St Edmund's ESAT scores for Cambridge Engineering (mature college)

In the 2025 admissions cycle, applicants who received an offer for Engineering (H100) at St Edmund's College, Cambridge averaged 5.93 in ESAT Mathematics 1, 5.79 in Physics and 5.98 in Mathematics 2, while everyone who applied to the college that year averaged 6.84, 6.37 and 6.49. In other words, at St Edmund's the offer-holders averaged below the applicant field, by 0.91, 0.58 and 0.51 respectively, and across the three modules the offer average of 5.9 sits under the applicant average of 6.57. On FrontierVUE's arithmetic worked out on top of the same response, it is the only one of the 29 colleges where the overall offer average falls below the overall applicant average. St Edmund's admits only applicants aged 21 and over, so its ranks are computed among the 4 mature colleges alone: 4th in Mathematics 1, 3rd in Physics and 4th in Mathematics 2. A reversed shape like this is easily produced by a very small number of people in a small sample, and this page explains what it means and what it cannot be read as. These are cycle averages, not entry requirements; Cambridge publishes no ESAT score threshold of any kind, and the FOI response gives no applicant counts per college.

St Edmund's ESAT scores at a glance (2025 cycle, mature college)

What offer-holders scored: Mathematics 1 averaged 5.93, Physics 5.79 and Mathematics 2 5.98; 5.9 across the three modules
What the whole applicant field scored: Mathematics 1 averaged 6.84, Physics 6.37 and Mathematics 2 6.49; 6.57 across the three modules
Applicant-to-offer gap: Reversed on all three: offer-holders averaged 0.91 below the field in Mathematics 1, 0.58 below in Physics and 0.51 below in Mathematics 2
Rank within the mature college pool: Out of 4 colleges: 4th in Mathematics 1, 3rd in Physics, 4th in Mathematics 2
Distance from the mature pool median: 0.37 below in Mathematics 1 (median 6.3), 0.16 below in Physics (median 5.95), 0.3 below in Mathematics 2 (median 6.28)
Spread across the three modules: 0.19, highest in Mathematics 2 and lowest in Physics, so the three sit close to level

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; an offer average below the applicant average is exactly the kind of reversal a small sample can produce. St Edmund's 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 St Edmund's ESAT numbers actually are

Here is the full set of figures for St Edmund's 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. St Edmund's is a mature college admitting only applicants aged 21 and over, so the people in this table are not the same population as at an undergraduate college. What makes this table unusual is that the offer columns sit below the applicant columns, which the next section addresses directly.

	Applicant average	Applicant range	Offer-holder average	Offer-holder range
Mathematics 1	6.84	4.5 to 9	5.93	4.5 to 9
Physics	6.37	3.8 to 8.6	5.79	3.8 to 8.3
Mathematics 2	6.49	4 to 9	5.98	3.7 to 9

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 6.57 and 5.9 are calculated by FrontierVUE from that same response. The ranges are the lowest and highest score in each group, not boundaries.

5.9

Overall three-module average for St Edmund's offer-holders, 2025 cycle

6.57

Overall three-module average across all applicants in the same cycle, above the offer side

0.19

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

One cell shows directly that the two columns are not nested: the lowest Mathematics 2 score among offer-holders is 3.7, lower than the college's applicant minimum of 4. If the offer column were drawn entirely from the applicant column, that could not happen. The University notes that some applicants change college or course mid-cycle, and both columns are grouped by the college applied to, so the offer-holders reported under St Edmund's are not necessarily all people who applied to St Edmund's in the first place. Worth noticing too: the top score in both columns is 9 for Mathematics 1 and for Mathematics 2, so the highest applicant scores did not vanish from the offer column.

Why the offer average sits below the applicant average

The two columns are not nested, so grouping alone can reverse the gap

The applicant column is grouped by the college applied to, the offer column by the people who ended up holding an offer under that college, and the University notes that some applicants change college or course mid-cycle. A high-scoring applicant to St Edmund's may therefore hold an offer under another college's name, while an offer-holder reported under St Edmund's may have applied elsewhere first. The Mathematics 2 offer minimum of 3.7, below the applicant minimum of 4, is a trace of exactly that movement.

The sample is small enough for a few people to flip the sign

Response FOI-2025-956 gives no number of applicants per college; a mature college sees fewer Engineering applicants in a year than most undergraduate colleges, and fewer offer-holders still. The applicant column contains a 9 in both Mathematics 1 and Mathematics 2, while the offer column contains scores as low as 4.5, 3.8 and 3.7. It only takes the top few not appearing under St Edmund's offers, or a few low scorers appearing there, for the average to turn round. Gaps of 0.91, 0.58 and 0.51 do not need many people to produce them in a sample this small.

What it cannot be read as

It cannot be read as St Edmund's preferring lower scores, or as a high score counting against you, and it cannot be read as St Edmund's being easier to get into or as scores not mattering there. The ESAT has never been the only material considered, and these figures describe the averages of two groups in 2025, not any selection rule. Least of all is it a boundary: Cambridge publishes no ESAT score threshold of any kind. The only safe reading is that in this year, at this college, ESAT averages did not separate the offer group from the applicant group.

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. St Edmund's Mathematics 1 average of 5.93 and Mathematics 2 average of 5.98 are the floor of the mature pool on those two modules, and its Physics 5.79 ranks 3rd. In a pool of 4, only one place separates 4th from 3rd, so these ranks describe a very narrow relative position, and lining the pools up against each other would be meaningless.

One line to hold on to: this page answers what the mature applicants to St Edmund's scored last cycle, not what you must score, and certainly not that a lower score is fine. Every figure here is an average or an extreme, not an entry requirement; 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 St Edmund's

4 / 4

Where the Mathematics 1 offer average of 5.93 ranks in the mature pool, the floor of the pool on that module

3 / 4

Where the Physics offer average of 5.79 ranks, 0.16 under the 5.95 median

4 / 4

Where the Mathematics 2 offer average of 5.98 ranks, again the floor of the pool on that module

Spread across the three modules

0.19

Mathematics 2 highest at 5.98, Mathematics 1 at 5.93, Physics lowest at 5.79, close to level

Versus the mature pool median in Mathematics 1

0.37 below

St Edmund's 5.93 against a pool median of 6.3, the furthest of the three from the median

Versus the mature pool median in Physics

0.16 below

St Edmund's 5.79 against a pool median of 5.95, in a pool that runs from 5.5 to 6.25 on this module

Versus the mature pool median in Mathematics 2

0.3 below

St Edmund's 5.98 against a pool median of 6.28, in a pool that runs from 5.98 to 7 on this module

Applicant-to-offer gap

0.91 / 0.58 / 0.51, all reversed

Mathematics 1, Physics and Mathematics 2 in order, offer-holders averaging below the field on every module

Overall position

Below the mature pool median on all three modules

Offer-holders averaged 5.9 overall against 6.57 for the applicant field, the only overall reversal among the 29 colleges

Put together, St Edmund's shape has three features. First, the three offer averages of 5.93, 5.79 and 5.98 sit close to level, only 0.19 apart, so no module stands out as stronger. Second, all three fall below the mature pool median, with the two maths modules at the floor of the pool, but that is a relative position against the other 3 mature colleges in a pool of just 4, where one place is a whole rank. Third, and most important, the offer averages sit below the applicant averages, something seen at only this one of the 29 colleges; it looks far more like the combined effect of how the two columns are grouped and of a small sample than like any attitude the college holds towards scores. With no applicant counts in the FOI response, the inference cannot be pushed further.

Preparing with St Edmund's shape in mind

01Step one

Do not read the reversed gap as scores not mattering

St Edmund's offer averages sitting below its applicant averages is the shape of one year, one mature college and one small sample, not a reason to prepare less. All three ESAT modules are sat for Cambridge Engineering; prepare at full intensity.

02Step two

Split the time three ways

With only 0.19 between the three offer averages and ranks of 4th, 3rd and 4th sitting together, 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.

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. St Edmund's level shape across the three modules says whole-paper rhythm is worth more practice than a peak in one subject.

Where practice weight goes for St Edmund's shape

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

Mathematics 1 (4th of 4, 5.93)Offer range 4.5 to 9, identical to the applicant range

Target accuracy and speed, clearing arithmetic slips first
File errors by topic, not by which paper they came from

Physics (3rd of 4, 5.79)Offer range 3.8 to 8.3, the lowest offer average of the three

Mid-level mechanics and circuits as the standing workload
Under timing, leave no half-attempted items and settle the physics run first

Mathematics 2 (4th of 4, 5.98)Offer range 3.7 to 9, with a floor below the applicant minimum of 4

Algebraic manipulation and function work to fluency, with one mixed set a week
Treat it alongside Mathematics 1 without merging the two just because they share a rank

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 St Edmund's?

There is no such score. Cambridge publishes no ESAT threshold, and St Edmund's 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 5.93 in Mathematics 1, 5.79 in Physics and 5.98 in Mathematics 2, with actual scores in that group running from 4.5 to 9 in Mathematics 1, from 3.8 to 8.3 in Physics and from 3.7 to 9 in Mathematics 2. The FOI gives no applicant counts, and this group may be small.

Offer-holders averaged below the applicant field. Do scores not matter at St Edmund's, or is lower even better?

Neither holds. The reversed gaps of 0.91, 0.58 and 0.51 most likely have two causes. One is how the columns are grouped: the University notes that some applicants change college or course mid-cycle, and the Mathematics 2 offer minimum of 3.7, below the applicant minimum of 4, shows the two columns are not nested. The other is sample size: the FOI gives no applicant counts, and it only takes a few top-scoring applicants not appearing under St Edmund's offers for the average to turn round. These figures describe the averages of two groups in 2025, not a selection rule, and certainly not that a lower score is better.

St Edmund's is below the mature pool median on all three modules. Is it the easiest college to get into?

That inference does not hold. The ranks of 4th, 3rd and 4th are a relative position among just the 4 mature colleges, and the distances from the median, 0.37, 0.16 and 0.3, are small quantities on the 1.0 to 9.0 scale. Those ranks and gaps are calculated by FrontierVUE from the same response; Cambridge publishes no such ranking. The FOI response gives no applicant counts per college, so a few candidates can move an average, and a lower average more likely reflects who applied that year than how hard it is to get in.

St Edmund's applicant average of 6.84 is high. Were its applicants unusually strong?

Only this much can be said: those who applied to St Edmund's in the 2025 cycle averaged 6.84 in Mathematics 1, 6.37 in Physics and 6.49 in Mathematics 2, with applicant scores reaching 9 in both maths modules. But the FOI gives no applicant counts, a mature college sees few Engineering applicants in a year, and a few high scores can lift an average; applicants are also grouped by the college applied to, including those who later moved. It describes one small group in one year, which is not enough to support a stable conclusion that St Edmund's applicants are unusually strong, and it cannot be set against applicant averages at undergraduate colleges.

Sources

Official sources

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