Design Engineering at Imperial College London

For 2027 entry, Design Engineering applicants must take the Engineering and Science Admissions Test, usually shortened to ESAT. The required ESAT modules are Mathematics 1 and Mathematics 2.

The ESAT is run by University Admissions Tests UK and delivered by Pearson through the Pearson VUE test-centre network. UAT-UK lists two test windows for this cycle: 12-16 October 2026 and 4-8 January 2027.

Account creation, access-arrangements requests and bursary applications open on 1 June 2026 at 3pm BST. October booking opens on 20 July 2026 at 3pm BST and closes on 28 September 2026 at 6pm BST. January booking opens on 26 October 2026 at 3pm GMT and closes on 21 December 2026 at 6pm GMT.

October results are released on 16 November 2026, and January results are released on 8 February 2027. UAT-UK states that there is no ESAT pass/fail score, so applicants should not treat any unofficial score as a guaranteed threshold.

For international applicants, the test gives Imperial another common measure across qualifications and school systems. It is a major comparative tool because all applicants must sit ESAT, but it is used alongside other application information rather than as a published cutoff. We recommend planning test-centre booking early, especially where local delivery dates or capacity may be tighter.

For Design Engineering, the personal statement should not read like a generic Engineering statement. It helps to show how you move between a mathematical idea, a physical or digital prototype, and a user or market constraint.

Use one or two examples in depth rather than a long list of activities. Because ESAT and the interview already test mathematical aptitude, the statement can focus on design process: the problem you noticed, the model or method you used, the trade-off you faced, and how your design changed after testing.

Avoid claiming certainty about a single career path too early. The course combines design, engineering, product development and a placement, so a good statement can show curiosity across those areas without pretending to have solved your whole future.

For this course, portfolio preparation is best treated as interview preparation rather than as a separate upload. Pick one project that lets you show problem framing, constraints, testing and iteration.

A concise showcase should make the design decision-making visible: what evidence you used, what failed, what changed, and what you would improve next. Avoid relying only on polished visuals; the strongest discussion is usually the reasoning behind the prototype or artefact.

UCAS states that Imperial uses a holistic admissions approach and considers contextual information. For this course, that means contextual circumstances should be presented as part of how the application is reviewed, not as a guaranteed reduced offer unless Imperial's current contextual-admissions policy confirms that for Design Engineering.

Applicants should make sure relevant school, access, disability or extenuating-circumstances context is supplied through the correct UCAS, reference or official university route. The practical point is that strong academic evidence, ESAT performance, interview performance and design/project evidence still need to be read together rather than reduced to a single cutoff.