- Welcome to the
admissions testing session.

My name is Caitriona Woolhouse.

I'm the head of outreach delivery,

both in the UK and also internationally

at the University of Oxford,

and I'm delighted to be able
to be here to talk to you

about one of my favourite
topics, admissions testing.

So we'll run through a
number of different kinds

of elements today, including
why universities choose

to ask students to take admissions tests

or admissions assessments,
which universities

and which courses tend to use them

and the kinds of tests that they use.

And then we'll go into
a little bit more detail

about the universities
of Oxford and Cambridge

who tend to do kind of most
of the admissions tests

for students who are applying for courses

that they offer at their universities.

And then we'll move on
a little bit to talk

about how students
might be able to prepare

for those admissions tests.

So first of all, why are
universities using admissions tests

and why are they useful to us as part

of our admissions process?

Part of the issue that many universities

and courses have is that
the students who apply

to them are all very, very well qualified,

they will all have really
great predictive grades

in their IB or German
armature or French bac

or their US qualifications.

And on paper, it can be quite
difficult to kind of assess

between those students,

between those who are
really, really very good,

and those who are truly outstanding.

So what many universities
and courses try to do is

to set students are really
kind of challenging tests,

it will be, many of these tests
are very, very stretching.

And what that allows us to do
is that with all the students

who are very much clustered
amongst the top end

of any ability scale
that you're looking at,

it spreads those out
and gives us a much more

kind of normalised distribution
curve across those students.

It's also really, really
useful to us to have a

kind of common piece
of data and with which

we can compare applicants
one against another.

As you know, many universities

have students applying
to us from all the way

around the world with all sorts

of different kinds of qualifications.

And being able to kind
of Judge one student

against another is quite challenging

when one student is
studying a US qualification,

another student is studying A Levels

and another one is studying the IB.

So by setting all of them
exactly the same test

at the same point in time,

allows us to kind of move
fairly and sort of judge

between all of those
different kinds of students.

It also reduces our need

to rely solely on predicted grades.

And it also gives us a
little bit more information

about those students that
isn't necessarily found

within the qualifications
that they're currently taking,

the kinds of skills and
aptitudes that they would need

in order to be able to progress well

onto the courses that we offer.

And also this is certainly true
at the University of Oxford,

we of course interview all
of our successful applicants

and the amount of interview
slots that we have available

for students is limited and
by the number of students

that we're able to kind of see either

kind of virtually or in person.

And so it means that by
using an admissions test,

it allows us to concentrate
those interview resources

on those students who are most
likely to achieve an offer.

So there are many reasons
why different institutions

and different courses might use tests,

but that's the kind of brief
summary of some of them.

So the kinds of tests that there are out

there are really quite varied.

Typically, what they will
be asking students to do is

to kind of apply whatever
they're studying at the moment

or what they've studied in the past,

to offer new and kind
of different materials

and things that they
might have been presented

to them in the past.

So, for example, our History Aptitude Test

at the University of
Oxford is very much a kind

of source analysis test,
which students will be used

to be doing throughout
their current studies,

no matter where they're studying,

and they'll be asked to apply
it onto either a time period

or to the study of a country
that they will be very

unlikely to have studied before as part

of their current curriculum.

And often, they'll be
asked to interpret data

or perhaps in arguments,

they might be asked to kind of,

which of these statements
best sums up this argument

or perhaps the flaw in this argument.

And that's often done in some of the

kind of multiple choice type tests

that many institutions
ask students to take.

Often, and the kinds of things,

the kind of skills that
a university is looking

for are things like, problem
solving, being logical,

critical thinking, those kinds of things.

And many of the tests try to
draw that out of students.

Some of them will ask students
to write essays as well.

So we're looking at their
essay writing skills,

how they can build an
argument and comprehension

and that sort of thing as well.

In terms of the methods
that comes in a multitude

of different ways, depending on the course

that a student is applying for in the test

that they're taking.

Quite a lot of the courses
are multiple choice.

And they come out and kind
of various different ways.

And we'll talk a little
bit more about each

of those tests in a little while.

Sometimes they ask students to
kind of write short answers.

And then they might give them
a maximum number of lines

or a maximum number of words
that they're able to answer.

And then finally, in
quite a few of the tests,

they are asked to write essays as well.

So we're looking there
at their kind of planning

and how they're able to kind
of structure their argument

and structure their
essay, as well as kind of

what the content of those is as well.

In terms of the kind
of method of delivery,

the vast majority of these are
kind of pen and paper tests,

some are done online.

And for example, the LNAT test,

the Law National Admissions
Test is one that is done online.

In these changing times,
and it's quite difficult

to say how these things
might kind of adapt

and change as we go forward.

But universities are
working very, very closely

with our kind of testing
agencies and colleagues

to try and work out what we
might be able to do going

forward and whether that
might potentially change.

So I thought I'd give you
a couple of little examples

from some of the
admissions tests to let you

kind of have a think about
them as we go through,

so you're not just
listening to me talking.

So this here is an example
of a question from the BMAT.

So I'll give you a few
moments to have a read

over this question.

Okay, so this is a kind of
a typical kind of question

from the BMAT, the BMAT comes in

in a number of different sections.

And this one is kind
of quite a lot in terms

of critical thinking, but
it does use some of their

kind of mathematical ability as well.

This question, the answer to
it, in case you're wondering,

and everyone's at home
can put their hands up,

I don't want to,

the answer is D, on this question.

Okay, so which UK universities

and different courses require
students to take tests

and you can find a really
useful summary of this

on the website that's listed
here on the UCAS website.

It gives you a summary of
all of the different courses

that ask students to take tests

and also universities as well.

So, on the left hand side
here, then you'll see

that a number of courses
that typically ask students

to take tests so, law is
very common for students

to be expected to take an admissions test

as part of their application process.

If students are applying to
the University of Cambridge,

they would be expected to
take the Cambridge Law Test.

And a number of UK universities,

including the University of
Oxford use the LNAT test,

the National Admissions Test for Law.

Many courses also ask
the course of mathematics

and ask students to take admissions tests,

the admissions assessments.

Some universities use the
Maths Admissions Tests,

including the University of Oxford.

There is also a test called
the Test of Mathematics

for University Admissions as
well for some universities.

And finally, there's the
Sixth Term Examination Paper.

This is sort of an extension mathematics

from this course that students
would kind of take later on,

and often the results of that
are part of a student's offer,

rather than taking place of
them before the offers are

kind of sent out as the
other maths tests do.

It's extremely common as
you are likely to know

that medical courses will ask students

to take admissions tests.

There are a few different types

the BMAT, the Biomedical Admissions Test

and the UCAT, the Universities
Clinical Aptitude Tests are

probably the most common
in terms of medical courses

across the UK.

But there is also an additional
one that students are hoping

to study and health
professions test courses

at the University of Ulster.

They'll be expected to take the HPAT.

And these tests are quite
different from one another.

And it partly reflects the kind of courses

that students will be going
on to at the universities.

As you will likely know,
in UK, medical schools,

there are sort of two
slightly different forms

of medical study, one of which is

kind of an academic route, if you like,

which is something that
the University of Oxford

certainly does, where your kind of

first three is a medical sciences course,

and then the second three
years of the course is where

you will very much be
based within a hospital.

And you will apply that academic knowledge

to that practical setting in the following

kind of three years.

For other universities,

it's much more kind of
problem based learning

and integrated, and where students will be

kind of in hospitals as well
as within the classrooms

throughout their course.

So it's not always exactly the case.

But usually, if universities offer

that kind of academic form of course,

then it's likely that
students will be expected

to take the BMAT test.

If they're doing one of
the more problem based

kind of learning and
the integrative course,

then it's likely that
they will be expected

to take the UCAT.

And unfortunately, what
that probably means

for your students is they
might well be applying

for different kinds of
courses at UK universities.

And the likelihood is
that they might well have

to take both the BMAT and the UCAT,

which require quite different skills

in terms of their preparation.

Some courses also expect students

to take a thinking skills assessment.

This looks at kind of problem solving

and critical reasoning and
kind of logical thought

and that sort of thing.

There is a TSA Cambridge,
TSA Oxford, and also TSA UCL

and at Oxford, we use it for a number

of different courses that we offer.

And in terms of the different universities

that ask students to
take admissions tests,

there are in fact, 59
universities and colleges

within the UK that
require some form of tests

as part of their admissions process,

not for every course in every university,

every one of these 59
universities, but for some.

But I would say that probably
the University of Oxford

and the University of Cambridge have the

most comprehensive use
of admissions testing

or admissions assessments.

And I'll talk about a little
bit more about kind of what

we're looking for in just a sec.

So, at the University of Cambridge,

they do a number of
pre-interview assessments.

So these are the ones that will be taken

usually early November, and
that's the chemical engineering,

computer science, economics,
engineering, English,

land economy, medicine, natural sciences

and veterinary medicine.

They also have a number of assessments

that might will take place at interview.

And you can see there at
the bottom of the slides.

For 2021 entry, there
are a number of courses

that all colleges will expect students

to take an admissions
test if they're applying

for that course.

And there are some colleges that will

also require additional
tests depending on the course

that they're applying for,
as you can see at the bottom.

But if you'd like any more
information about those,

please do go on to the
University of Cambridge website

and there's much more information there.

In terms of the University of Oxford,

we have a number of different tests

that we ask students to take.

We have the BioMedical Admissions Test,

the BMAT for our medical sciences courses,

the Classics Admissions Tests,

the English Literature Admissions Test,

Geography Admissions Tests,
History Admissions Test,

LNAT as many other UK universities have,

the MAT, the Math Admissions Test,

the MLAT, the Modern
Languages Admissions Test,

the OLAT, Oriental
Languages Aptitude Test,

a Physics Aptitude Test, a Philosophy Test

for those who are applying
for philosophy and theology,

and also the TSA, which a
number of our different courses

at Oxford ask students to take

and for entry to those courses.

So here is another example,
this time it's from the TSA,

as I said a few universities use this

and for a number of their courses.

I will give you a moment to
have a read over this question.

Okay, if we were around in person,

I would be asking you to
kind of raise your hands.

I don't have a voting kind of option

on this presentation, unfortunately.

But you can also shout out your answers

at the screen without the risk of feeling

like you might get it wrong.

The correct answer on this one is B,

from the fact that the data
about the orbits is old,

it cannot be inferred
that it is inaccurate.

So the TSA is kind of mostly
a multiple choice test.

And a lot of what this is,
is being able to kind of read

and assimilate information quite quickly.

And then it's also kind of exam etiquette,

we're looking at the different responses

that you can see there at the bottom,

a couple of them can be kind
of dismissed immediately,

straight out of hand.

And then often there are three that you

kind of have to decide between.

With the TSA, there is no
kind of negative marking.

So it means that if a
student could have a guess,

that's better than kind of
not finishing the entirety

of the whole test, it's better
for them to have a guess

even if they're not 100% sure

because there's no negative marking.

Unfortunately, also, there's no half marks

for nearly there answers.

It's either yes, right or no, wrong

and you get a point or no points.

And the TSA test, I think
it's quite a fun test.

It's quite an interesting
kind of logical reasoning test

and it's good fun to have a
go at if you fancy doing it.

The thing that makes the TSA really,

really difficult is the time pressure.

And the number of questions
that students have to get

through in that amount
of time is quite high.

And for example, this
question, you would have needed

to have completed it in
probably less than two minutes

in order to be able to complete
the entirety of the paper.

So kind of giving you that bit of context,

it allows you to see some
of the challenge that exists

within many of the admissions
tests that we offer.

So a little bit then about kind

of logistics and registration.

This is a really key part
of the whole of the process.

And it starts reasonably early.

Now both the UCAS website
and the UCAS application,

and university websites
are really, really clear

on when students need to
take an admissions test

and which ones they'll
need to set as well.

It is very much the students
responsibility to make sure

they are registered for those
tests and deadlines for them

might well vary and I'll
come on to that a little bit

more in a moment.

I know that you will want to be supporting

your students as well.

But it is their
responsibility to make sure

that this is done.

It's also worth bearing in
mind that students might have

to take more than one test.

So it's worth them double checking that.

It is a two step process
typically for most of the tests.

First of all, they need to
be able to find a test centre

where they can take the test.

And then the second step
is that they must register

at that test centre.

And just to kind of a warning here,

if students don't take the
admissions test, or in fact,

don't register for the admissions test

that is related to the course
that they want to apply to,

then their application will
be significantly affected.

So it's really, really important
it is taken into account

as part of the whole of
the admissions process.

So it's really, really
important that they make sure

that they are kind of paying attention

to the registration process,

and also kind of preparing
well for those tests

when they come about.

So the first step then kind of
registering as a test centre,

this is for all of the kind
of University of Oxford

and many of the University
of Cambridge tests as well

and also TSA, too.

So the first step then,
kind of registering,

kind of finding a test
centre for the students.

Now, as a kind of centre of learning,

you have an option here, if you would like

to become a test centre,

then you are kind of
very welcome to do so.

And there's a couple
of options within that,

you can either choose to be a test centre,

that is essentially a closed test centre,

which is kind of just for your students

within your school taking that test.

If you would like to be
really, really altruistic

and open yourself up for other
students in the local area

to come and take the test
at your school as well,

there is also an option to do that,

but there's no compulsion to do so.

And, it's kind of reasonably
easy for you to be able

to register as a test centre,

you have to fill out a number
of kind of different forms,

kind of checking that you
have the right facilities

within the school to be
able to administer it.

And then they will come back to you.

But it can take a little while

for Cambridge assessment
admissions testing

to be able to get back to you.

So our suggestion is that you
try and do this by September.

So essentially, if you
can start the process now,

that would be a really,
really positive thing,

and then you can be registered
as that test centre.

The other option for students
if your school isn't able

to register as a test
centre, then they can look

for other local test centres and if you go

into the Cambridge assessment websites,

you'll be able to find their
links to local test centres

in countries all the way across the world.

So it's worth having a look at that

if you're not able to be a
test centre for your students.

And as I said, step two is that
students must be registered

at that test centre, so
whether it's your test centre

within the school or another
local test centre nearby

to where you live, then it doesn't matter,

but must be registered.

And the deadlines for
these registration do vary

by course and by University.

So it's really important

that they check the
websites very carefully.

So a kind of small example
here is, so for the UCAT,

at the moment they haven't confirmed

what the deadlines will be for 2021 entry

kind of due to current circumstances,

I imagine that they will
do so fairly shortly.

BMAT offers students multiple
sittings throughout the year,

and for different universities will

only accept certain ones of those.

So it's really important that they check,

which BMAT sitting the
institution will accept.

For LNAT, the deadline does
vary by different universities.

At Oxford For example, we
expect students to register

by the 15th of September,

but many other universities
don't expect students

to register until the 15th of January,

so do check the law websites
for each university there.

For most University, Oxford

and University of Cambridge test,

the deadline is exactly the
same as the UCAS deadline,

which is 6p.m. on the 15th of October,

they must be registered by that point.

And typically the tests will
take place in the autumn

before that entry into the university.

And that's certainly true
of Oxford and Cambridge,

it's typically either very late in October

or early in November.

If students are kind of
going to open test centres,

then they should be aware
that some of them do fill

up before the deadline, and
tend to have limited numbers

of spaces within their testing centres.

So if they can register early,

that will be a positive thing for them.

So then, in terms of preparation,

how can students prepare for
some of these admissions tests.

Of course, working out which tests

they're going to have to
take is the very first step.

But it kind of depends a
little bit on the kind of tests

that a student is going to take.

So this is the advice
that we give to students

who are applying to Oxford.

But it can definitely be
applied to many other tests

across a UK universities.

So if students are applying typically

for a scientific subject
or mathematics at Oxford,

and also some of our kind of
Modern Language Tests as well,

they do require a certain level

of knowledge and understanding.

And the websites that we have
at Oxford have a kind of list

of different topics or a
syllabus for students to be able

to revise in order to help
them with their preparation.

So it's really, really
helpful for them to be able

to kind of revise as if they're taking

their most recent examinations again

in the topics that are
listed on the website

to make sure that they
feel that they have a

really strong grounding
in that subject knowledge

that they can then apply to these new

and slightly different
situations that they're likely

to be presented with when it
comes to the admissions tests.

And when it comes to things like history,

English, languages, most of
our kind of humanity subjects,

practising  kind of similar
exercise is helpful.

As I said at the beginning,
the history test is very much a

kind of source analysis test.

For English, it's a kind of
compare and contrast literature.

Typically, they'll be
presented with maybe six pieces

of prose and poetry all
along the same theme.

And the students will
be expected to compare

and contrast those.

So doing those kinds of exercises

within the classroom is going

to be really helpful preparation.

So essentially, just working
hard in school is going to

really prepare them well for these tests.

But for all of our tests,

and the most important preparation

that students can do is practise,

and in terms of that practise,
we have specimen papers

and past papers available for
pretty well all of our tests.

Certainly at Oxford, we have past papers

and mark schemes available for
all of the admissions tests

that we will ask students to do.

And one of the main reasons
why practise is really,

really important, is that
it gives them the ability

to familiarise themselves
with the content of the test.

And also looking at the format as well.

How the questions are
asked can be really helpful

so that they're not kind
of presented with it

as the first time when
they sit the test for real.

And in terms of the format kind of thing,

I mean, for example, for maths,

and our Maths admissions Test,
in many, many qualifications,

in examinations, students
will kind of be asked

to solve a problem and they
will be given an indication of

what kind of formula or
method they might like to use

to be able to get to the conclusion.

Typically, in our Maths Admissions Tests,

we will just give them the problem.

And then there's that
additional thinking stage

to be able to say, "Okay,
what kind of formula?

"What kind of method would I need to use

"to be able to get to the
conclusion of this question?"

So it's a slightly
different way of thinking

and knowing that they will
be presented with that is a

really helpful kind of preparation.

Also part of it is kind of looking

at the format of those tests.

So thinking about where do
the big mark questions come?

To avoid the case where
students spend a long time

on some of the early questions,

which actually don't have very many marks,

and have limited time to put
towards the big mark questions

towards the end of the test.

But one of the really,
really crucial things

about this practise is that they do it

under timed conditions.

So yes, have a look at one
or two at your leisure.

Let them kind of look
through all of the questions,

think about the kinds of formats
and those sorts of things.

But one of the really
crucial things is for them

to do it under timed conditions

because one of the key challenges of many

of the admissions tests is
how quickly they have to move

through the paper to
be able to complete it.

So if they haven't practised
under timed conditions,

and they're not having a realistic vision

of what it's going to be like
in that exam environment.

So if that is something
that you can facilitate

within your schools, that would be a

really brilliant preparation.

They can of course do it themselves,

but it might kind of help a little bit

in terms of discipline if you are

kind of setting the times for them.

And then as I said, we do
have mark schemes available

on our website too.

So you're able to look back over

and see how the student might have done.

So a few kind of final points then.

It's really important
for students to remember

that the delivery of marks
very much varies by subject.

It also varies by cohort and by year.

So this is one of the reasons why we don't

at Oxford reveal the results
of the admissions tests

until after the whole of
the admissions process

has been completed.

So for example, for us in
our Physics Admissions Test,

a few years ago, a mark
of 40% in the thing meant

that many students would
be offered an interview

at the university, whereas
students who are studying maths

and physics type subjects,

they might be used to getting 99, 100%

in many of their modules,

and so to be presented
with a result like that,

they might expect that
their application is

completely finished and there's no point

in continuing with it,
when actually it was a

really good score in that particular year.

So that's why we don't reveal the results

of our admissions test at Oxford until

after the admissions process
has been kind of completed

and we're able to provide some
of that context to students.

And it's also worth
kind of bearing in mind

that it is used alongside
all other information

to help us decide who
should be interviewed,

and also potentially who
should be offered a place

at the universities afterwards as well.

So the kinds of things that we will take

into account is prior
academic achievement,

students predictive grades in
their current qualifications,

their personal statement, of course,

your teachers reference as well.

We will also look at
admissions test, sorry,

that part's going to come off
the bottom of the screen there,

written work and interviews.

So it is one part of a
much, much bigger whole

that we're trying to
build up kind of picture

of each student as an academic person

and these admissions tests
are one part of that puzzle

that are really, really
helpful to us to be able

to kind of build up that full picture.

So thank you very much for listening.

That's all I have to say today.

And I really appreciate you coming along

to hear a bit more about admissions tests.

And I'm really happy for you to direct

any particular questions that
you have to me here at Oxford.

So please, do get in touch if you have

any additional questions.

So thank you very much again,

and hopefully I'll look forward to seeing

some of you in person at some point soon.

Thank you, bye.