St John's College ESAT scores for Cambridge Engineering

Among 2025-cycle applicants to Cambridge Engineering (H100), those who received an offer from St John's College averaged 6.07 across the ESAT, against 4.35 for the college's applicants as a whole. By module, Physics was the college's strongest figure among offer-holders at 6.52, Mathematics 2 came in at 5.85 and Mathematics 1 at 5.84. The module averages and lowest-to-highest figures come from the University of Cambridge's freedom of information response FOI-2025-956; the two overall averages, 6.07 and 4.35, are worked out by FrontierVUE across those same three modules. All of them are averages and extremes for one cycle, not a cut-off of any kind: Cambridge does not publish an ESAT threshold. Every rank quoted here is worked out inside the undergraduate college pool.
St John's ESAT scores at a glance
What offer-holders scored
6.07 overall: 5.84 on Mathematics 1, 6.52 on Physics, 5.85 on Mathematics 2
What all St John's applicants scored
4.35 overall: 4.38 on Mathematics 1, 4.41 on Physics, 4.25 on Mathematics 2
Range among offer-holders
Mathematics 1 from 3.7 to 8.3, Physics from 4.4 to 8.6, Mathematics 2 from 4.5 to 7.4
Rank within the undergraduate pool
21st on Mathematics 1, 11th on Physics, 21st on Mathematics 2, out of 25 undergraduate colleges
Spread across the modules
0.68 between the highest and lowest offer-holder average: Physics highest, Mathematics 1 lowest
Applicant-to-offer gap
1.46 on Mathematics 1, 2.11 on Physics, 1.6 on Mathematics 2

These are averages and extremes from the 2025 cycle, not admission cut-offs: Cambridge publishes no ESAT threshold. The FOI responses give no applicant counts by college, so sample sizes are unknown and a small college's average can be moved by a handful of candidates. Ranks are computed inside the undergraduate pool only; the mature colleges, which admit applicants aged 21 and over, form a separate pool that is not comparable. Pool ranks, pool medians, the three-module overall averages and the various gaps are calculated by FrontierVUE from the same response; Cambridge publishes no such rankings.

01

What St John's ESAT scores actually look like

A single University of Cambridge freedom of information response, FOI-2025-956, sets out ESAT scores by college for Engineering (H100) in the 2025 cycle. St John's sits in the undergraduate pool, and three modules are covered for this college: Mathematics 1, Physics and Mathematics 2. The two left-hand columns below give the average and the lowest-to-highest range across the college's applicants as a whole that cycle; the two right-hand columns give the same figures for those who received an offer. ESAT results are reported on a 1.0 to 9.0 scale to one decimal place.
Applicant averageApplicant lowest to highestOffer-holder averageOffer-holder lowest to highest
Mathematics 14.381 to 95.843.7 to 8.3
Physics4.411 to 8.66.524.4 to 8.6
Mathematics 24.251 to 7.85.854.5 to 7.4

Figures from FOI-2025-956, covering Engineering (H100) in the 2025 cycle. They are averages and extremes, not grade boundaries.

Overall offer-holder average

6.07

Across the three modules, for applicants who received an offer from this college

Overall applicant average

4.35

The same measure for this college's applicant group that cycle

Highest module among offer-holders

Physics, 6.52

Lowest module among offer-holders

Mathematics 1, 5.84

02

How to read these numbers

The easiest mistake is to read an average as a threshold. An average of 5.84 means that the applicants who received an offer scored 5.84 on Mathematics 1 on average that cycle. It does not mean 5.84 was needed. The same data contains two counter-examples. The lowest Mathematics 1 score among offer-holders was 3.7, below the 4.38 average for the college's applicants as a whole, while a 9 was recorded among applicants on that module and the highest offer-holder score was 8.3. The figures therefore draw no floor, and a high score is not a result in itself.
The FOI responses give no applicant numbers by college, so the sample behind each figure is unknown. Colleges differ in size, and where few candidates sat a module a handful of them can pull the average up or down. Treat these numbers as a reference point rather than a stable benchmark, and be wary of reading much into gaps of a few tenths between colleges.
Is this a cut-off?
No. Cambridge publishes no ESAT threshold of any kind. Every figure here is an average or an extreme for St John's applicants and offer-holders in the 2025 cycle. It describes what happened that year rather than what is required next year.
Why is there no sample size?
The FOI responses do not provide applicant counts by college. Without them there is no way to tell how many candidates sit behind any one average. Small colleges' averages move more, so decimal-point comparisons between colleges deserve caution.
How is the rank worked out?
Ranks are worked out inside the undergraduate pool, which holds 25 colleges. The mature colleges that admit applicants aged 21 and over (Hughes Hall, St Edmund's, Wolfson and Lucy Cavendish) draw on a different applicant pool, are ranked separately, and are never placed alongside undergraduate colleges here.
What about applicants who moved college?
The University notes that some applicants change college or course during the cycle, with the figures grouped by the year of application. The boundary between one college and the next is therefore not perfectly clean, which is another reason not to treat small gaps as a settled trait of a college.
03

Three things that stand out at St John's

11th

Physics offer-holder average among 25 undergraduate colleges, 0.05 above the pool median of 6.47

21st

The rank of both Mathematics 1 and Mathematics 2, sitting 0.52 and 0.37 below their pool medians

0.68

The spread between the college's highest and lowest module averages: Physics at the top, Mathematics 1 at the bottom

Mathematics 1

Offer-holder average 5.84, 21st in pool, 0.52 below the 6.36 median

The gap from the applicant average to the offer-holder average is 1.46

Physics

Offer-holder average 6.52, 11th in pool, 0.05 above the 6.47 median

A gap of 2.11, the widest of the college's three modules

Mathematics 2

Offer-holder average 5.85, 21st in pool, 0.37 below the 6.22 median

A gap of 1.6, ranked level with Mathematics 1

Put the three together and the shape of this college is clear. Physics sits essentially on the pool median (0.05 above it, 11th), both maths modules sit towards the back of the pool (21st each, 0.52 and 0.37 below their medians), and Physics is also the module with the widest applicant-to-offer gap at 2.11. The practical reading: do not push physics down the list because the maths averages look modest. At St John's, Physics is where offer-holders separated themselves most clearly from the college's applicants as a whole. A spread of 0.68 across the three modules is not dramatic either, which says all three still need work. For where this college sits against the others, see the cross-college overview at /exams/esat/guides/cambridge-college-scores.
04

How to train for this profile

01Start

Start module by module

Work Mathematics 1, Physics and Mathematics 2 separately in the practice centre first, so you know your accuracy on each before sitting anything in full.

02Then

Give Physics a fixed slot

Physics carries this college's highest offer-holder average at 6.52 and its widest applicant-to-offer gap at 2.11, so it deserves a standing weekly slot rather than whatever time is left after maths.

03Next

Sit full papers under time

Move to timed full papers with past papers and mock sets. Switching between modules is itself a skill, and single-module practice never trains it.

04Finally

Locate yourself in the range

Read your current level against the ranges recorded for this college's offer-holders: 3.7 to 8.3 on Mathematics 1, 4.4 to 8.6 on Physics, 4.5 to 7.4 on Mathematics 2. A reference point, not a target line.

Where to put the hours

/exams/esat/guides/

physicsThe college's highest offer-holder average at 6.52, and the one to protect time for
mathematics-1The college's lowest offer-holder average at 5.84, still the base you have to hold
mathematics-2Also 21st in the pool; a lower rank is not a reason to drop it
choosing-modulesHow to settle your module combination
cambridge-college-scoresPut this college back into the cross-college picture

Tap a branch to unfold

Every figure on this page is an average or an extreme from the 2025 cycle. Offer-holders at this college ran from 3.7 to 8.3 on Mathematics 1, and against a spread that wide a single ESAT score settles nothing; Cambridge publishes no ESAT threshold of any kind. FrontierVUE is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or working in partnership with the University of Cambridge, St John's College or UAT-UK, and the figures here are quoted from a published freedom of information response (FOI-2025-956).
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What ESAT score do you need for St John's?
There is no score requirement to quote: Cambridge publishes no ESAT threshold. What can be cited is the distribution from the 2025 cycle. Applicants who received an offer from St John's averaged 5.84 on Mathematics 1, 6.52 on Physics and 5.85 on Mathematics 2, for 6.07 overall. Within that same group, Mathematics 1 scores ran from 3.7 to 8.3. Neither the average nor the range is a cut-off.
Are St John's ESAT scores unusually high?
Module by module: the Physics offer-holder average ranks 11th among the 25 undergraduate colleges and sits 0.05 above the 6.47 pool median, effectively on it. Mathematics 1 and Mathematics 2 both rank 21st, 0.52 below the 6.36 median and 0.37 below the 6.22 median respectively. On the ESAT alone, this college's offer-holders did not score markedly higher than the pool around them. Applicant counts by college were not released, so sample sizes are unknown, and a score distribution does not convert into a difficulty ranking.
The maths averages look low here, so can I do less maths?
No. At St John's the applicant-to-offer gap is 1.46 on Mathematics 1 and 1.6 on Mathematics 2, so scores on both maths modules still climb sharply between the applicant body and the offer-holders. A rank of 21st describes where the college sits relative to other colleges, not how much the module matters. With no sample sizes released, differences in rank warrant caution in the first place.
Should ESAT scores guide which college I apply to?
You can look, but it should not drive the decision. Sample sizes are unknown, and the University notes that some applicants change college or course mid-cycle, so a few tenths between colleges carries little weight. These figures are more useful for setting your own priorities: at St John's, for instance, the Physics offer-holder average of 6.52 sits above both maths modules. For comparisons across colleges, see /exams/esat/guides/cambridge-college-scores.
Sources

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