Engineering and Science Admissions Test
Mental maths practice for the ESAT
The ESAT is sat for engineering and science courses at Cambridge, Imperial College London, UCL and Oxford. Use Daily Sharpen to practise mental maths skills as part of your preparation for the test.
The ESAT, in numbers
Three modules, each 27 questions in 40 minutes
- Calculator
- Not permitted
- Formula sheet
- None supplied
- Scored
- 1.0–9.0 per module, one decimal place
- Negative marking
- None, so answer every question
Set by UAT-UK. Test facts verified against published materials in August 2026.
Try a Mini Sharpen
20 second Mini Sharpen
20 seconds of problems. See how many you can get.
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What you practise
- Times tables to 15×15, squares to 25², cubes to 10³
- Powers of 2; prime-power decomposition
- Fraction / decimal / percentage equivalents
- LCD selection and all four fraction operations
- Multiplicative percentage change and reverse percentages
- Index laws including fractional and negative
- Simplifying surds and rationalising denominators
- Standard form, SI prefixes and compound units
- Exact trig values
- Length : area : volume = k : k² : k³
- Rearranging a formula in one pass
- Factorising and cancelling algebraic fractions
- Estimation to 1–2 s.f. as answer screening; π ≈ 3; √n bracketing
- Quadratics by inspection; discriminant as a first check
Practice is tracked skill by skill: accuracy first, then speed, with later checks on what has stayed sharp.
Start your Sharpen
Personalised problems delivered in short daily sessions, tailored to the test you are preparing for.
- Choose your goal, and the practice is weighted for that test
- A calibration that finds the level to start you at
- Daily personalised practice sessions
- Lessons and extra practice whenever you want
- Track progress over time