Official links every biology applicant needs

Last checked 29 August 2026. Course requirements and dates change between cycles, so treat the official page as the truth and this as a way of finding it quickly.

Everything you need comes from the universities themselves; it's just scattered across a dozen sites. These links go straight to source.

• The ESAT
• Cambridge courses
• Oxford courses
• Imperial courses
• Applying through UCAS
• If UCL is on your list
• Going further with the subject

The ESAT

Every biological sciences applicant to Cambridge or Imperial, and Biomedical Sciences at Oxford, sits the Engineering and Science Admissions Test. You take Maths 1, and biology applicants take Biology and Chemistry alongside it. For 2027 entry, registration closes on 28 September 2026 and the test is sat between 12 and 16 October 2026.

• UAT-UK: the official ESAT site
  Who runs the test, what's in it, and the current dates.
• UAT-UK: register and book
  You register with UAT-UK and sit the test at a Pearson VUE centre. Sort access arrangements or a bursary before you book.
• Cambridge's ESAT guidance
  Which modules Cambridge asks for, course by course.
• Imperial's ESAT guidance
  Imperial fixes the modules at Maths 1, Biology and Chemistry.

Cambridge courses

These are the biological courses at Cambridge that use the ESAT. Cambridge asks for Maths 1 plus any two modules, so you choose your other two.

• Natural Sciences (BCF0)
  The main route for biologists. You specialise as you go, starting broad in the first year.
• Veterinary Medicine (D100)
• Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (H810)
• School of the Biological Sciences
  The bigger picture of biology at Cambridge, and the departments behind the teaching.
• Cambridge admission tests, in full

Oxford courses

Of the biological courses at Oxford, only Biomedical Sciences uses the ESAT (Maths 1 plus any two). Biochemistry and Biology are here too, because they're where a lot of biologists actually end up.

• Biomedical Sciences (BC98)
  The Oxford course that sits the ESAT.
• Biochemistry (Molecular and Cellular)
  No admissions test, but a demanding science course worth knowing about.
• Biology
  The merged four-year Biology course, molecules through to ecology. No admissions test.
• Oxford undergraduate admissions

Imperial courses

Imperial uses the ESAT for all five of its biological BSc courses, and fixes the modules at Maths 1, Biology and Chemistry, so there's nothing to choose. They all sit in the Department of Life Sciences.

• Department of Life Sciences, undergraduate courses
  All five courses below, in one place.
• Biochemistry BSc
• Biotechnology BSc
  Shares a department page with Biochemistry.
• Biological Sciences BSc
• Ecology and Environmental Biology BSc
• Microbiology BSc

Applying through UCAS

Every undergraduate application goes through UCAS. For Oxford and Cambridge the deadline falls in mid-October, well before the January deadline for most other universities, so build your year around the earlier one.

• UCAS undergraduate
  Where the application itself lives, and the deadlines for each course.

If UCL is on your list

UCL sets no admissions test for biological sciences, so if it's your firm or insurance choice, the ESAT isn't something you need to plan around. It's a common and sensible pairing with an Oxbridge or Imperial application.

• Biological Sciences BSc
• Biomedical Sciences BSc

Going further with the subject

The best applications come from students who follow biology past the syllabus. These are the official and genuinely useful places to do that, plus my own guides.

• My guide to biology super-curriculars
  Every free competition, placement and programme worth knowing about, and what to ask a teacher for.
• HE+ (Cambridge)
  Super-curricular material written by Cambridge students and academics.
• Oxford's list of academic competitions
  Maintained by the university, so more reliable than most aggregated lists.
• My free resources
  Guides and live sessions.

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