As you may know, tests form one part of Oxford's admissions process and are used alongside a range of information to help us assess candidates’ academic potential and suitability for many of our courses. In 2025 all tests will be online and delivered via Pearson VUE’s established network of test centres. It remains the case that in 2025 there will be no charge for candidates to register for Oxford's own tests.
If you are applying for one of the following courses you will be required to sit the CAT: Classics, Classics and English, Classics and Modern Languages and Classics and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. Candidates for Classics and Modern Languages will also have to sit the MLAT.
The Classics Admissions Test consists of three separate computer-based tests:
- the Latin Translation Test
- the Greek Translation Test
- and the Classics Language Aptitude Test (CLAT).
Each test lasts 1 hour and is sat under timed exam conditions. Which tests you take depends on the course you are applying for, and whether you are studying Latin or Greek to A-level or equivalent. Full details as to which test you need to take, as well as links to practice materials, can be found on the following page: https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/guide/admissions-tests/cat.
In the page linked to above, you will often read: “If you are studying Latin or Greek to A-level or equivalent, you must take the Translation Test(s) in whichever of those languages you are studying”. Just to avoid any confusion, what this means is:
- If you are studying Latin to A-level or equivalent, you should take the Latin test
- If you are studying Greek to A-level or equivalent, you should take the Greek test
- If you are studying Latin AND Greek to A-level or equivalent, you should take the Latin test AND the Greek test
More information about what counts as an “equivalent school-leaving qualification” to A-level can be found here: https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/for-international-students/international-qualifications
Information about the registration date will be published soon. Candidates will take the CAT on Wednesday 22 October, Thursday 23 October and Friday 24 October 2025.
Click here for Test preparation and practice materials
