The University of Oxford has announced that it will be removing all of its in-house admissions tests and replacing them with established admissions tests from UAT-UK.
This is another major shake-up for Oxbridge admissions tests, following the cancellation of multiple Cambridge tests in 2024, and marks a massive reduction in the number of admissions tests that applicants will be required to take in the UK.
In this guide, we’ll learn what’s happening at Oxford and how these changes will impact your application.
How Will You Be Affected? - Students
As the ones who will be sitting the tests, students are going to feel the brunt of the changes in 2026. You will need to consider the following:
- The majority of admissions tests used at the University of Oxford will be replaced with three established admissions tests from UAT-UK.
- This change will be actioned in 2026 for 2027 entry, meaning applicants who have already taken these tests in 2025 will not be affected.
- The UCAT and LNAT will still be used for Oxford's Medicine and Law courses.
- Oxford applicants will need to complete these tests in October, not January.
- All preparation should now be for the TMUA, ESAT, or TARA, though materials from the cancelled exams may still be useful.
How Will You Be Affected? - Schools
For many students, support from their school is crucial in the application process. School faculties will need to be aware of these changes and how they can support pupils:
- Current Y13 students are not affected, and their applications will proceed as normal.
- Current Y12 Students will face the changes in 2026, applying for 2027 entry and beyond.
- No longer provide support for any of the cancelled Oxford admissions tests, redirect all students to the UAT-UK exams.
- Ensure that all Oxford applicants book their admissions test in the October sitting rather than the January sitting. This second sitting is not eligible for Oxbridge applicants.
Oxford Replaces All Admissions Tests With UAT-UK Exams
The University of Oxford has announced that it will be removing all of its own admissions tests in 2026. These will be replaced by admissions tests owned and run by UAT-UK, a subsidiary of Pearson VUE.
Eight unique admissions tests will be axed, including the Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA), Mathematics Admissions Test (MAT), Physics Admissions Test (PAT) and more. All of these tests will be replaced by the three UAT-UK admissions tests, the Test of Mathematics for University Admission (TMUA), the Engineering & Science Admissions Test (ESAT) and the Test of Academic Reasoning for Admissions (TARA).
Which Oxford Courses Will Be Affected?
The table below outlines every Oxford course that will be impacted by this change in admissions tests:
| Oxford Course | 2025 Admissions Test | 2026 Admissions Test |
|---|---|---|
| Biomedical Sciences | Biomedical Sciences Admissions Test (BMSAT) | Engineering & Science Admissions Test (ESAT) |
| Classical Archaeology and Ancient History | Ancient History and Classical Archaeology Admissions Test (AHCAAT) | No Test |
| Classics | Classics Admissions Test (CAT) | No Test |
| Classics and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies | Classics Admissions Test (CAT) | No Test |
| Classics and English | Classics Admissions Test (CAT) | No Test |
| Classics and Modern Languages | Classics Admissions Test (CAT) & Modern Languages Admissions Test (MLAT) | No Test |
| Computer Science | Mathematics Admissions Test (MAT) | Test of Mathematics for University Admission (TMUA) |
| Computer Science and Philosophy | Mathematics Admissions Test (MAT) | Test of Mathematics for University Admission (TMUA) |
| Economics and Management | Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) | Test of Academic Reasoning for Admissions (TARA) |
| Engineering Science | Physics Admissions Test (PAT) | Engineering & Science Admissions Test (ESAT) |
| English and Modern Languages | Modern Languages Admissions Test (MLAT) | No Test |
| European and Middle Eastern Languages | Modern Languages Admissions Test (MLAT) | No Test |
| History and Economics | Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) | Test of Academic Reasoning for Admissions (TARA) |
| History and Modern Languages | Modern Languages Admissions Test (MLAT) | No Test |
| History and Politics | No Test | Test of Academic Reasoning for Admissions (TARA) (TBC BY OXFORD) |
| Human Sciences | Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) | Test of Academic Reasoning for Admissions (TARA) |
| Material Science | Physics Admissions Test (PAT) | No Test |
| Mathematics | Mathematics Admissions Test (MAT) | Test of Mathematics for University Admission (TMUA) |
| Mathematics and Computer Science | Mathematics Admissions Test (MAT) | Test of Mathematics for University Admission (TMUA) |
| Mathematics and Philosophy | Mathematics Admissions Test (MAT) | Test of Mathematics for University Admission (TMUA) |
| Mathematics and Statistics | Mathematics Admissions Test (MAT) | Test of Mathematics for University Admission (TMUA) |
| Modern Languages | Modern Languages Admissions Test (MLAT) | No Test |
| Modern Languages and Linguistics | Modern Languages Admissions Test (MLAT) | No Test |
| Physics | Physics Admissions Test (PAT) | Engineering & Science Admissions Test (ESAT) |
| Physics and Philosophy | Physics Admissions Test (PAT) | Engineering & Science Admissions Test (ESAT) |
| Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) | Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) | Test of Academic Reasoning for Admissions (TARA) |
| Philosophy and Modern Languages | Modern Languages Admissions Test (MLAT) | No Test |
| Philosophy and Theology | Philosophy Admissions Test (PhilAT) | No Test |
| Psychology (Experimental) | Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) | Test of Academic Reasoning for Admissions (TARA) |
| Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics | Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) | Test of Academic Reasoning for Admissions (TARA) |
As we can see, some courses will have their admissions test swapped for a UAT-UK equivalent, while others will have their admissions tests removed entirely. The latter is primarily for the Classics Admissions Test and Modern Languages Admissions Test, both of which are highly specialised to their subjects and have no comparable test by UAT-UK.
The exception to this is Material Sciences, which previously required the PAT but has not been replaced by the ESAT, meaning it no longer requires an admissions test.
One course may be gaining an admissions test, History and Politics, though this has yet to be confirmed by the university.
Who is UAT-UK
UAT-UK was initially formed in 2023 as a collaboration between the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London. It was created as a new organisation to create and operate admissions tests that could be shared between the two universities.
The first two tests announced by the organisation were the Test of Mathematics for University Admission (TMUA) and the Engineering & Science Admissions Test (ESAT). The TMUA was an existing test previously used at Cambridge and run by the now-defunct Cambridge Assessments Admissions Testing (CAAT). The ESAT was designed to be a replacement for two former Cambridge Admissions tests that were also operated by CAAT.
The London School of Economics (LSE) also announced the use of the TMUA for several of its courses, although the ESAT would not be used due to a lack of relevance with its course offerings. UAT-UK ran its first round of tests in 2024 via Pearson VUE testing centres (UAT-UK is operated by Pearson VUE).
In 2025, it was announced that University College London (UCL) would be joining the partnership to take on these two admissions tests for several of its courses. As well as this, they announced the use of an exclusive admissions test, the Test of Academic Reasoning for Admissions (TARA).
These admissions tests successfully ran again in 2025/26, which now leads us to Oxford’s announcement. At the time of writing, UAT-UK now provides almost all admissions tests for five universities: Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London, LSE and UCL.
Are the UCAT and LNAT Being Replaced?
Two other notable admissions tests used by Oxford are the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) and the Law National Aptitude Test (LNAT), required for Oxford’s Medicine and Law degrees.
Neither of these tests will be impacted by the announced changes and will continue to run as normal in 2026. While these tests are run by Pearson VUE, they operate independently from other admissions tests due to the wider scale of their usage (the UCAT is required by all UK medical schools).
Applicants for Oxford Medicine or Law courses in 2026 should continue to prepare for the UCAT or LNAT.
Why Are These Tests Being Replaced?
No official reason has been given for the decision to move to UAT-Admissions tests, so we cannot say for certain why the move was made.
However, ever since the creation of UAT-UK, we have seen more and more universities adopt these tests, so Oxford’s decision to change wasn’t necessarily a surprise.
Oxford previously operated all of these admissions tests in-house before moving operations to Pearson VUE in 2024. This move is the next natural step to increase efficiency and reduce costs in the admissions process, although it will have an impact on the admissions processes for some courses, due to no longer having an admissions test as a requirement.
These tests have proven to be successful for their purpose in previous years, so applicants shouldn’t feel any negative impacts from this move.
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How Will You Be Affected? - Students
For the most part, this change will be a positive thing for applicants in one of two ways. For those who are applying to a course that has switched to a UAT-UK test, you will now potentially have fewer tests to prepare for.
As an example, if an applicant were applying to Mathematics at both Oxford and Imperial College in 2025, they would have to complete two admissions tests, the MAT for Oxford and the TMUA for Imperial. In 2026, only the TMUA will need to be completed, allowing the applicant to focus on preparing for just one test, as the same test result is used at all universities.
This is true for most cases like this, though the exception will be applying to Computer Science at both Oxford and UCL, as Oxford currently requires the TMUA, while UCL requires the TARA. Be aware that, if you’re applying to Oxford or Cambridge, you need to complete your test in October, as the January sitting is only for non-Oxbridge applicants (thought they can also complete their tests in October).
Be sure to check the admissions test requirements for every university you apply to to ensure that all admissions tests line up.
On the other hand, some applicants who would previously have had to take an admissions test will no longer have to. This mainly applies to courses like Classics and Modern Languages, though some other courses are also losing their admissions tests. There is potential for these tests to be replaced with new ones, or for additional requirements to be added, such as submitting written work.
No other part of the admissions process will be impacted by this, so you should continue to work on your Personal Statement and interview preparation as normal.
Should You Use Resources From The Cancelled Tests?
Some of the tests that Oxford has cancelled have been running for many years and have a lot of past papers available. However, as these tests are no longer being run, should you use these resources to practice?
These past papers will follow a different format and have different exam conditions from the UAT-UK tests, so these shouldn’t be used as mock exams or for practising your exam technique. However, these papers provide a large selection of practice questions that could be useful in isolation.
The key is to be aware of what makes these questions different compared to the current tests and to use these questions as a way to sharpen your subject knowledge rather than exam technique. This is mostly applicable to the MAT and PAT, which both feature questions similar (but not identical) to the TMUA and ESAT.
The TSA and TARA are far more similar, so these questions will be extremely useful to prepare for that test, though the TSA past papers do not reflect the format of the TARA.
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How Will You Be Affected? - Schools
Although students will be the ones managing their applications through these changes, schools must also be aware of them and adapt their support to meet students’ needs.
Mostly, this means you will need to inform them of the changes and help them prepare for the new admissions tests. Thankfully, these tests are all established and used at other universities, so you should already have resources available to support them.
What Should You Do Now?
Other than what was outlined above, there’s not too much that needs to be done. Ensure all of your teaching resources are updated to reflect these changes, but you hopefully shouldn’t need to create any new resources, as the TMUA, ESAT and TARA are not experiencing any changes in 2026.
It remains important to encourage early preparation in the application process; therefore, students should continue revising subject knowledge and practising questions from relevant admissions tests. Providing a range of practice formats, including both multiple-choice and written questions, is advisable, as the format of future assessments is not yet known.
Schools that use external services for university admissions support, or offer access to admissions preparation providers, should be able to continue these arrangements without issue while these changes are implemented.
Most preparatory schools and service providers are already aware of this change and are refining their approaches to ensure their support remains current and relevant for 2026 applicants. However, it is advisable to contact them directly with any questions regarding their curriculum and resources.
If you are not currently working with an external support provider, you may wish to consider consulting one. Leading admissions preparation schools and support services design their curriculum and resources to address all aspects of the application process, helping to reduce the burden on internal faculty
They will also be able to provide greater insight into the application process to your pupils as they work with current and former students with first-hand experience.
With a clearer understanding of how Oxford admissions will operate in 2026, we can now begin preparing for the next admissions cycle to ensure that all support offered is current and aligned with the new admissions tests. We will continue to monitor developments closely as further updates are released, so please check in regularly for the latest information.
We will continue working continuously to ensure that our support programmes adapt seamlessly to these forthcoming changes. Adjustments to admissions tests are not uncommon, with significant revisions to some assessments occurring every two to three years. As a result, we are well prepared to respond to any decisions made regarding the affected courses.
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