Admissions tests

If you apply for a course that requires an admissions test, you’ll need to check the registration deadline for the test, when you will sit it, and what it includes, as well as the deadline for your UCAS application.

Many courses that require you to sit a test have a 16 October UCAS application deadline, but your course may be different, so it’s important you check key dates and deadlines. To see if your course requires you to sit an admissions test, check the course description in the search tool.

Most admissions tests happen between August and November the year before you're due to start your studies – some even earlier, before you’ve sent your UCAS application!

Course-related admissions tests

Law

• LNAT – National Admissions Test for Law

Mathematics

• Mathematics Admissions Test (MAT)
• Sixth Term Examination Paper (STEP)
• Test of Mathematics for University Admissions

Medical courses

• BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT)
• Graduate Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT)
• University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) 

Thinking Skills Assessment

• Thinking Skills Assessment Oxford (TSA Oxford)

University admissions tests

University of Cambridge

If you're considering a course at the University of Cambridge, you will need to check whether you need to sit an admissions test.

It may be that you have to sit an assessment before your interview, or at the interview stage of the application process. To do this, you'll need to register separately to your UCAS application – the deadlines for these vary, so make sure you check the university’s website.

The deadlines for registrations are as follows:

29 September at 18:00 (UK time)

• BMAT October session
• all other pre-registration assessments

In addition to your UCAS application, you will also need to complete a Supplementary Application Questionnaire (SAQ).

Applicants from outside of the EU are also required to complete a Cambridge Online Preliminary Application (COPA).

The University of Cambridge runs the following assessments as part of their application process:

• University of Cambridge pre-registration assessments
• BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT)
• Sixth Term Examination Paper (STEP)
• Cambridge Law Test
• Other course-specific admissions tests

Full details of the tests you will need to sit as part of your application can be found in the course description in our search tool.

University of Oxford

If you’re thinking of applying to the University of Oxford, there’s a very high chance you will need to sit an admissions test. The majority of courses require them, but check the course description in our search tool to be sure.

You will need to register separately to your UCAS application to sit the exam. The deadlines for registrations are as follows:

29 September at 18:00 (UK time)

• BMAT October session
• Thinking Skills Assessment Oxford (TSA Oxford)

5 October at 18:00 (UK time):

• LNAT – National Admissions Test for Law
• 29 September at 18:00 (UK time):
  • Classics Admissions Test (CAT)
  • English Literature Admissions Test (ELAT)
  • Geography Admissions Test (GAT) - new
  • History Admissions Test (HAT)
  • Mathematics Admissions Test (MAT)
  • Modern Languages Admissions Test (MLAT)
  • Philosophy Test
  • Physics Admissions Test (PAT)

Full details of the tests you will need to sit as part of your application can be found in the course description in our search tool.

Other course providers' admissions tests

Click the providers below to find out which of their courses have an associated admissions test.