Many applicants will be required to take an Admissions Assessment as part of their application. Some of these assessments take place in the weeks before your interview (if you are invited), but for many subjects they take place before you received an interview invitation - at schools, colleges and other designated assessment centres. For these pre-registration assessments, you will need to be registered well in advance (please check subject pages for details). Your performance in the assessments will not be considered in isolation, but will be taken into account alongside the other elements of your application.
Important changes to pre-registration required admissions assessment dates for the 2024 application round (entry 2025 or 2026)
At Cambridge, pre-registration required tests will be used for the following courses
● ESAT (Engineering and Science Admissions Test): Engineering, Natural Sciences, Chemical
Engineering and Veterinary Medicine courses
● TMUA (the Test of Mathematics for University Admission): for Economics and Computer
Science courses
● UCAT: for undergraduate and graduate-entry Medicine
● LNAT: LawApplicants to Cambridge MUST take the October sitting, even if a test has a January sitting.
For more information on the ESAT and TMUA, please see: https://esat-tmua.ac.uk/
Applicants to other courses may need to complete a Cambridge College registered assessment.
Details of these assessments will be confirmed in March 2024 as part of the annual update.
To find out more about admissions assessments see www.cam.ac.uk/assessment
Candidates for the ESAT or TMUA might find the following links useful:
Deadlines - www.esat-tmua.ac.uk/deadlines/
Bursary - www.esat-tmua.ac.uk/bursary-scheme/
Access arrangements - www.esat-tmua.ac.uk/access-arrangements/
To find out whether or not you need to register for a written assessment, check the details for each subject below.
Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic
Candidates for ASNC at King's College are not required to take a written assessment.
Archaeology
Students who are invited for interview in Archaeology at King's are asked to take a Written Assessment: Cambridge-College Registered. You do not need to register for this assessment as it will be organised automatically by the College if you are invited for interview and details will be provided directly to you.
Architecture
Although there are no pre-interview assessments for Architecture at King's, if you are invited for interview you will be asked to take a Cambridge College-Registered Written Assessment which lasts one hour. You do not need to register for this assessment as it will be organised automatically by the College if you are invited for interview. The Assessment format is an essay/text response element and normally lasts 60 minutes.
Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Candidates for Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at King's are not required to take a written admissions assessment.
If you are applying for a European language alongside your Asian & Middle Eastern language, you will be asked to take the Written Assessment: Cambridge-College Registered for MML, which lasts one hour. It consists of a discursive response in your Foreign Language (40 minutes) and a discursive response in English (20 minutes). You do not need to register for this written assessment as it will be organised automatically by the College if you are invited for interview. Students who are not applying for a European language do not take this assessment.
Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology
All candidates for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at King's are required to take the ESAT. You must register for this course yourself. The registration deadline is 16th September 2024. The test will take place on the 15th-16th October.
Classics
All applicants for Classics are required to take an assessment if shortlisted for interview. The skills the College is looking for will vary depending on whether you have applied for the three-year course or the four-year course. Both assessments will be in the format of an interview, rather than a written assessment.
The assessment for the three-year course will explore your current language skills in Latin or Greek. Please note that if you are studying both Latin and Greek, you will be expected to take the Latin assessment. The Greek assessment will only be available for those who are studying Greek but not Latin. During this assessment, you will be asked to answer questions on a passage written in Latin (or Greek). The assessment for the four-year course will assess your general aptitude for learning a classical language.
You will not need to register in advance for these assessments and the College will provide details directly to you.
Computer Science
Applicants for Computer Science will need to take the TMUA at a local test centre. You must register for this test yourself. The registration deadline is 16th September 2024. The test will take place on the 16th-17th October 2024.
Design
Although there are no pre-interview assessments for Design at King's, if you are invited for interview you will be asked to take a Written Assessment: Cambridge-College Registered which lasts one hour. You do not need to register for this assessment as it will be organised automatically by the College if you are invited for interview. The Assessment format is an essay/text response element and normally lasts 60 minutes.
Economics
All candidates for Economics at King's are required to take the TMUA at a local test centre. You must register for this test yourself. The registration deadline is 16th September 2024. The test will take place on the 16th-17th October 2024. thee TMUA consists of Mathematical thinking part (75 minute) and a Mathematical Reasoning part (75 minutes).
Engineering
All candidates for Engineering are required to take the ESAT at a local test centre. You must be registered in advance to take the assessment and must do this yourself. The deadline for registration is 16th September 2024. The test will take place 15th-16th October 2024.
English
If you are invited for interview, candidates for English are required to take a Written Assessment: Cambridge-College Registered for English. Further details will be provided to you directly by the college.
Geography
Candidates for Geography at King's are not required to take a written admissions assessment for Geography.
History
Candidates for History at King's are not required to take a written admissions assessment.
History and Modern Languages
Candidates for History and Modern Languages are not required to take a written admissions assessment for History.
If you are invited for interview and are applying for a language that you have already studied at A-level or equivalent, you will be asked to take the Written Assessment: Cambridge-College Registered for MML, which lasts one hour. You do not need to register for this written assessment as it will be organised automatically by the College if you are invited for interview.
History and Politics
Candidates for History and Politics at King's are not required to take a written admissions assessment.
History of Art
Applicants to History of Art are not required to take a written assessment.
Human, Social and Political Sciences
Candidates for HSPS at King's who are invited for interview will sit be required to sit a Written Assessment: Cambridge-College Registered. Details will be shared with you directly.
Law
All applicants for Law are required to take the LNAT which will take place in schools and other assessment centres. You must be registered in advance to take the assessment. The deadline for registration to be able to sit the exam by 15th October is 15th September 2024. The test must be taken between 1st September and 15th October.
Linguistics
All applicants for Linguistics are required to take a Written Assessment: Cambridge-College Registered if shortlisted for interview. You will not need to register in advance for this assessment and the college will provide details directly to you.
Mathematics
Candidates invited for interviews at King's for Maths will sit a Written Assessment: Cambridge-College Registered set by the Director of Studies. You do not need to register for this and details will be provided to you directly.
Medicine
All candidates for Medicine are required to take the UCAT which will take place in schools and other assessment centres. You must be registered in advance (separately to your UCAS application) to take the assessment. You need to be registered by 19th September2024. The test window for the UCAT is 8th July -26th September.
The UCAT is not an entrance examination and we have no set requirements for the scores achieved. We look at each applicant's UCAT result in the context of their whole application including their educational record, school reference, and performance at interview.
Modern and Medieval Languages
Applicants who are invited for interview in Modern and Medieval Languages are also required to take the Written Assessment: Cambridge-College Registered for MML, which lasts one hour. You do not need to register for this written assessment as it will be organised automatically by the College if you are invited for interview.
Music
There is no written assessment for Music candidates at King's.
Natural Sciences
All candidates for Natural Sciences are required to take the ESAT, which will take place in schools and other assessment centres. You must be registered in advance (separately to your UCAS application) to take the assessment. You need to be registered by 16th September 2024. The test dates are 15-16th October.
Philosophy
Applicants who are invited for interview in Philosophy are also required to take a Written-Assessment: Cambridge-College Registered, which lasts one hour. You do not need to register for this written assessment as it will be organised automatically by the College if you are invited for interview.
Psychological and Behavioural Sciences
Candidates for Psychological and Behavioural Sciences at King's are not required to take a written admissions assessment for PBS.
Theology, Religion and Philosophy of Religion
There is no longer any requirement for Theology candidates to sit an assessment before interview.
Students self-register for the test – their school cannot do this for them. You will need an authorized assessment centre to register with and provide a place for you to take your pre-interview written assessment. Tests will be taken at a local test centre, rather than in schools and colleges. Please do plan for this well in advance to ensure you know where the nearest test centre is and that you are able to travel there on the day if you do not live locally.
