Can you use BMAT papers to prepare for ESAT Biology?

27 October 2026. Check dates and module requirements against UAT-UK and your universities before you book.

Yes, as extra practice, once you've used the official ESAT material first. The biology in BMAT Section 2 overlaps a lot with ESAT Biology, but there are two catches: each BMAT paper only has seven biology questions, and BMAT never tested plant transport, which ESAT does.

The question comes up a lot on student forums, usually because the official ESAT bank feels small. Here's how the two tests actually compare, and how I'd use BMAT papers if you want more questions.

How the two tests compare

The BMAT was a medicine and biomedical admissions test. Its last sitting was in October 2023, so nobody takes it now, but its past papers are still around. Section 2 was the science section.

Where they overlap. Most of BMAT's biology content is also in ESAT Biology: cells, movement across membranes, cell division, inheritance and genetic crosses, DNA and protein synthesis, enzymes, human physiology, homeostasis, and ecosystems. The style is similar too. Both test whether you can use GCSE knowledge quickly in a situation you haven't seen before.

Where they don't.

• Plants. BMAT's biology section was built for medicine. Apart from basic plant cell structure and photosynthesis as part of food chains and the carbon cycle, it didn't cover plants. ESAT Biology includes plant physiology, such as transport in xylem and phloem, transpiration and stomata. You'll need to practise those elsewhere.
• Medical topics. BMAT included things like contraception, HIV and the development of new medicines, which suited medicine applicants. Check anything that feels clinical against the ESAT specification before you spend time on it.
• Volume. Seven questions a paper means that working through a whole BMAT paper gives you very little biology practice. Pull the biology questions out instead.
• Pace. BMAT gave you less time per question. Practising at BMAT pace can help with speed, as long as you also practise at ESAT pace so you know what 40 minutes for 27 questions feels like.
• Maths. ESAT Biology questions lean heavily on calculation and data handling, and the ESAT specification treats Maths 1 as assumed knowledge. Practise the numerical biology questions in particular.

What to use, in order

UAT-UK, which runs the ESAT, says everything you need is on its own website and Pearson's, free. I'd start there and only reach for BMAT once you've used it up.

1. The ESAT specification and the ESAT Guide to Biology. Go through the topic list and mark anything you haven't covered at school. Plants and anything you didn't do at GCSE are the usual gaps.
2. The official specimen and practice tests. These run in the same Pearson software as the real test, so do them on a computer, timed.
3. Old NSAA papers. The NSAA was Cambridge's Natural Sciences test before the ESAT. UAT-UK hosts the 2016 to 2023 papers with answer keys, and has marked the questions that fall outside the ESAT specification. Use the biology section of each.
4. BMAT Section 2 biology questions, as extra drilling once you've done the above.

How to use BMAT papers well

• Take out the seven biology questions from each paper and work through them in batches, rather than sitting whole papers.
• Check each question against the ESAT specification and skip the ones that aren't on it.
• Time yourself at about 90 seconds a question, which is ESAT pace. Once that feels comfortable, try a batch at BMAT pace to push your speed.
• Keep a list of what you get wrong, by topic and by type of mistake: didn't know it, misread it, slipped on the maths, or ran out of time. That list tells you what to practise next far better than your total score does.
• Fill the plant gap separately. Use GCSE-level questions on transpiration, xylem, phloem and stomata, then try the plant questions in the NSAA papers.

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Written by Flora, who teaches this. More about me, or email me a question.