The University of Oxford has announced that it will discontinue Oxford-specific admissions examinations for the 2027 entry cycle.
Instead, Oxford admissions exams will now be administered by University Admissions Test UK (UAT-UK), a not-for-profit organisation formed as a joint venture between Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge. According to the UAT-UK, the University will use its admissions tests for “at least the next three years”.
Under the new system, UAT-UK admissions examinations will be required for 16 of the University’s undergraduate courses, with admission examination requirements removed for the remaining courses.
Regarding the change, a University spokesperson told Cherwell: “Oxford’s undergraduate admissions process is rigorous and designed to identify academic potential. The University is continually reviewing its admissions processes and practices to ensure they best meet the needs of the University, schools, and applicants. Our approach varies according to subject and considers a range of information as evidence of a candidate’s ability to thrive here.”
The spokesperson added that the change “will streamline the admissions process for schools and our applicants, allowing candidates to take one test that is accepted by a number of other UK universities”. Seven UK universities currently utilise UAT-UK’s examinations, including the London School of Economics, the University of Cambridge, and Imperial College London.
Admissions tests were negatively impacted by technical difficulties in 2024. Students taking the History Admissions Test (HAT) experienced a two-hour delay. In the 2024-25 academic year, the University proposed to stop subsidising admissions test fees. In May last year, Conference of Common Rooms (CCR), the representative body of Oxford SU, passed a motion criticising the proposal on the basis that it might “exacerbate college disparities and disincentivise open offers”.
In the 2026-entry admissions cycle, a variety of discipline-specific exams, such as the Ancient History and Classical Archaeology Admissions Test (AHCAAT) or the Mathematics Admissions Test (MAT), were booked through the Oxford Admissions Test Registration Portal and assessed at a Pearson VUE testing site.
While UAT-UK examinations will also be delivered through Pearson VUE, a private admissions testing service, UAT-UK currently offers three of its own examinations: the Engineering and Science Admissions Test (ESAT), Test of Academic Reasoning for Admissions (TARA), and the Test for Mathematics for University Admissions (TMUA).
The admission examination for medicine will continue to use Pearson’s University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT), and the law examination will continue to use Pearson’s National Admissions Test for Law (LNAT).
