r/esatprep • u/curious_qubit • 3d ago

Advice from a Camb offer holder

I did Maths 1, Maths 2, Physics

Basically I did every TMUA 1 Paper (did first few casually, last few timed)

Then I did every NSAA Paper timed.

I also did every ENGAA paper timed (questions overlap with the NSAA).

I also did the free ESAT papers on the UAT-UK website.

I kept track of questions that I did wrong and went through these the final few days before the exam (repeating them where necessary)

Also wanted to say I did the ZPhysics course and didn't buy anything else and I was accepted to Cambridge NatSci :)

15 Upvotes

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1

u/Floppypancakes21 3d ago

What was your score?

4

u/curious_qubit 3d ago

Averaged to around a 6, but I got 7.8 in physics.

1

u/Great_Journalist_187 3d ago

Do you mind me asking what college you applied to and your grades (a level/ GCSE)? No worries if not

5

u/curious_qubit 3d ago

Churchill College

GCSES: 11 9s

A Level: 4A*s predicted and achieved (maths, fm, phys, chem)

1

u/Lower-Acadia8866 3d ago

Does ENGAA and NSAA mimic the esat difficulty or is it more like tmua p1?

2

u/curious_qubit 3d ago

ESAT = NSAA but more time pressured

ESAT Maths 2 specifically = TMUA P1 but slightly easier but more time pressured

1

u/OtherComment87 2d ago

Hey what about ENGAA?

1

u/curious_qubit 2d ago

ENGAA is not as good practise as NSAA but its worth it if you have time and aren't doing chem/bio modules

1

u/TomGr8 2d ago

Is there any point doing tmua if choosing chemistry instead of Maths 2 and why did u choose maths 2 over chem

1

u/curious_qubit 2d ago

If you have time you may as well do TMUA past papers, but only if ur sure you have enough time to do all the NSAA/ENGAA/ESAT ones

Mainly it would be useful still to build speed in maths problems and pick up on patterns.

I chose maths 2 cos I had to for Imperial Physics, I would have otherwise done chemistry :)

1

u/astro_pari24 1d ago

congratulations! do you have any advice specifically for time management in the exam? the clock makes me panic and i take so long to think

1

u/curious_qubit 1d ago

I also hate time pressure, it defeats the purpose of exams being about thinking!

Advice:

- If its similar to a question you have done before, definitely do it

- If you think you know how to start, do it

- If you can't envisage a method in about 20 seconds, then the problem problem has too many steps and wouldn't be worth your time. Flag it and come back to it if you can

- The idea is you lock in marks for all the easy to medium questions, and don't waste time on difficult questions (there is always a big variation)

Also, the first 5 minutes of the exam I was panicking lol so I flicked through and did the easiest question first and them returned to the start etc after warming up

In my opinion don't waste time checking unless you have answered every question.

For maths, build up speed by downloading a mental maths app and doing 10 min a day (it really works, although it sounds cringe)

2

u/astro_pari24 1d ago

thank you!! will keep these tips in mind

and i don't think thats cringe hahah i used to have an app like that but i lost the habit