Aptitude tests
Aptitude tests are an important factor when applying to top UK universities; for some courses you may need a certain amount of points in order to proceed to interview. You have to sign up in advance, with test centres available in many different UK cities, and foreign countries.
This may appear stressful at the first glance, but aptitude tests are a great opportunity to show off what you know in the subject you love. And, since you're here with us, you're en-route to success! Remember, your goal is not 100% - such a result is almost impossible, taking the test difficulty into consideration. Even if you don't do as well as you had hoped, that does not necessarily mean you won't get accepted! The tests are meant to be challenging, and you aren't expected to do everything perfectly. So it's only natural to feel a bit frustrated afterwards!
Takashi, one of the Project Access team members, writes:
"I felt I had performed badly on the Physics Aptitude Test, attempting only 2/3 of the questions. I thought Oxford was out the window. But in the end, I was successful! "
All in all, the test gives you a way to prove you should be accepted.
Below, you can find further information about the aptitude tests. Why not give them a browse?
UCAS: https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/applying-university/admissions-tests
Oxford: https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/tests?wssl=1
Cambridge: https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/applying/admission-assessments
Test preparation takes a particular amount of time! You should not leave it until the week before the test.
Register for the test - check with your Exams Officer or school if your school offers the test, otherwise you need to find an authorised test centre close to your home address.
Check the curriculum - every test has a certain curriculum and it may be found on the university’s website, check whether you have covered the appropriate topics in high school. If not, remember to learn the missing material
Complete past papers - these are available online. It is advisable to complete them under exam conditions, to be prepared for test day. You should learn how to manage your time in a way that will give you the best possible score.
Learn from your mistakes - revise all the tasks you found challenging, don’t waste time re-reading the easy ones. A good way to do this is to try to find the underlying issue they question you on, so you can apply to other similar problems. It can definitely be frustrating to do this, but this is what makes you better!
Get practice in problem solving - these can include Olympiad tasks etc.
Don’t stress out - little and often is better than learning material all in one go
BMAT (medicine; Oxford or Cambridge)
The BMAT test will be held on 31st October 2018. You need to register by 1st October 2018. The practice papers, as well as other materials, can be found on the website : http://www.admissionstesting.org/for-test-takers/bmat/preparing-for-bmat/
The test consists of 3 sections:
Section 1 (generally problem solving, 35 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes).
Section 2 (scientific knowledge, 27 multiple-choice questions in 30 minutes).
Section 3 (writing task, 30 minutes). Each section requires special preparation.
According to the official website, average BMAT candidates will score around 5.0. Best candidates will score around 6.0, and a few exceptional - higher than 7.0.
ECAA (economics; Cambridge)
The ECAA test will be held on 31st October 2018. You need to register by 15th October 2018. The practice papers, as well as other materials, can be found on the website: https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/economics#entry-requirements
The ECAA consists of 2 sections:
Section 1 (problem solving, about 40 multiple-choice questions in 80 minutes).
Section 2 (essay on topic of economic interest, 40 minutes). Each section requires special preparation.
According to the website, only a few exceptional applicants will achieve scores higher than 80 percent of the available marks.
ENGAA (engineering; Cambridge)
The ENGAA test will be held on 31st October 2018. You need to register by 15th October 2018. The practice papers, as well as other materials, can be found on the website: https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/engineering#entry-requirements
The ENGAA consists of 2 sections:
Section 1 (problem solving, 54 multiple-choice questions in 80 minutes).
Section 2 (problem solving, no calculator, 40 minutes). Each section requires special preparation.
According to the website, only a few exceptional applicants will achieve scores higher than 80 percent of the available marks.
HAA (history; Cambridge)
The HAA test will be held on 31st October 2018. You need to register by 15th October 2018. The practice papers, as well as other materials, can be found on the website: https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/history#entry-requirements
The HAA consists of 2 sections:
Section 1 (reading comprehension, 60 minutes).
Section 2 (critical response to text(s), 60 minutes). Each section requires special preparation.
According to the website, only a few exceptional applicants will achieve scores higher than 80 percent of the available marks.
HAT (history; Oxford)
The HAT test will be held on 31st October 2018. You need to register by 15th October 2018. The practice papers, as well as other materials, can be found on the website: https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/history-aptitude-test-hat
The test consists of three open questions (essays). Refer to the mark schemes available on the website to understand how the test is graded and get some practice.
HSPSAA (human, social and political sciences; Cambridge)
The HSPSAA test will be held on 31st October 2018. You need to register by 15th October 2018. The practice papers, as well as other materials, can be found on the website: https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/human-social-and-political-sciences#entry-requirements
The HSPSAA consists of 2 sections:
Section 1 (reading comprehension, 60 minutes).
Section 2 (essay, 60 minutes). Each section requires special preparation.
According to the website, only a few exceptional applicants will achieve scores higher than 80 percent of the available marks.
LNAT (law; Oxford)
The LNAT test will be held on 20th October 2018 at the very latest. You should have registered by 5th October 2018. The detailed syllabus, as well as past papers with mark schemes, can be found on the website: https://lnat.ac.uk/how-to-prepare/
The LNAT consists of 2 sections:
Section A (reading comprehension, 42 multiple-choice questions in 95 minutes).
Section B (essay, 40 minutes). Each section requires special preparation.
The result of 20 points represents a comparatively high score and only a few exceptional applicants will achieve scores higher than 30.
MAT (mathematics, CS; Oxford, Imperial or Warwick)
The MAT test will be held on 31st October 2018. You need to register by 15th October 2018. The detailed syllabus, as well as past papers, with mark schemes can be found on the website: https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduate-study/maths-admissions-test
Aim for 75 percent plus - it’s the amount of points received on average by offer holders. Depending on your curriculum, you may have to cover some extra material - there is a lot of calculus tasks compared to standards of other European countries. Remember what questions should you attempt, these depend on the course. Apart from solving past papers, try getting involved in AoPS Community: https://artofproblemsolving.com/community
NSAA (natural sciences; Cambridge)
The NSAA test will be held on 31st October 2018. You need to register by 15th October 2018. The practice papers, as well as other materials, can be found on the website: https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/natural-sciences#entry-requirements
The NSAA consists of 2 sections:
Section 1 (problem solving, 54 multiple-choice questions in 80 minutes).
Section 2 (science-specific longer questions, 40 minutes). Each section requires special preparation.
According to the website, only a few exceptional applicants will achieve scores higher than 80 percent of the available marks.
PAT (engineering, physics, materials science; Oxford)
The PAT test will be held on 31st October 2018. You need to register by 15th October 2018. The practice papers, as well as other materials, can be found on the website: https://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduates/applications/physics-aptitude-test-pat/pat-past-papers
The PAT lasts 2 hours, it combines the physics and maths sections mixed up with one another - there are multiple-choice questions and longer problems. In 2017, all applicants scoring 59 percent and above were short-listed for interview. This does vary year-on-year though!
TSA (chemistry, E&M, PPE; Oxford)
The TSA test will be held on 31st October 2018. You need to register by 15th October 2018. The practice papers, as well as other materials, can be found on the website: http://www.admissionstesting.org/for-test-takers/thinking-skills-assessment/tsa-oxford/preparing-for-tsa-oxford/
The TSA Oxford consists of 2 sections:
Section 1 (problem solving, 50 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes).
Section 2 (writing task, 30 minutes). Each section requires special preparation.
According to the website, 70 represents a comparatively high score and only a few exceptional applicants will achieve scores higher than 80.
UKCAT (medicine; King's or Warwick)
The UKCAT test will be held on 2nd October 2018 at the very latest. You need to register by 18th September 2018. The practice papers, as well as other materials, can be found on the website:https://www.ukcat.ac.uk/ukcat-test/ukcat-preparation/
The test consists of 5 sections:
Section 1 (verbal reasoning, 44 multiple-choice questions in 21 minutes).
Section 2 (decision making, 29 multiple-choice questions in 31 minutes).
Section 3 (quantitative reasoning, 36 multiple-choice questions in 24 minutes).
Section 4 (abstract reasoning, 55 multiple-choice questions in 13 minutes).
Section 5 (situational judgement, 69 multiple-choice questions in 26 minutes).
Each section requires special preparation. According to the official website, average UKCAT candidates will score around 2540.