit below the undergraduate pool median, by 0.38 on Mathematics 1, 0.45 on Physics and 0.25 on Mathematics 2. But the FOI response gives no applicant count per college and no offer rate, a small group can move an average, and a lower figure more likely reflects who applied that year. This data tells you what a group scored, not how hard it was to get an offer.

Mathematics 2 ranks 16th, ahead of the other two. Should I do more of it?

Not on the strength of the rank. The three offer averages are 5.98, 6.02 and 5.97, only 0.05 apart, so inside Sidney Sussex the three modules sit at one level. The 16th place is ahead of the 19th and 20th mainly because the pool median for Mathematics 2, 6.22, is lower than the medians of the other two; the rank reflects where other colleges sit. Which module deserves more of your time should come from your own baseline, not from the college's rank.

What does a 0.05 spread actually mean for preparation?

It is the distance between the highest of Sidney Sussex's three offer averages, 6.02 on Physics, and the lowest, 5.97 on Mathematics 2, calculated by FrontierVUE from the same response. ESAT results sit on a 1.0 to 9.0 scale, and on that scale 0.05 is as close to no difference as makes no odds. For preparation the message is direct: there is no module to sacrifice, so split the time three ways and then shore up whichever module your own baseline shows is weakest. This is a judgement read off a distribution that already happened, not an official requirement.

Sources

Official sources

FrontierVUE is an independent practice platform. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by UAT-UK, Pearson, OCR, the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, or any official admissions-test owner.

FrontierVUE 是独立的备考练习平台，与 UAT-UK、Pearson、OCR、剑桥大学、帝国理工学院或任何官方入学考试主办方均无隶属或背书关系。

Practise ESAT for a Sidney Sussex application

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