Past paper library

ESAT Past Papers and Practice Materials

There are no published ESAT past papers. Use the official ESAT Guides below, then practise with historic ENGAA, NSAA and TMUA papers from UAT-UK.

Last checked against UAT-UK: . Every link on this page was confirmed to resolve. UAT-UK occasionally reorganises its archive, so the official source pages are listed under each paper.

1. Official ESAT Guides

Read the guide for each module you are sitting before opening any past paper. It describes the current test.

2. Which papers for each module?

Pick by the module you are sitting, not by working backwards through the years.

ESAT moduleBest sourceSecond choiceWhat to skip
Mathematics 1ENGAA Section 1 Part A maths questionsNSAA Section 1 Part A MathematicsNSAA copies of questions you already did in ENGAA
Mathematics 2ENGAA Section 1 Part B Advanced MathematicsTMUA Paper 1TMUA Paper 2 logic and proof questions
PhysicsNSAA Section 1 Part B PhysicsENGAA Part A and Part B physics questionsQuestions marked outside the ESAT specification
ChemistryNSAA Section 1 Part C ChemistryNo second public source—
BiologyNSAA Section 1 Part D Biology—Out-of-spec topics flagged in the PDF
ENGAA never tested Chemistry or Biology, so NSAA is required if you sit either.

3. ENGAA and NSAA overlap

The two archives share many identical questions. Do not treat them as separate banks.

Full verified list and which copy to solve: ENGAA and NSAA papers for ESAT.

4. Paper library

Filter by exam, year, module, relevance or what the paper comes with. All links go to official UAT-UK PDFs.

Must include

Showing 34 of 34 official resources

ENGAA papers (2016–2023)

The closest legacy paper to the ESAT. Part A is Mathematics and Physics; Part B is Advanced Mathematics and Advanced Physics.

Good for

  • Maths 1 timing and no-calculator fluency.
  • Physics formula choice and proportional reasoning.
  • Maths 2 stretch via Part B advanced questions.

Weaker for

  • Chemistry and Biology — ENGAA never covered them.
  • Questions marked outside the ESAT specification.

ENGAA 2023 Section 1

Closest to ESAT

Best for: Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics

Part A is Mathematics and Physics; Part B is Advanced Mathematics and Advanced Physics. Closest legacy match for ESAT Maths 1, Maths 2 and Physics. Overlaps heavily with the same year's NSAA paper.

Question paperAnswer key
Checked against the PDFOfficial source page

ENGAA 2022 Section 1

Closest to ESAT

Best for: Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics

Part A is Mathematics and Physics; Part B is Advanced Mathematics and Advanced Physics. Closest legacy match for ESAT Maths 1, Maths 2 and Physics. Overlaps heavily with the same year's NSAA paper. Our duplicate check could read 37 of the 40 questions in this PDF.

Question paperAnswer key
Probable matchOfficial source page

ENGAA 2021 Section 1

Closest to ESAT

Best for: Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics

Part A is Mathematics and Physics; Part B is Advanced Mathematics and Advanced Physics. Closest legacy match for ESAT Maths 1, Maths 2 and Physics. Overlaps heavily with the same year's NSAA paper. Our duplicate check could read 38 of the 40 questions in this PDF.

Question paperAnswer key
Checked against the PDFOfficial source page

ENGAA 2020 Section 1

Closest to ESAT

Best for: Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics

Part A is Mathematics and Physics; Part B is Advanced Mathematics and Advanced Physics. Closest legacy match for ESAT Maths 1, Maths 2 and Physics. Overlaps heavily with the same year's NSAA paper.

Question paperAnswer key
Checked against the PDFOfficial source page

ENGAA 2019 Section 1

Closest to ESAT

Best for: Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics

Part A is Mathematics and Physics; Part B is Advanced Mathematics and Advanced Physics. Closest legacy match for ESAT Maths 1, Maths 2 and Physics. Overlaps heavily with the same year's NSAA paper. Our duplicate check could read 36 of the 40 questions in this PDF.

Question paperAnswer key
Probable matchOfficial source page

ENGAA 2018 Section 1

Closest to ESAT

Best for: Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics

Part A is Mathematics and Physics; Part B is Advanced Mathematics and Advanced Physics. Closest legacy match for ESAT Maths 1, Maths 2 and Physics. Overlaps heavily with the same year's NSAA paper. Our duplicate check could read 39 of the 40 questions in this PDF.

Question paperAnswer key
Checked against the PDFOfficial source page

ENGAA 2017 Section 1

Closest to ESAT

Best for: Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics

Part A is Mathematics and Physics; Part B is Advanced Mathematics and Advanced Physics. Closest legacy match for ESAT Maths 1, Maths 2 and Physics. Overlaps heavily with the same year's NSAA paper. Our duplicate check could read 38 of the 40 questions in this PDF.

Question paperAnswer key
Checked against the PDFOfficial source page

ENGAA 2016 Section 1

Closest to ESAT

Best for: Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics

Part A is Mathematics and Physics; Part B is Advanced Mathematics and Advanced Physics. Closest legacy match for ESAT Maths 1, Maths 2 and Physics. Overlaps heavily with the same year's NSAA paper. Our duplicate check could read 39 of the 40 questions in this PDF.

Question paperAnswer key
Checked against the PDFOfficial source page

NSAA papers (2016–2023)

Split into Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. The only public archive covering Chemistry and Biology. Maths and Physics overlap heavily with the same year's ENGAA paper.

Good for

  • Chemistry and Biology practice.
  • Maths 1 from Part A.
  • Physics from Part B.

Weaker for

  • Maths 2 — use ENGAA Part B instead.
  • Fresh practice if you already did that year's ENGAA paper.

NSAA 2023 Section 1

Closest to ESAT

Best for: Mathematics 1, Physics, Chemistry, Biology

Part A Mathematics, Part B Physics, Part C Chemistry and Part D Biology. No advanced part from 2020 onwards, so ENGAA is the better source for Maths 2. Parts A and B repeat many ENGAA questions from the same year.

Question paperAnswer key
Checked against the PDFOfficial source page

NSAA 2022 Section 1

Closest to ESAT

Best for: Mathematics 1, Physics, Chemistry, Biology

Part A Mathematics, Part B Physics, Part C Chemistry and Part D Biology. No advanced part from 2020 onwards, so ENGAA is the better source for Maths 2. Parts A and B repeat many ENGAA questions from the same year. Our duplicate check could read 76 of the 80 questions in this PDF.

Question paperAnswer key
Checked against the PDFOfficial source page

NSAA 2021 Section 1

Closest to ESAT

Best for: Mathematics 1, Physics, Chemistry, Biology

Part A Mathematics, Part B Physics, Part C Chemistry and Part D Biology. No advanced part from 2020 onwards, so ENGAA is the better source for Maths 2. Parts A and B repeat many ENGAA questions from the same year. Our duplicate check could read 70 of the 80 questions in this PDF.

Question paperAnswer key
Probable matchOfficial source page

NSAA 2020 Section 1

Closest to ESAT

Best for: Mathematics 1, Physics, Chemistry, Biology

Part A Mathematics, Part B Physics, Part C Chemistry and Part D Biology. No advanced part from 2020 onwards, so ENGAA is the better source for Maths 2. Parts A and B repeat many ENGAA questions from the same year.

Question paperAnswer key
Checked against the PDFOfficial source page

NSAA 2019 Section 1

Closest to ESAT

Best for: Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics, Chemistry, Biology

Part A Mathematics, Part B Physics, Part C Chemistry, Part D Biology and Part E Advanced Mathematics and Advanced Physics. The only legacy archive covering Chemistry and Biology, and Part E is useful Maths 2 material. Parts A, B and E repeat many ENGAA questions from the same year. Our duplicate check could read 75 of the 80 questions in this PDF.

Question paperAnswer key
Probable matchOfficial source page

NSAA 2018 Section 1

Closest to ESAT

Best for: Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics, Chemistry, Biology

Part A Mathematics, Part B Physics, Part C Chemistry, Part D Biology and Part E Advanced Mathematics and Advanced Physics. The only legacy archive covering Chemistry and Biology, and Part E is useful Maths 2 material. Parts A, B and E repeat many ENGAA questions from the same year. Our duplicate check could read 78 of the 80 questions in this PDF.

Question paperAnswer key
Checked against the PDFOfficial source page

NSAA 2017 Section 1

Closest to ESAT

Best for: Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics, Chemistry, Biology

Part A Mathematics, Part B Physics, Part C Chemistry, Part D Biology and Part E Advanced Mathematics and Advanced Physics. The only legacy archive covering Chemistry and Biology, and Part E is useful Maths 2 material. Parts A, B and E repeat many ENGAA questions from the same year. Our duplicate check could read 75 of the 80 questions in this PDF.

Question paperAnswer key
Probable matchOfficial source page

NSAA 2016 Section 1

Closest to ESAT

Best for: Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics, Chemistry, Biology

Part A Mathematics, Part B Physics, Part C Chemistry, Part D Biology and Part E Advanced Mathematics and Advanced Physics. The only legacy archive covering Chemistry and Biology, and Part E is useful Maths 2 material. Parts A, B and E repeat many ENGAA questions from the same year. Our duplicate check could read 79 of the 80 questions in this PDF.

Question paperAnswer key
Checked against the PDFOfficial source page

TMUA papers (2016–2023 and specimen)

A separate maths test, not an ESAT paper. The only archive with full worked answers. Paper 1 helps Maths 2; Paper 2 is logic and proof and is less useful.

Good for

  • Non-calculator algebra, functions and logarithms.
  • Maths 2 problem solving once fundamentals are secure.
  • Learning method from the worked answers.

Weaker for

  • Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
  • Timing practice — TMUA allows far longer per question.

5. How to use this archive

  1. Read the ESAT Guide for each module you are sitting.
  2. Pick one exam per year: ENGAA if you need Maths 2, NSAA if you need Chemistry or Biology.
  3. Work by section, not by whole paper.
  4. Skip anything the PDF marks as outside the ESAT specification.
  5. Check the duplicate list before starting the second paper from a year.
  6. Use TMUA Paper 1 only once Maths 2 fundamentals are secure.
  7. Keep two or three unseen papers for timed mocks in the final fortnight.

Work out which module is costing you marks

Most people pick papers by year and discover halfway through that the problem was arithmetic speed, not physics. The calibration test takes about twenty minutes and tells you whether speed or accuracy is the thing to fix first.

Start free calibrationSee the duplicate list

About these links

Every paper below is a public document published by UAT-UK. We link to the official file and never host a copy, so you always open the current version — including the markings UAT-UK adds where a question falls outside the ESAT specification.

The papers are the copyright of Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Question text is not reproduced anywhere on this site. What we publish is our own metadata: which module a paper suits, how close it is to the current ESAT, and which questions repeat between papers.

ESATCAMP is an independent preparation resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by UAT-UK, Pearson VUE or any university.

All links checked: . If UAT-UK reorganises its archive a link may move, so the official pages are listed here too:

Frequently asked questions

Are there any real ESAT past papers?

No full ESAT past papers are published. UAT-UK provides the ESAT Guide for each module plus the historic ENGAA and NSAA archives, and says those papers contain questions of the type found in the ESAT. That archive is what everyone means by ESAT past papers.

Are ENGAA and NSAA papers useful for ESAT?

Yes. UAT-UK publishes them as ESAT preparation material and marks where a question falls outside the ESAT specification. ENGAA is the closest match for Maths 1, Maths 2 and Physics; NSAA is the only source for Chemistry and Biology.

Should I do both the ENGAA and NSAA paper for the same year?

Usually not. We compared the official PDFs and found many questions repeated between the two papers in every year from 2016 to 2023. Pick one paper per year as your practice source and use the other only for the parts it uniquely covers, such as NSAA Chemistry and Biology.

Do the papers come with answers?

Every ENGAA and NSAA paper has an official answer key, which gives the correct option but not the method. TMUA papers additionally have full worked answers, so they are the best archive for learning how a question should be attacked.

Does TMUA help for ESAT?

Only for maths, and only as a supplement. TMUA Paper 1 is decent Maths 2 style practice and good non-calculator training. Paper 2 is logic and proof, which is not an ESAT skill. TMUA does not help with Physics, Chemistry or Biology.

Can I download the papers from this site?

No. We link to the official UAT-UK files rather than hosting copies, so you always get the current version including any updated out-of-spec markings. The papers are the copyright of Cambridge University Press and Assessment.

Papers measure progress. They do not repair it

A paper tells you that ratio questions cost you four marks. It will not fix ratio questions. Spend a short session drilling the specific skill, then spend one of your limited clean papers checking whether it worked.

Practise my weak skillsStart free calibration

Related guides

ENGAA and NSAA papers for ESAT

The two archives overlap heavily. Here is which copy to solve.

TMUA for ESAT preparation

Where TMUA genuinely helps Maths 2, and where it is a detour.

ESAT Maths 1

Topics, timing and the fast methods the compulsory module rewards.

ESAT Maths 2

Algebra, functions, trigonometry, logs and calculus-style reasoning.

ESAT Physics

Formula choice, units, graphs and proportional reasoning.

ESAT preparation guide

The full plan: order of work, timeline and what to practise first.

Sources

ESATCAMP is an independent preparation resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by UAT-UK, Pearson VUE or any university.