It is fairly well known that Cambridge update and change their Admissions Tests every few years.
Although it is hard to anticipate the changes, it is important to react to them quickly. This will give you plenty of time to study for any new Admissions Tests that may apply to you.
Please note, these changes are for 2023 applicants onwards (those of you planning to apply to Cambridge in Autumn 2022, this affects you).
Cambridge will release further information about the Admissions Test changes in April, so we are expecting additional changes to be announced next month. In the meantime, the University has been updating their course pages so for now, we will cover the Cambridge Admissions Test changes that have already been announced.
We will also be updating this article regularly with any news, so bookmark this guide, and make sure you review it again later to stay in the loop.
For the last few years, Cambridge Economics has become synonymous with the ECAA. However, all Economics applicants are now required to sit the Test of Mathematics for University Admission (TMUA).
Mature students (aged 21 or over) are not required to sit the test if they are applying to one of the mature colleges. If you are a mature student and you are applying to a standard college, then you must sit the TMUA.
Cambridge has decided to stop using the CLT and reverted back to the National Admissions Test for Law (LNAT). The LNAT is used as part of the Law admissions process for several other universities including Oxford, Durham, Bristol, LSE, King’s and UCL, along with some other non-UK universities such as the Singapore University of Social Sciences.
Cambridge has stressed that the deadline for sitting the LNAT is October the 15th, which is the same for Oxford Law applicants too.
Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA)
To some of you, this might come as a relief. The TSA is no longer required for Land Economy applicants. Cambridge will require submitted work, but their requirements for this will be made public in April, so it is worth checking the course page then.
The University has made it clear that no colleges require Land Economy applicants to take a written assessment.
English Literature Admissions Test (ELAT)
The ELAT was used as a pre-Interview Admissions Test for English applicants but Cambridge has decided to stop using it. All applicants are now required to sit a written assessment if they are shortlisted for Interview.
Pre-registration is not necessary as the colleges provide all the details directly to you.
Only one part of the NSAA is changing. From November 2022, the Section 2 Biology component will assume knowledge of advanced topics. This will bring it in line with Section 2 Physics and Chemistry which already assumes knowledge of advanced topics
The topics to be included will be detailed in an updated test specification which will be published in May 2022 along with a revised specimen question paper and explained answers.
Final Comments
Admissions Test changes occur every few years, but all essential information will be released by Cambridge in April, giving you plenty of time to still start working on your application early.
Although it may come as a surprise to you, particularly if you are expecting to sit the ECAA for Economics, you now have a good opportunity to adapt your Admissions Test revision plan and focus on a different syllabus. Fortunately, the new Admissions Tests will still have some similarities with the previous year’s Admissions Tests. For example, the LNAT and CLT both have longer essay questions, and the TMUA and ECAA both test mathematics.
We will be continuing to update this article regularly with any news, so make sure you come back and review it later.
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