Section SA: Scientific Thinking and Academic Literacy.
Ten Scientific Thinking questions, then ten Academic Literacy questions, in 45 minutes.
| Area | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Mathematical thinking | Interpreting graphs; predicting changes in simple formulas; substituting into formulas; symbols in place of variables, including simultaneous equations; ordering numbers, including decimals and negatives; orders of magnitude and conversions |
| Procedural thinking | Following a procedure or flow chart; predicting the effect of a change in an interconnected system; collecting elements from different sets; testing data against a theory; selecting relevant data; choosing the concept map that best summarises a text |
| Visual thinking | Thinking in three dimensions; complementary shapes; mirror images; visual patterns from a description or an example; careful observation, including where objects sit relative to one another; describing a picture or a set of elements |
Academic Literacy uses texts of about 700 words, adapted from real scientific sources, at CEFR level C1 and above. The questions test critical thinking, scanning for specific details, skimming for the main ideas, careful reading across paragraphs, and the meaning of words and sentences.
Section BC: Biology and Chemistry.
Ten Biology and ten Chemistry questions in 35 minutes, on the school syllabus below.
| Biology | Chemistry |
|---|---|
| The chemistry of living things | Structure of matter and the periodic table |
| The cell as the basis of life | Chemical bonding and properties of matter |
| Bioenergetics | Stoichiometry and chemical reactions |
| Reproduction and inheritance | Equilibria, acids and bases, and redox reactions |
| Inheritance and environment; anatomy and physiology of animals and humans | Fundamentals of organic chemistry |
Section MP: Mathematics and Physics.
Ten Mathematics and ten Physics questions in 40 minutes, without a calculator.
| Mathematics | Physics |
|---|---|
| Algebra and number sets | Measures and kinematics |
| Functions | Dynamics |
| Geometry and trigonometry | Fluid mechanics and optics |
| Logic and mathematical reasoning | Thermodynamics |
| Probability, statistics and combinatorics | Electrostatics and electrodynamics |
After enrolment: the OFA check.
Your answers count after admission too. Enrolled students who answer fewer than 5 of the 10 questions correctly in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics or Physics must attend remedial courses (OFA) in the September induction weeks and pass a final test before they can sit their course exams.