Discontinued test
Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment — Discontinued
The NSAA is no longer in use. Below: the active test that replaced it, the discontinuation context, and the next steps for current applicants.
Discontinued
The NSAA was discontinued in 2023 (last sitting for 2023 entry).
Cambridge Natural Sciences moved to the ESAT from 2024 entry onwards.
Now replaced by: ESAT
01Section 01
Overview — what changed and the test you sit now
01
Section 01
Overview — what changed and the test you sit now
The Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment (NSAA) was discontinued in 2023. Cambridge Natural Sciences applicants now sit the ESAT instead — see the ESAT guide for the current requirement.
The Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment (NSAA) is no longer a current admissions test. Cambridge Natural Sciences moved to the ESAT from 2024 entry onwards.
If you are applying for Cambridge Natural Sciences for 2027 entry, prepare for the ESAT — see the ESAT guide.
Past NSAA papers remain useful supplementary practice for the ESAT science sections; the question style and difficulty band are similar.
We do not offer a NSAA question bank or 1-to-1 sessions for NSAA preparation — the test is no longer in use. For the active replacement test (or to confirm whether your course requires any admissions test at all), contact us or open the replacement guide linked at the top of this page.
02Section 02
How the NSAA compares to its replacement
02
Section 02
How the NSAA compares to its replacement
Side-by-side with the ESAT that replaced the NSAA — what changed, and what to prepare for now.
Dimension
ESAT
NSAA
Status
Use ESAT
NSAA (discontinued)
Format
4-paper modular ESAT (Maths + Phys/Chem/Bio + Maths 2 for CS)
2-paper NSAA (Section 1 + Section 2 specialism)
Duration
2h 20m
2 hours
Scoring
1.0–9.0 per paper, scaled
1.0–9.0 per section
Centre
Pearson VUE (computer-based)
School-based, paper
Used by Cambridge
Yes (Natural Sciences via ESAT)
Yes