Oxford Admissions Tests Are Changing: 2026/27 Cycle
You might already have seen headlines about changes to Oxford’s admissions tests. This can be unsettling, particularly if you have already been planning your university applications. What’s important to understand however is that while Oxford is making significant changes to its admissions testing from 2027 entry onwards, the underlying purpose of these tests remains the same. Oxford isn’t lowering standards, nor is it making the admissions process easier or harder overnight. Instead, it’s changing how candidates are assessed in response to broader shifts in UK university admissions.
This article explains what’s changing, what’s remaining the same, and importantly what these changes mean in practice for students preparing to apply to Oxford in the coming years.
1. What is Changing in Oxford Admissions Testing?
From the 2026 testing cycle onwards (for students applying for 2027 entry), Oxford will no longer use its own internally designed admissions tests. Instead, it will adopt a set of shared, computer-based assessments administered by UAT-UK, a collaboration between the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London.
Depending on the course you applied for, you will now sit one of the following tests:
These tests are delivered online at Pearson test centres worldwide and are already used by several top UK universities. The good thing is that if you apply to multiple universities that require the same test, you’ll only need to sit it once. Your score can then be shared across institutions.
Oxford’s move towards standardisation across elite UK universities enables admissions tutors to compare applicants using a common benchmark.
2. Which Admissions Tests are Being Discontinued?
The following Oxford-specific admissions tests are being phased out:
AHCAAT
BMSAT
CAT
MAT
MLAT
PAT
PhilAT
TSA
This change can feel disorientating for students who have already started preparing and now will need to adapt their strategy.
The full list of courses requiring a 2026 UAT-UK admissions test is as follows:
Biomedical Sciences - ESAT
Computer Science - TMUA
Computer Science and Philosophy - TMUA
Economics and Management - TARA
Engineering Science - ESAT
History and Economics - TARA
History and Politics - TARA (still TBC)
Human Sciences - TARA
Mathematics/Mathematics and Statistics - TMUA
Mathematics and Computer Science - TMUA
Mathematics and Philosophy - TMUA
Physics - ESAT
Physics and Philosophy - ESAT
Politics, Philosophy and Economics - TARA
Psychology (Experimental) - TARA
Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics - TARA
3. What’s Not Changing?
Medicine and Graduate-entry Medicine will continue to use the UCAT, and Law will continue to require the LNAT. Interviews remain a central part of the selection process, as do academic grades, teacher references, and demonstrated academic curiosity beyond the syllabus.
It’s important to note that Oxford’s expectations of its applicants have not changed. They continue to look for students with strong academic and extracurricular profiles, are analytical, and can engage with unfamiliar ideas.
4. Why is Oxford Making this Change?
This change is a reflection of changes across the UK higher education landscape. Application volumes are growing year on year with an increasing number of international applicants, presenting increased pressure on university admissions tutors. Therefore, universities need to create admissions systems that are scalable yet still rigorous.
Having standardised assessments allows universities to compare between candidates more easily and align better with one another. However, it can also be argued that this increases competition as candidates are now being directly compared on the same tests.
5. What This Means for Applicants
The most important takeaway here is that preparing early, and preparing well matters more than ever before. Because these tests are now shared across universities, your performance on the ESAT, TMUA or TARA will influence outcomes at multiple institutions simultaneously.
In our experience working with Oxbridge applicants, we continue to see a strong correlation between admissions test performance and interview invitations at Oxford and Cambridge. Especially for highly competitive courses, many applicants with excellent grades apply, therefore the deciding factor on whether a candidate is invited for an interview would be the admissions test scores.
6. Preparation and Strategic Guidance
In this new system, you need to start preparing earlier and in a more strategic manner. The first step would be identifying as soon as possible which test applies to your intended course. Unfortunately, a practical challenge is that these tests are either new or newly adopted by Oxford, thus there are fewer past papers compared to legacy tests. This makes unguided preparation even more difficult as students struggle with being unfamiliar with the way of reasoning required by these assessments, and how to approach them under timed conditions.
Nevertheless, you can find resources with past paper questions here:
For many students, working through unfamiliar problems with structured guidance helps them improve most quickly and develop their problem-solving and technical skills. The admissions landscape is becoming increasingly standardised, and expert guidance can help students prioritise correctly and focus their efforts on where it matters. This is especially important for ambitious students who are applying to multiple competitive courses simultaneously.
Timeline
You can register for your admissions test between 18 June - 19 September 2026. You can spend that time practising using our past paper resources. Test appointments should be booked from 18 August - 26 September 2026, and you will take the test from 21 - 27 October.
A more detailed timeline for Oxford applications can be found here.
Conclusion
The change in Oxford admissions tests emphasise the importance of staying informed and preparing early. While the admissions tests themselves are changing, the skills admissions tutors are looking for in candidates remain the same. The changes announced by Oxford are simply a new framework within which you can demonstrate your ability.
Understanding the system early and preparing strategically is crucial for succeeding in this rigorous and competitive admissions process.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Historically, Oxford admissions test results aren’t released separately and instead feed into the overall application. Decisions typically come out in mid-January, after interviews in December.
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Before sitting a UAT-UK test, you will need to complete a two-step registration:
All test takers (returning and new) will need to create a UAT-UK online account. Account creation is available on 24 June.
Book and pay for your test – once your online account registration is complete and you have created an UAT-UK Profile, you will be eligible to book and pay for a test. Test booking for the October 2025 sitting will open in July.
You can register and find more information here: https://www.pearsonvue.com/us/en/uatuk.html -
From 2026, Oxford will be phasing out the AHCAAT, BMSAT, CAT, MAT, MLAT, PAT, PhilAT and TSA, and will instead be using the ESAT, TARA and TMUA.
