ESAT Preparation

5

Im applying for cambridge engineering, Im pretty confident in all other areas of my application, but the one thing that has been stressing me out is the ESAT. I'm currently doing TERRIBLY in timed mocks, I am only getting around 10/27 per section at the moment. I know that there are still 4 more months of preparation to be done, and I'm only 1 week into the journey, but I was just wondering what everyone else is getting at this time of the year??

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

Original post

by Abbott123

Im applying for cambridge engineering, Im pretty confident in all other areas of my application, but the one thing that has been stressing me out is the ESAT. I'm currently doing TERRIBLY in timed mocks, I am only getting around 10/27 per section at the moment. I know that there are still 4 more months of preparation to be done, and I'm only 1 week into the journey, but I was just wondering what everyone else is getting at this time of the year??

Sorry no one replied to this, bit late but I will anyway.
I am also doing the ESAT in October and it hasn’t been going great…
My first chem mock went okay with 21/27 but then bio was 13/27 and I’m really struggling with timing for Maths 1 - I got 9/27 but 25/27 with no time limit.
Right now I’m focusing on working through the maths quicker.
How is your prep going?

Reply 2

Abbott123

OP

5

Original post

by Anonymous

Sorry no one replied to this, bit late but I will anyway.
I am also doing the ESAT in October and it hasn’t been going great…
My first chem mock went okay with 21/27 but then bio was 13/27 and I’m really struggling with timing for Maths 1 - I got 9/27 but 25/27 with no time limit.
Right now I’m focusing on working through the maths quicker.
How is your prep going?

It’s been super busy. I’ve just been stressing and prepping a lot. I’ve done a few mocks recently and am getting between 5-7 consistently now. I’ve tackled all knowledge gaps in the first half of summer so I’m just working on timing right now.

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

Original post

by Abbott123

It’s been super busy. I’ve just been stressing and prepping a lot. I’ve done a few mocks recently and am getting between 5-7 consistently now. I’ve tackled all knowledge gaps in the first half of summer so I’m just working on timing right now.

Any advice for improving speed without losing accuracy?

Reply 4

Anonymous #2

Original post

by Anonymous

Any advice for improving speed without losing accuracy?

really, this is just a test of ur raw problem solving and mathematical skill. cambridge have said it's not something u explicitly revise for like a levels but all u can do now is to practice timed conditions

Reply 5

andrewjs5813

6

Original post

by Abbott123

Im applying for cambridge engineering, Im pretty confident in all other areas of my application, but the one thing that has been stressing me out is the ESAT. I'm currently doing TERRIBLY in timed mocks, I am only getting around 10/27 per section at the moment. I know that there are still 4 more months of preparation to be done, and I'm only 1 week into the journey, but I was just wondering what everyone else is getting at this time of the year??

Hi there, completely understand why you’re feeling stressed, but honestly you’re in a very normal position right now.

The ESAT is designed to be extremely time-pressured, and even strong mathematicians and scientists often score much lower in their early attempts than they expect. Getting ~10/27 this early isn’t a sign you’re “terrible” at it, it’s just showing you what the test is supposed to show, that working efficiently under the clock is just as important as being able to solve the problems.

A few things that might help you to improve over the next couple of months:

•

Don’t judge progress too soon — your first few timed papers are more about learning pacing than scoring high.

•

Separate accuracy from speed — try questions untimed to make sure you can do them, then add the clock back in.

•

Focus on efficiency — look for quicker methods, approximations, or spotting when a long calculation isn’t needed. This is kay. The questions are usually designed so there are quick ways and long ways and it is identifying the quick ways that will get you the marks in the time allowed.

•

Build stamina gradually — shorter bursts under time pressure can help before jumping straight to full mocks.

You’ve still got time to build both speed and confidence. Most students improve steadily with consistent practice. I can point you to some free resources online if you want.

Reply 6

TheKnightmare24

11

Hello! I am an incoming first-year Cambridge Physical Natural Sciences student who sat the ESAT last year. I achieved top scores in the ESAT, including an 8.9 in Maths 2, which obviously contributed to my success.

One thing that I noticed was that there weren't nearly enough practice resources available online for me to comprehensively prepare. In my experience, ESAT Ninja wasn't useful, with many errors on the website.

As a result, over the summer I have created 3 sets of Maths 1 practice papers for students to use, which I believe reflect the standard of the ESAT. I plan to create a set of papers for Maths 2 as well as for Physics (since these were the modules I sat). If you are interested in purchasing or want any general tips, please send me a PM and we can discuss pricings etc from there.

Thank you and good luck everyone!

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