ESAT preparation guide

The ESAT Physics Module: Seven Topics, No Calculator, 40 Minutes

Physics is one of the four optional ESAT modules. Cambridge Engineering specifies it, every Oxford engineering and physics course that requires the ESAT specifies it, five Imperial departments specify it, and UCL lists it as one of four options for Electronic and Electrical Engineering. The official specification breaks the module into seven topics: Electricity, Magnetism, Mechanics, Thermal physics, Matter, Waves and Radioactivity. Most of the candidates we teach arrive from A level or IB, where revision priorities compress thermal work and push nuclear physics into the final round, and two of those seven topics quietly go missing. This page covers the Physics module and nothing else: how to read the seven topics, what sitting the paper without a calculator actually changes, why the SI prefix requirement is the cheapest thing to fix and the most commonly ignored, and which courses genuinely require the module.
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ESAT Physics at a Glance
Format
40 minutes, 27 multiple-choice questions; one mark per correct answer, nothing deducted
Syllabus
Seven topics from Electricity to Radioactivity, no weighting published
Calculator
No calculator or dictionary at any point; only an erasable booklet for working
Who requires it
Fixed for Cambridge Engineering, Oxford engineering and physics courses and five Imperial departments; unchangeable after booking
Test dates
12 to 16 Oct 2026 and 4 to 8 Jan 2027; in China, HK and Macau only 12 or 13 Oct and 6 Jan

Format and policy from the UAT-UK specification, test and dates pages; course module requirements from the 2027 entry Course List and Imperial's official ESAT page.

In short
  • The Physics specification lists seven topics with no weighting published, and Thermal physics and Radioactivity sit in that list alongside Mechanics: revising to A level priorities deletes two of them.
  • Every module assumes the content of Mathematics 1, so the unit conversion and proportional reasoning inside a physics question are being tested against that standard too.
  • No calculator is allowed at any point, so practise bare-handed and put an order-of-magnitude line on the scrap sheet every time.
  • SI prefixes from nano to giga and units written with negative indices are an explicit specification requirement, and the cheapest marks in the module.
  • Cambridge Engineering, every Oxford engineering and physics course that uses the ESAT and five Imperial departments fix Physics into the combination, and the choice cannot be changed after booking.
I

Part 1 of 3

Sections 01 to 04

01

27 questions, 40 minutes, separately timed, no penalty for a wrong answer

Start with the specification. Physics runs on the same format as the other four modules, and each module is separately timed: finish Physics early and the leftover minutes are not carried into the next module, with no breaks in between. Most candidates sit three modules, about 120 minutes in total. As for equipment, neither calculators nor dictionaries are permitted, and the centre provides an erasable booklet for working.

Length

40 minutes

Separately timed, nothing carries over

Questions

27 multiple choice

Under 90 seconds each on average

Marking

One mark, no penalty

Nothing deducted for a wrong answer; a blank is worth exactly zero

Reporting

1 to 9, one decimal

Each module equated and scaled separately, no combined total

UAT-UK states there is no pass or fail score for the ESAT, publishes no grade boundaries, and does not accept appeals against scores. Whatever number you have seen quoted online as a safe Physics score has no official source, and treating it as a target only blurs your priorities. The marking rule has one direct corollary: any honest run through 27 questions in 40 minutes leaves a few unread, so filling in every remaining answer in the last minute is free expected value.
02

The specification splits Physics into seven topics, and none of them is optional

Taken word for word from the specification, the seven topics are Electricity, Magnetism, Mechanics, Thermal physics, Matter, Waves and Radioactivity. No weighting is published, nothing is marked as minor, and the current version applies to the October 2026 and January 2027 sittings. The map below is how we position the topics when we teach, our experience rather than an official ranking; for the detail beneath each heading, go to the specification PDF itself.

ESAT Physics

Seven official topics

P1. ElectricityDensest circuit reasoning
  • Series and parallel
  • Potential dividers
  • Power relations
P2. MagnetismOne wrong direction kills the question
  • Fields and force directions
  • Induction
P3. MechanicsThe heaviest topic
  • Kinematics
  • Forces and moments
  • Work and energy
  • Momentum
P4. Thermal physicsOne of the two most skipped
  • Energy bookkeeping
  • Specific heat estimates
P5. MatterSimple physics, ugly numbers
  • Density
  • Pressure
  • Deformation
  • Material properties
P6. WavesBundled with graph reading
  • Wave quantities
  • Optics
  • Superposition
P7. RadioactivityThe other most skipped topic
  • Decay
  • Half-lives
  • Order-of-magnitude reasoning

Tap a branch to unfold

One line from the specification is worth keeping in view: the test is designed to be challenging in order to differentiate effectively between able applicants, including those who might have achieved the highest possible grades in school examinations. An A* in A level Physics is not a cushion. It guarantees you understand the question, not that you finish it inside 90 seconds.
03

Thermal physics and radioactivity are the two topics A level revision habits quietly delete

This is the most consistent failure pattern we see. Candidates arrive with a physics background built on A level or IB, where mechanics and electricity top every revision plan, thermal work gets compressed, and nuclear physics is pushed to the last round, often never drilled under time pressure at all. In the ESAT, both topics sit alongside Mechanics in the same official seven-topic list, and the specification neither ranks them nor marks either as minor.
Thermal physicsRadioactivity
Where questions landEnergy bookkeeping and specific heat capacity estimatesInteger multiples of a half-life and what is conserved across a decay
How revision loses itA level and IB revision priorities compress thermal workNuclear physics goes to the last round, rarely drilled against the clock

Both topics reward mental arithmetic, exactly what a no-calculator paper favours.

The cost is not a handful of marks but pure guessing on sight: in a 27-question module, two absent topics turn a block of questions from solvable into guessable. And these are precisely the two topics best suited to a no-calculator paper, so skipping them hands back the cheapest marks in the module.
In practice: move both topics out of the later pile and into the first third of your revision sequence, cover the concepts in one block, then drill them against the clock. The test for whether you are done is simple: pull a question from either topic at random and see whether you can commit to an answer inside 90 seconds rather than grinding through elimination. If you cannot, you are still at understanding the physics, not finishing the question.
04

The Physics module assumes you already have Mathematics 1

One sentence in the specification should reshape your revision order: all modules assume knowledge of the content of Mathematics 1. Every piece of numerical handling you do inside Physics is being marked against that standard as well, and the steps a worked solution never bothers to write down are exactly where the mathematics is doing the work. The moment a stem asks what happens to one quantity when another doubles, you are being tested on ratio and proportion rather than on a formula.

Official topics

Seven

Units, Number, Ratio and proportion, Algebra, Geometry, Statistics, Probability

Not on the list

Trig and calculus

Both live in Mathematics 2

Decisive for physics

Units, Ratio and proportion

The two least mathematical-looking headings decide whether conversions, scaling and proportional reasoning survive

Specified combination

Mathematics 1 + Mathematics 2 + Physics

Every course that fixes Physics asks for exactly these three modules

So do not treat Mathematics 1 as a separate lane and hope it stays out of the way of Physics. Bind the two together: when you work a physics question, check deliberately whether a proportionality would have got you there faster than algebra, and when you drill Units and Number, use physical quantities as the carrier. The mathematical layer running through all three modules is continuous, and revising them in isolation just duplicates the work.
II

Part 2 of 3

Sections 05 to 08

05

No calculator changes the shape of every physics calculation

The rule is blunt: the ESAT is a computer-based test, an erasable booklet is provided for working, and calculators and dictionaries may not be used. It hits Physics harder than any other module, because physics questions arrive carrying constants, units and powers of ten. Three consequences follow.

Consequence 1

Numbers stay tractable

If an intermediate result needs long division, suspect the route before your arithmetic

Consequence 2

Symbolic working survives

Carry the algebra to the end before substituting, cancel before you multiply, run coefficients and exponents on separate tracks

Consequence 3

Options differ by magnitude

One exponent slip costs as much as a conceptual error, and unlike one it can be trained out completely

Your practice has to change to match: any physics revision done with a calculator in your hand transfers poorly, because what you are rehearsing is a keystroke sequence rather than estimation. From today, work every question bare-handed, force an order-of-magnitude line onto the scrap sheet before you commit, and afterwards look back for the shorter route.
06

SI prefixes and negative-index units are the cheapest marks in the module

The specification asks candidates to be familiar with the SI prefixes from nano to giga, and with units written using negative indices, velocity as m s to the minus one and so on. It sits in the general section of the specification, looks too basic to be worth time, and so gets skipped, while in Physics it turns up in almost every set you attempt. Three failures dominate.

Failure 1

Long prefix chains

nano to micro to milli to kilo, where any single missed step drops three orders of magnitude

Failure 2

Prefixes on areas and volumes

A prefix on a length unit must be squared or cubed along with it, and the slip is nearly invisible in your own working

Failure 3

Reading negative indices

If kg m to the minus three still needs internal translation, you have already lost time

The fix is the best-value half hour in the whole Physics syllabus: write the eight prefixes from nano to giga on one sheet next to their powers of ten, then write out the common physical quantities in negative-index form from memory until you stop converting and start recognising. Half an hour of work, and it pays back on the day itself.
07

How to spend the 40 minutes: one full sweep, then go back

Twenty-seven questions in forty minutes is under 90 seconds each, and the difficulty is not spread evenly. Candidates who grind through in strict question order typically lose three minutes to one hard item in the middle and never reach the ones at the end they could have done. The only strategy that holds up runs in two passes.
01Pass one

Sweep the whole module

Take every question you can settle inside a minute and flag the rest.
02Two seconds

Answer before you skip

There is no penalty, so before you leave any question, put an answer down: even if the second pass never arrives, you keep its expected value instead of banking a guaranteed zero.
03Pass two

Second pass on the flags

Return to the flagged questions and spend what remains where it can still pay.
04No carry-over

Use the full forty minutes

Time saved in Physics does not carry into the next module, so there is no cross-module reward for finishing early.
Timing trap one: graph interpretation
It looks expensive but often is not: end-point behaviour and the sign of a gradient will eliminate most of the options without reconstructing the whole function.
Timing trap two: multi-step calculations
If the numbers turn ugly after the third step, stop and reread the stem: there is usually a conservation statement or a proportionality you skipped that halves the route.
08

Which courses actually require the Physics module

The headline first: four universities use the ESAT, Imperial College London, Cambridge, Oxford and UCL. In some of their courses Physics is fixed, in others it is one option out of four, and the two situations lead to completely different revision decisions.
CourseStatus of Physics
CambridgeEngineering (H100)Specified: Mathematics 1 + Mathematics 2 + Physics
CambridgeNatural Sciences (BCF0), Veterinary Medicine (D100), Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (H810)Optional: Mathematics 1 plus any two of Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics 2
OxfordEngineering Science, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Information and Mechanical Engineering, Physics (F303), Physics and Philosophy (VF53), plus the Foundation Year variants of theseSpecified: Mathematics 1 + Mathematics 2 + Physics
OxfordBiomedical Sciences (BC98)Optional: Mathematics 1 plus any two of Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics 2
ImperialAeronautics, Civil and Environmental, Electrical and Electronic, Mechanical, PhysicsSpecified: Mathematics 1 + Mathematics 2 + Physics
ImperialChemical EngineeringNo Physics: Mathematics 1 + Mathematics 2 + Chemistry
ImperialLife SciencesNo Physics: Mathematics 1 + Chemistry + Biology
ImperialDyson School of Design Engineering (MEng Design Engineering, 28G3)Two modules only: Mathematics 1 + Mathematics 2
UCLElectronic and Electrical Engineering BEng/MEng, from September 2027 entry (or September 2028 deferred entry)Optional: Mathematics 1 plus any two of Mathematics 2, Physics, Chemistry and Biology
Two rules catch people out. First, module choices cannot be changed once made, only cancelled and re-booked, so every target course has to be checked before you book, not after. Second, if you apply to two or more courses that require the ESAT and one of them lists compulsory modules, that course dictates your selection; register without its modules and your application to it may be invalid.
For the very common combination of Cambridge or Oxford engineering with an Imperial engineering department alongside it, the answer that rule produces is Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2 and Physics.
III

Part 3 of 3

Sections 09 to 10

09

Dates a Physics candidate needs in the diary

For 2027 entry there are two sittings: 12 to 16 October 2026 and 4 to 8 January 2027. Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau run on restricted days, with the ESAT offered there only on 12 or 13 October and on 6 January. UAT-UK gives the reason plainly: following reports in October 2024 of candidates attempting to obtain and sell test content without authorisation, test days in those territories were cut to two in October and one in January. If you are sitting in China, that is your entire choice, so book the moment booking opens.
2026 – 2027Timeline
Jun 26
Jul 26
Aug 26
Sep 26
Oct 26
Nov 26
Dec 26
Jan 27
Feb 27
Account creation opens
1 Jun
Account creation, access arrangements and bursary applications open on 1 June 2026 at 3pm BST.
October booking window
Opens 20 July 2026 at 15.00 UK time and closes 28 September at 18.00.
October booking deadline
28 Sep 18.00
October sitting
12 to 16 Oct
In mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau the test runs only on 12 or 13 October.
October results
16 Nov
About four weeks after the test; scores are matched course by course against your UCAS application and sent automatically to the institutions that require the test.
January booking window
Opens 26 October 2026 at 15.00 and closes 21 December at 18.00.
January booking deadline
21 Dec 18.00
January sitting
4 to 8 Jan
In mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau the test runs only on 6 January.
January results
8 Feb
Hard deadline Event WindowBooking times are UK time.

£78

Fee at UK and Ireland centres

£133

Fee everywhere else

2 days

October test days in China, HK and Macau

1 day

January test days in China, HK and Macau

The fee depends on the location of your test centre, not on your nationality or where you live. One hard rule governs which sitting you take: applicants to Cambridge or Oxford are normally required to sit in October, the only exceptions being mature applicants to a Cambridge mature college with a January admissions deadline and Oxford's Astrophoria Foundation Year. Applicants to other institutions may choose, and UAT-UK states there is no advantage to either sitting.
You may only sit once per admissions cycle, and a second registration, including one made under a second account, counts as misconduct. Delivery is automatic: scores are matched course by course against your UCAS application and sent to the institutions that require the test, so you cannot choose who sees them, and there is no appeal against a score.
10

A revision order you can actually run

01Step 1

Lock the module combination

Check every target course, register against the strictest requirement among them, and remember the choice cannot be changed.
02Step 2

Audit all seven topics

For each topic, ask whether you could settle one of its questions inside 90 seconds without a calculator, and list the ones where the answer is no. Thermal physics and Radioactivity will almost certainly be on that list.
03Step 3

Fix prefixes and units

The eight prefixes from nano to giga with their powers of ten, negative-index notation, and the squaring and cubing rule for areas and volumes. Half an hour, immediate payback.
04Step 4

Fold Mathematics 1 into physics practice

Units, Number and Ratio and proportion get no separate revision lane; drill them inside physics questions.
05Step 5

Work bare-handed

No calculator from today onwards, and an order-of-magnitude line on the scrap sheet every single time.
06Step 6

Drill full 40-minute timed sets

What you train here is not knowledge but execution: the sweep-then-return rhythm, and the reflex of putting an answer down before you flag anything.
Sharing or discussing test content after the sitting is prohibited, so any channel claiming to sell real questions should be avoided outright, and the risk of engaging with it lands squarely on the candidate.
Two notes on materials. UAT-UK states that it is not connected to and does not endorse commercial preparation services, and that all necessary preparatory materials are available free of charge to all candidates, so the official specification and the official preparation materials should be your first stop. What we build at FrontierVUE is modular timed practice with error analysis, meant to turn those six steps into daily work rather than to replace the official materials.
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What topics are on the ESAT Physics module?
The specification lists seven topics: Electricity, Magnetism, Mechanics, Thermal physics, Matter, Waves and Radioactivity, with no weighting published between them. It also states that every module assumes knowledge of the content of Mathematics 1, so units, number, ratio and proportion and algebra are effectively in scope too. For the detail beneath each heading, use the specification PDF; the current version applies to the October 2026 and January 2027 sittings.
Can I use a calculator in ESAT Physics?
No. The ESAT is a computer-based test and neither calculators nor dictionaries are permitted; the centre provides erasable materials for rough work, and you can raise your hand for fresh sheets at any point during the test. It also means your own practice has to be done bare-handed or it transfers poorly.
Does the ESAT really test thermal physics and radioactivity?
Yes. They are two of the seven official topics, listed alongside Mechanics, and nothing in the specification marks any topic as minor. The reason they get skipped is that A level and IB revision priorities put them last, not that the test leaves them out. Allocating effort by school revision habits simply removes your ability to answer questions from those two topics.
Do I need to take the ESAT Physics module?
It depends on the course. Cambridge Engineering, every Oxford engineering and physics course that requires the ESAT, and Imperial's Aeronautics, Civil and Environmental, Electrical and Electronic, Mechanical and Physics departments all write Physics into the specified combination. Cambridge Natural Sciences, Veterinary Medicine and Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Oxford Biomedical Sciences and UCL Electronic and Electrical Engineering instead take Mathematics 1 plus any two modules, where Physics is one option among four. If you apply to more than one course requiring the ESAT, register for the modules the course with compulsory modules demands, or that application may be invalid.
What counts as a good ESAT Physics score?
There is no official answer. UAT-UK states there is no pass or fail score for the ESAT, publishes no grade boundaries, and does not accept appeals against scores. What is certain is the reporting: each module is reported separately on a scale from 1 (low) to 9 (high) to one decimal place, equated and scaled separately, with no combined total. Any specific threshold circulating online has no official source, and treating it as a revision target only blurs your priorities.
I am predicted an A* in A level Physics. Do I still need to prepare?
Yes. The specification says outright that the test is designed to be challenging in order to differentiate effectively between able applicants, including those who might have achieved the highest possible grades in school examinations. The gap is not depth of knowledge but three other things: no calculator, under 90 seconds per question, and a seven-topic specification that does not line up with A level revision priorities. School grades guarantee you understand the question, not that you finish it in time.
Are the ESAT test dates different in China?
Yes. In mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau the ESAT runs only on 12 or 13 October 2026 and on 6 January 2027, whereas elsewhere the full 12 to 16 October and 4 to 8 January windows apply. UAT-UK attributes the restriction to reports in October 2024 of candidates attempting to obtain and sell test content without authorisation. That leaves two days in October and one in January, so book your seat as soon as the booking window opens.
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