The tests nobody tells you about

1. Five national admissions tests, used by 11 universities

A national admissions test is one written by an outside body and used by more than one university. Five are used for undergraduate courses outside medicine:

• LNAT, the Law National Aptitude Test, for law
• TMUA, the Test of Mathematics for University Admission, for mathematics, economics and computer science
• ESAT, the Engineering and Science Admissions Test, for engineering, physics and the natural sciences
• TARA, the Test of Academic Reasoning for Admissions, for subjects including economics, politics, psychology and some computer science and engineering courses
• STEP, the Sixth Term Examination Paper, a mathematics exam sat in June, after the offer

They are used by a small group of universities. Each one decides which of its courses require a test, and some list a test as optional rather than required.

Some universities also set a test of their own. Cambridge applicants in many arts and social science subjects take a written assessment set by their college, and Computer Science applicants to Peterhouse or Trinity take the CSAT as well as TMUA. UCL sets a Thinking Skills Test for its three European and International Social and Political Studies courses. Birmingham may set its own maths test for engineering applicants who do not hold A-level mathematics, and Liverpool for some science and engineering applicants offering OCR Cambridge Technicals.

2. Registration closes before the test, and the test can come before the UCAS deadline

Each test has its own registration window, and it closes before the test — for some, weeks before. For the October 2026 sitting of TMUA, ESAT and TARA, booking closed on 28 September for tests sat between 12 and 16 October.

The test can come before the UCAS deadline. For 2027 entry, UCAS asks for most applications by 13 January 2027. An applicant to law at King's, LSE or UCL must have sat the LNAT by 31 December 2026, two weeks earlier.

Fees are paid to the test body, and are higher outside the UK. The LNAT costs £120 at a test centre outside the EU, and £75 in the UK and EU. TMUA, ESAT and TARA cost £133 each outside the UK and Ireland, and £78 within them.

3. For Oxford and Cambridge, the tests are sat in October

Oxford and Cambridge require the October sitting. Most applicants to either must sit TMUA, ESAT or TARA in October, and the LNAT by 15 October, the same day as their UCAS deadline. Only a few groups, such as Oxford's foundation year applicants, may use the January sitting.

Elsewhere, January is usually accepted. LSE and Warwick accept either sitting for TMUA. Imperial says January 2027 is the last sitting for 2027 entry. UAT-UK allows each test to be sat only once in an application cycle — in October or in January, not both.

You can sit the LNAT only once in each testing year, which runs from 1 September to 31 July. LNAT results cannot be carried forward to the next year.

4. Oxford's old tests have been replaced

For 2027 entry, Oxford uses four tests outside medicine: ESAT, TMUA, TARA and the LNAT. Oxford says the Mathematics Admissions Test, used from 2007, will not take place, and that it uses TMUA instead. Its other subject tests no longer appear in its list of courses that need a test.

The new tests are taken on a computer, at a test centre. TMUA, ESAT and TARA are run by UAT-UK and sat at Pearson VUE test centres, in the UK and abroad. The LNAT is also sat at a Pearson VUE centre. None can be taken at home.

5. Interviews are far more common than tests

Ninety-seven universities in our records require an interview for at least one course. Oxford and Cambridge interview shortlisted applicants in December; Oxford's interviews are online. Elsewhere, interviews are most often required for nursing, midwifery and other health courses, teaching, social work, and art, design and performance courses.

An interview usually comes after you apply. The university invites you once it has read your application, so there is no separate deadline to meet.

6. Portfolios and auditions decide most art, design and performance courses

Fifty-nine universities ask for a portfolio for at least one course, and 32 hold auditions. Art, design, architecture, fashion and film courses usually ask for a portfolio. Music, drama, dance and acting courses usually hold an audition, in person or by recording.

A portfolio often has its own deadline. Some universities ask for it with the application; others ask for it later, or at an interview. The course page says which.

7. Some courses add checks after the offer

Fifty-eight universities require a criminal record check for at least one course, and 33 a health check. These apply to courses where students work with children, patients or vulnerable adults — nursing, midwifery, teaching and social work among them. They are made after the offer, not before. An international applicant may also need a police certificate from their own country.

The calendar for 2028 entry

None of the test bodies had published dates for 2028 entry when we read their pages. Each runs to the same pattern each year, so the calendar below is what to expect, not what has been announced.

The planning point is the same for both years. For a student applying in autumn 2027, the first decisions — which test, which sitting, and booking — come in the summer before, while still at school.

What people get wrong

"Oxford uses the MAT." Not any more. Oxford's page says the MAT will not take place, and its mathematics and computer science courses use TMUA. Many revision sites still describe the old tests.

"The test deadline is the UCAS deadline." The booking deadline comes first, and the test may come before the UCAS deadline. For the LNAT at King's, LSE and UCL, the last day is 31 December 2026, not 13 January 2027.

"I can sit it again if it goes badly." Not in the same year. The LNAT can be sat once in each testing year, and TMUA, ESAT and TARA once in each application cycle.

"If my course has no test, there is nothing else to prepare for." Most of the other requirements in Exhibit 1 are more common than a test, and a portfolio may have its own deadline.

Our advice

For each course on your shortlist, find its entry requirements page and look for four words: test, interview, portfolio and audition.

If a course needs a national admissions test, note three dates for it: registration opens, registration closes, and the test. Put the booking deadline in your calendar, not the test date.

If you are applying to Oxford or Cambridge, plan to sit any test in October of the year you apply.

If a course needs a portfolio, find out when it is due and in what form, before you start making it.

Check every date on the test body's own page before you rely on it — dates for 2028 entry had not been published when we wrote this.

The not so fine print: what was excluded in this report

• Medicine, dentistry and veterinary courses, and their tests, including UCAT
• English language tests, which our guide Which English test will a UK university accept? covers
• Interview formats, and how to prepare for an interview or test
• Requirements set for mature applicants or for part-time study
• Requirements published only on individual course pages that our records do not yet hold; our counts are of what each university publishes on its admissions pages
• Tests used by universities outside the UK

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