Imperial Acceptance Rate: Full Admissions Statistics 2026
Imperial College London’s acceptance rate for the 2025 UCAS cycle was 10.7%, with an offer rate of 24.0%. The intake was 33,923 undergraduate applications, 8,143 offers and 3,627 places confirmed, or roughly one applicant in nine. Both rates describe the same intake. Below the headline the picture varies enormously by course, and this page sets out all of it.
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What Imperial’s acceptance rate actually measures
Imperial publishes applications, offers and places confirmed separately, so two different rates can be calculated from the same intake, and both get quoted as the acceptance rate:
The offer rate is offers divided by applications: 24.0% for the 2025 cycle. The acceptance rate is the applicants who actually take up a place divided by applications: 10.7%. The acceptance rate is always the lower of the two, because Imperial makes more offers than it has places and many offer holders go elsewhere. Published figures for Imperial range from 6% to 34% largely because sources pick one of these without saying which, and some quote a single department.
Imperial states the practical consequence on its own admissions pages: meeting the entry requirements does not guarantee an offer, and it turns down large numbers of applicants who are predicted the grades it asks for.
The most competitive courses at Imperial
Offer rate is the sharpest measure of how hard a course is to get into. On this measure the hardest programmes at Imperial are not Medicine but Computing and Mathematics: Computing (Software Engineering) made 17 offers against 325 applications, an offer rate of 5.2%, and four of the ten most competitive programmes are mathematics degrees.
| Programme | Applications | Offers | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computing (Software Engineering) (MEng) | 325 | 17 | 5.2% |
| Mathematics with Statistics for Finance (BSc) | 444 | 25 | 5.6% |
| Mathematics with Statistics (BSc) | 422 | 37 | 8.8% |
| Mathematics and Computer Science (BEng) | 585 | 58 | 9.9% |
| Mathematics with Applied Mathematics/Mathematical Physics (BSc) | 307 | 36 | 11.7% |
| Computing (Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning) (MEng) | 782 | 99 | 12.7% |
| Electrical and Electronic Engineering (BEng) | 642 | 88 | 13.7% |
| Economics, Finance and Data Science (BSc) | 2,183 | 309 | 14.2% |
| Biotechnology (BSc) | 345 | 51 | 14.8% |
| Mechanical Engineering (MEng) | 2,650 | 406 | 15.3% |
The most applied-to courses
Application volume is a different ranking from competitiveness, and at Imperial the two come apart sharply. Mechanical Engineering attracts the most applicants of any Imperial degree, but its 15.3% offer rate is roughly three times as generous as Computing (Software Engineering). Medicine, which most people assume is the hardest thing to get into here, has an offer rate of 30.8%.
| Programme | Applications | Offers | Offer rate | Places |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical Engineering (MEng) | 2,650 | 406 | 15.3% | 186 |
| Economics, Finance and Data Science (BSc) | 2,183 | 309 | 14.2% | 162 |
| Medicine (MBBS) | 2,149 | 661 | 30.8% | 357 |
| Aeronautical Engineering (MEng) | 1,667 | 326 | 19.6% | 150 |
| Medical Biosciences | 1,633 | 309 | 18.9% | 154 |
| Mathematics (BSc) | 1,630 | 363 | 22.3% | 150 |
| Biochemistry (BSc) | 1,419 | 327 | 23.0% | 152 |
| Biological Sciences (BSc) | 1,294 | 444 | 34.3% | 154 |
| Computing (BEng) | 1,167 | 180 | 15.4% | 96 |
| Biomedical Engineering (MEng) | 1,081 | 335 | 31.0% | 136 |
Largest course by intake
Intake size is the third ranking, and it matters for a reason applicants rarely consider: a larger cohort absorbs more offer holders, so a strong application meets a wider door. Medicine confirms 357 places, more than twice the next largest programme.
| Programme | Places | Applications | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medicine (MBBS) | 357 | 2,149 | 30.8% |
| Mechanical Engineering (MEng) | 186 | 2,650 | 15.3% |
| Chemical Engineering (MEng) | 176 | 948 | 40.9% |
| Economics, Finance and Data Science (BSc) | 162 | 2,183 | 14.2% |
| Medical Biosciences | 154 | 1,633 | 18.9% |
| Biological Sciences (BSc) | 154 | 1,294 | 34.3% |
| Biochemistry (BSc) | 152 | 1,419 | 23.0% |
| Aeronautical Engineering (MEng) | 150 | 1,667 | 19.6% |
| Mathematics (BSc) | 150 | 1,630 | 22.3% |
| Biomedical Engineering (MEng) | 136 | 1,081 | 31.0% |
Offer rates by department
Departments group several degrees together, so the pattern is smoother than at programme level and more useful for judging where you stand. The spread is wide: Civil and Environmental Engineering made offers to 56.1% of applicants, Computing to 14.8%.
| Department | Applications | Offers | Places | Offer rate | Acceptance rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 3,900 | 718 | 264 | 18.4% | 6.8% |
| Computing | 3,206 | 476 | 255 | 14.8% | 8.0% |
| Mechanical Engineering | 2,650 | 406 | 186 | 15.3% | 7.0% |
| Business School | 2,183 | 309 | 162 | 14.2% | 7.4% |
| School of Medicine | 2,149 | 661 | 357 | 30.8% | 16.6% |
| Physics | 1,962 | 712 | 285 | 36.3% | 14.5% |
| Chemistry | 1,910 | 581 | 238 | 30.4% | 12.5% |
| Medical Biosciences | 1,864 | 376 | 182 | 20.2% | 9.8% |
| Biochemistry | 1,833 | 394 | 181 | 21.5% | 9.9% |
| Electrical and Electronic Engineering | 1,698 | 424 | 194 | 25.0% | 11.4% |
| Aeronautics | 1,667 | 326 | 150 | 19.6% | 9.0% |
| Biological Sciences | 1,626 | 528 | 180 | 32.5% | 11.1% |
| Bioengineering | 1,623 | 558 | 235 | 34.4% | 14.5% |
| Materials | 1,117 | 301 | 132 | 26.9% | 11.8% |
| Joint Maths and Computing | 1,040 | 137 | 57 | 13.2% | 5.5% |
| Chemical Engineering | 948 | 388 | 176 | 40.9% | 18.6% |
| Design Engineering | 782 | 181 | 103 | 23.1% | 13.2% |
| Earth Science and Engineering | 630 | 295 | 99 | 46.8% | 15.7% |
| Civil and Environmental Engineering | 483 | 271 | 133 | 56.1% | 27.5% |
| Pears Cumbria - Graduate Entry | 329 | 63 | 37 | 19.1% | 11.2% |
| All departments | 33,600 | 8,105 | 3,606 | 24.1% | 10.7% |
Home vs international applicants
Imperial is one of the most international universities in the country: 57.3% of its 2025 applications came from overseas fee status applicants. Unlike LSE, where overseas applicants fare at least as well as home applicants, Imperial shows a clear and consistent gap.
| Fee status | Applications | Offers | Places | Offer rate | Acceptance rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 12,427 | 4,066 | 1,704 | 32.7% | 13.7% |
| Overseas | 19,272 | 3,661 | 1,635 | 19.0% | 8.5% |
| European Union | 1,911 | 252 | 86 | 13.2% | 4.5% |
| All fee statuses | 33,610 | 7,979 | 3,425 | 23.7% | 10.2% |
Imperial suppresses any value of five or under, so the European Union row understates offers and places: 32 of its programme rows carry a suppressed cell. European Union fee status was withdrawn after Brexit and now covers only continuing eligibility, which is why the numbers are small.
Home applicants received offers at 32.7%, overseas applicants at 19.0%, so a home applicant is about 1.7 times as likely to receive an offer. The same gap runs through to places confirmed, 13.7% against 8.5%. Part of this is course mix, because overseas applications concentrate in the most competitive programmes, but the gap is too large and too consistent across departments to be explained by mix alone.
Applying from outside the UK? On Imperial’s own figures overseas applicants face a materially lower offer rate, and the process itself is unfamiliar: UCAS, the personal statement, the reference and the admissions tests all work differently from the systems most international families know, and the deadlines fall earlier than they expect.
See how our UK admissions support works →
The gap is not an artefact of one department. It holds across Engineering, Natural Sciences and Medicine alike, and it is widest in exactly the programmes that attract the most overseas applications. European Union fee status now covers only a small residual group after Brexit, and Imperial suppresses so many of its cells that its 13.2% offer rate should be read as a floor rather than a finding.
What has changed since 2020
This is the part no one else publishes. Every other source reports a single year, so the direction of travel is invisible. Across six cycles Imperial has become substantially harder to get into, and the reason is not the one most people assume.
Applications rose 31.6%, from 25,780 to 33,923. Places rose only 5.0%, from 3,454 to 3,627. But the decisive move is in the middle column: Imperial issued fewer offers in 2025 than in 2020, 8,143 against 8,758, a fall of 7.0%. More applicants chasing fewer offers is why the offer rate collapsed from 34.0% to 24.0% and why applicants per place went from 7.5 to 9.4.
| UCAS cycle | Applications | Offers | Places | Offer rate | Acceptance rate | Applicants per place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 25,780 | 8,758 | 3,454 | 34.0% | 13.4% | 7.5 |
| 2021 | 28,905 | 7,821 | 3,308 | 27.1% | 11.4% | 8.7 |
| 2022 | 28,877 | 7,616 | 3,092 | 26.4% | 10.7% | 9.3 |
| 2023 | 30,739 | 7,948 | 3,137 | 25.9% | 10.2% | 9.8 |
| 2024 | 32,887 | 8,264 | 3,474 | 25.1% | 10.6% | 9.5 |
| 2025 | 33,923 | 8,143 | 3,627 | 24.0% | 10.7% | 9.4 |
The same six years, drawn. Medicine is the exception that proves the pattern: its applications fell 36.1%, from 3,365 to 2,149, after the BMAT was withdrawn and the entry test changed. Everything else rose, Chemistry by 105% and Biomedical Engineering by 95%.
ESAT scores: what Imperial applicants actually achieved
Imperial requires the Engineering and Science Admissions Test for most of its engineering and science degrees, and it is one of the very few universities that publishes what applicants actually scored alongside what happened to their applications. Each ESAT module is marked from 1.0 to 9.0 and candidates sit three, so the totals below run to a maximum of 27.
| Department | Received an offer | Mean, offer holders | Mean, interviewed but rejected | Mean, not interviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aeronautics | 20.3% | 17.5 | 15.5 | 8.2 |
| Physics | 37.1% | 17.5 | no interview | 10.4 |
| Electrical and Electronic Engineering | 26.3% | 16.6 | 11.8 | 11.2 |
| Mechanical Engineering | 16.6% | 15.8 | 15.3 | 10.0 |
| Chemical Engineering | 43.5% | 14.2 | 14.2 | 5.9 |
| Civil and Environmental Engineering | 58.0% | 12.6 | no interview | 3.0 |
| Design Engineering | 24.5% | 8.9 | 11.4 | 7.3 |
| All departments | 22.0% | 9.7 | 10.6 | 4.1 |
Imperial publishes seven departments plus an all-department view on its dashboard; those are reproduced here. Each ESAT module is scored 1.0 to 9.0 and candidates sit three, so 27 is the ceiling and roughly 13.5 the midpoint.
The clearest signal in the data is not the difference between offer holders and rejections. It is the gap between applicants who reached interview and those who did not. Across all departments, applicants who were never interviewed averaged 4.1 out of 27, against 9.7 for offer holders and 10.6 for those interviewed and then turned down. The ESAT is behaving as the gate to interview rather than as the thing that decides the offer.
That also explains a result which looks wrong at first glance: across all departments, applicants who were interviewed and rejected averaged higher than those who received offers, 10.6 against 9.7. Imperial says as much itself: a high score does not mean an application will succeed, and a low one does not mean it will fail. Once you are through the door, the interview and the rest of the application decide.
Sitting the ESAT?
Imperial applicants who never reached interview averaged 4.1 out of 27. Those who did averaged around 10, and in the most competitive departments closer to 17. Sit a full paper under real timings and find out where you actually land before you commit a UCAS choice.
Take a free ESAT practice testOr talk to us about your Imperial application →| Group | Offer | Interviewed, rejected | Not interviewed | Mean, offer holders | Mean, not interviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home non-WP | 26.8% | 5.7% | 67.5% | 9.4 | 4.0 |
| Home WP | 28.4% | 10.0% | 61.7% | 8.4 | 2.3 |
| Overseas | 18.9% | 3.2% | 77.8% | 10.2 | 4.3 |
| All applicants | 22.0% | 4.6% | 73.4% | 9.7 | 4.1 |
Overseas applicants score higher than home applicants on the ESAT in every department Imperial publishes, and in seven of the eight views they are still less likely to receive an offer.
The other pattern is harder to explain away. Overseas applicants scored higher than home applicants on the ESAT in every single department Imperial publishes, and in seven of the eight views they were still less likely to receive an offer. In Electrical and Electronic Engineering overseas applicants averaged 19.8 out of 27 against 14.2 for home non-WP applicants, yet 16.0% of them received an offer against 64.0%. That is consistent with the fee status gap earlier on this page, and it means an overseas applicant should not read a strong ESAT score as putting them level.
What counts as a good score is entirely department-specific. Aeronautics offer holders averaged 17.5 out of 27 and Physics 17.5, while Design Engineering offer holders averaged 8.9 and the all-department figure is 9.7. Comparing your score against Imperial as a whole will mislead you in both directions; compare it against the department you are applying to.
What this means for your application
Competition at Imperial has tightened sharply and the numbers do not soften on closer inspection. Around nine or ten people apply for every place, and on the most sought-after programmes the ratio is far worse: Mathematics and Computer Science runs at nearly 28 applicants per place. Applications have risen almost a third in six years while Imperial has issued fewer offers, not more, so the squeeze comes from both directions at once.
What that means in practice is that the things applicants think of as their strengths are usually just the baseline. Predicted grades at or above the standard offer, a considered personal statement, a strong reference. Almost everyone who is rejected had those too. The margin sits in decisions made before any of it is written: which programme you apply to, whether you understand what that department actually assesses, and how seriously you treat the ESAT, where Imperial’s own figures show applicants who never reached interview averaging 4.1 out of 27 against roughly 10 for everyone who did.
That is a great deal to judge on your own. If you are in a position to get expert help, this is the kind of process where it earns its keep. Our consultants are Oxbridge and London graduates who have been through the same admissions round from the inside, and they work with applicants on course choice, the personal statement and admissions test preparation. See how our UK admissions support works →
Find this article useful? Check out our other resources for Imperial applicants.
ESAT Practice Tests
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LSE Acceptance Rate
The same course-by-course and department-by-department tables, for LSE.
Personal Statement Guide
Learn how to structure and write a UCAS personal statement that shows how you think.
Full data
Every Imperial undergraduate programme, department and fee status in the 2025 cycle, not just the figures we picked out above. Sort any column by clicking its heading, or search by name. Offer rate and acceptance rate are shown separately because they answer different questions: how likely you are to receive an offer, and how likely you are to end up with a place.
Every undergraduate programme, 2025
| Programme▲▼ | Applications▲▼ | Offers▲▼ | Offer rate▲▼ | Places▲▼ | Acceptance rate▲▼ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical Engineering (MEng)Mechanical Engineering | 2,650 | 406 | 15.3% | 186 | 7.0% |
| Economics, Finance and Data Science (BSc)Business School | 2,183 | 309 | 14.2% | 162 | 7.4% |
| Medicine (MBBS)School of Medicine | 2,149 | 661 | 30.8% | 357 | 16.6% |
| Aeronautical Engineering (MEng)Aeronautics | 1,667 | 326 | 19.6% | 150 | 9.0% |
| Medical BiosciencesMedical Biosciences | 1,633 | 309 | 18.9% | 154 | 9.4% |
| Mathematics (BSc)Mathematics | 1,630 | 363 | 22.3% | 150 | 9.2% |
| Biochemistry (BSc)Biochemistry | 1,419 | 327 | 23.0% | 152 | 10.7% |
| Biological Sciences (BSc)Biological Sciences | 1,294 | 444 | 34.3% | 154 | 11.9% |
| Computing (BEng)Computing | 1,167 | 180 | 15.4% | 96 | 8.2% |
| Biomedical Engineering (MEng)Bioengineering | 1,081 | 335 | 31.0% | 136 | 12.6% |
| Chemical Engineering (MEng)Chemical Engineering | 948 | 388 | 40.9% | 176 | 18.6% |
| Chemistry (BSc)Chemistry | 824 | 187 | 22.7% | 83 | 10.1% |
| Computing (Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning) (MEng)Computing | 782 | 99 | 12.7% | 50 | 6.4% |
| Design Engineering (MEng)Design Engineering | 782 | 181 | 23.1% | 103 | 13.2% |
| Physics (BSc)Physics | 700 | 196 | 28.0% | 80 | 11.4% |
| Physics (MSci)Physics | 677 | 309 | 45.6% | 124 | 18.3% |
| Mathematics (MSci)Mathematics | 649 | 183 | 28.2% | 65 | 10.0% |
| Electrical and Electronic Engineering (BEng)Electrical and Electronic Engineering | 642 | 88 | 13.7% | 37 | 5.8% |
| Computing (MEng)Computing | 616 | 145 | 23.5% | 84 | 13.6% |
| Electrical and Electronic Engineering (MEng)Electrical and Electronic Engineering | 601 | 188 | 31.3% | 92 | 15.3% |
| Mathematics and Computer Science (BEng)Joint Maths and Computing | 585 | 58 | 9.9% | 21 | 3.6% |
| Materials Science and Engineering (BEng)Materials | 531 | 102 | 19.2% | 51 | 9.6% |
| Mathematics and Computer Science (MEng)Joint Maths and Computing | 455 | 79 | 17.4% | 36 | 7.9% |
| Mathematics with Statistics for Finance (BSc)Mathematics | 444 | 25 | 5.6% | 6 | 1.4% |
| Chemistry (MSci)Chemistry | 426 | 184 | 43.2% | 71 | 16.7% |
| Mathematics with Statistics (BSc)Mathematics | 422 | 37 | 8.8% | 12 | 2.8% |
| Civil Engineering (MEng)Civil and Environmental Engineering | 402 | 230 | 57.2% | 112 | 27.9% |
| Materials Science and Engineering (MEng)Materials | 384 | 146 | 38.0% | 62 | 16.1% |
| Biotechnology (BSc)Biochemistry | 345 | 51 | 14.8% | 21 | 6.1% |
| Molecular BioengineeringBioengineering | 341 | 143 | 41.9% | 66 | 19.4% |
| Medicine (Graduate Entry) (MBBS)Pears Cumbria - Graduate Entry | 329 | 63 | 19.1% | 37 | 11.2% |
| Computing (Software Engineering) (MEng)Computing | 325 | 17 | 5.2% | 6 | 1.8% |
| Mathematics with Applied Mathematics/Mathematical Physics (BSc)Mathematics | 307 | 36 | 11.7% | 9 | 2.9% |
| Physics with Theoretical Physics (MSci)Physics | 291 | 130 | 44.7% | 45 | 15.5% |
| Electronic and Information Engineering (MEng)Electrical and Electronic Engineering | 236 | 106 | 44.9% | 47 | 19.9% |
| Medical Biosciences with Management (BSc)Medical Biosciences | 231 | 67 | 29.0% | 28 | 12.1% |
| Mathematics (Pure Mathematics) (BSc)Mathematics | 230 | 36 | 15.7% | 9 | 3.9% |
| Physics with Theoretical Physics (BSc)Physics | 194 | 43 | 22.2% | 18 | 9.3% |
| Biomedical Technology Ventures (BSc)Bioengineering | 193 | 80 | 41.5% | 33 | 17.1% |
| Ecology and Environmental Biology (BSc)Biological Sciences | 175 | 38 | 21.7% | 10 | 5.7% |
| Earth and Planetary Science (BSc)Earth Science and Engineering | 174 | 65 | 37.4% | 17 | 9.8% |
| Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry (MSci)Chemistry | 167 | 35 | 21.0% | 19 | 11.4% |
| Electronic and Information Engineering (BEng)Electrical and Electronic Engineering | 134 | 25 | 18.7% | 11 | 8.2% |
| Materials with Nuclear Engineering (MEng)Materials | 128 | 43 | 33.6% | 16 | 12.5% |
| Mathematics with Mathematical Computation (BSc)Mathematics | 123 | 24 | 19.5% | 9 | 7.3% |
| Geology (BSc)Earth Science and Engineering | 120 | 55 | 45.8% | 12 | 10.0% |
| Microbiology (BSc)Biological Sciences | 118 | 33 | 28.0% | 13 | 11.0% |
| Chemistry with Molecular PhysicsChemistry | 102 | 27 | 26.5% | 10 | 9.8% |
| Chemistry with Molecular Physics (MSci)Chemistry | 102 | 27 | 26.5% | 10 | 9.8% |
| Physics with a Year Abroad (MSci)Physics | 100 | 34 | 34.0% | 18 | 18.0% |
| Mathematics with a Year Abroad (MSci)Mathematics | 95 | 14 | 14.7% | * | n/a |
| Earth and Planetary Science (MSci)Earth Science and Engineering | 94 | 45 | 47.9% | 19 | 20.2% |
| Computing (Visual Computing and Robotics) (MEng)Computing | 85 | 14 | 16.5% | 6 | 7.1% |
| Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Management (MEng)Electrical and Electronic Engineering | 85 | 17 | 20.0% | 7 | 8.2% |
| Geophysics (BSc)Earth Science and Engineering | 84 | 28 | 33.3% | 9 | 10.7% |
| Chemistry with a Year in Industry (MSci)Chemistry | 84 | 45 | 53.6% | 18 | 21.4% |
| Civil Engineering with a Year Abroad (MEng)Civil and Environmental Engineering | 81 | 41 | 50.6% | 21 | 25.9% |
| Computing (Security and Reliability) (MEng)Computing | 79 | * | n/a | * | n/a |
| Computing (Management and Finance) (MEng)Computing | 78 | * | n/a | * | n/a |
| Computing (International Programme of Study) (MEng)Computing | 74 | 11 | 14.9% | 7 | 9.5% |
| Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (MEng)Materials | 74 | 10 | 13.5% | * | n/a |
| Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry and a Year in Industry (MSci)Chemistry | 73 | 21 | 28.8% | 11 | 15.1% |
| Chemistry with Research Abroad (MSci)Chemistry | 67 | 35 | 52.2% | 15 | 22.4% |
| Chemistry with Management (BSc)Chemistry | 60 | 11 | 18.3% | * | n/a |
| Chemistry with Research Abroad and a Year in Industry (MSci)Chemistry | 59 | 23 | 39.0% | 8 | 13.6% |
| Geophysics (MSci)Earth Science and Engineering | 49 | 26 | 53.1% | 13 | 26.5% |
| Earth and Planetary Science with a Year Abroad (MSci)Earth Science and Engineering | 34 | 22 | 64.7% | 5 | 14.7% |
| Geology with a Year Abroad (MSci)Earth Science and Engineering | 33 | 26 | 78.8% | 13 | 39.4% |
| Biochemistry with French for Science (BSc)Biochemistry | 33 | 11 | 33.3% | * | n/a |
| Geology (MSci)Earth Science and Engineering | 32 | 20 | 62.5% | 6 | 18.8% |
| Chemistry with Molecular Physics and a Year in Industry (MSci)Chemistry | 27 | 12 | 44.4% | * | n/a |
| Chemistry with Management and a Year in Industry (BSc)Chemistry | 21 | * | n/a | * | n/a |
| Biological Sciences with French for Science (BSc)Biological Sciences | 18 | * | n/a | * | n/a |
| Biological Sciences with Spanish for Science (BSc)Biological Sciences | 13 | * | n/a | * | n/a |
| Biochemistry with Spanish for Science (BSc)Biochemistry | 12 | * | n/a | * | n/a |
| Geophysics with a Year Abroad (MSci)Earth Science and Engineering | 10 | 8 | 80.0% | 5 | 50.0% |
| Biotechnology with Spanish for Science (BSc)Biochemistry | 10 | * | n/a | * | n/a |
| Biomedical Tech Ventures (BSc)Bioengineering | 8 | * | n/a | * | n/a |
| Biological Sciences with German for Science (BSc)Biological Sciences | 8 | * | n/a | * | n/a |
| Biochemistry with German for Science (BSc)Biochemistry | 6 | * | n/a | * | n/a |
| All programmes listed | 33,694 | 8,103 | 24.0% | 3,589 | 10.7% |
Applications by cycle, 2020 to 2025
| Programme▲▼ | 2020▲▼ | 2021▲▼ | 2022▲▼ | 2023▲▼ | 2024▲▼ | 2025▲▼ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical Engineering (MEng)Mechanical Engineering | 1,953 | 2,163 | 2,033 | 2,004 | 2,328 | 2,650 |
| Economics, Finance and Data Science (BSc)Business School | n/a | n/a | n/a | 2,882 | 3,036 | 2,183 |
| Medicine (MBBS)School of Medicine | 3,365 | 4,045 | 4,184 | 3,459 | 3,444 | 2,149 |
| Aeronautical Engineering (MEng)Aeronautics | 1,253 | 1,278 | 1,396 | 1,304 | 1,574 | 1,667 |
| Medical BiosciencesMedical Biosciences | 1,012 | 1,205 | 1,215 | 1,196 | 1,436 | 1,633 |
| Mathematics (BSc)Mathematics | 1,012 | 1,261 | 1,328 | 1,270 | 1,388 | 1,630 |
| Biochemistry (BSc)Biochemistry | 1,186 | 1,361 | 1,289 | 1,327 | 1,297 | 1,419 |
| Biological Sciences (BSc)Biological Sciences | 1,095 | 1,239 | 1,171 | 1,200 | 1,098 | 1,294 |
| Computing (BEng)Computing | 1,161 | 1,486 | 1,418 | 1,443 | 1,531 | 1,167 |
| Biomedical Engineering (MEng)Bioengineering | 554 | 570 | 552 | 651 | 709 | 1,081 |
| Chemical Engineering (MEng)Chemical Engineering | 754 | 878 | 752 | 852 | 979 | 948 |
| Chemistry (BSc)Chemistry | 402 | 541 | 567 | 640 | 704 | 824 |
| Computing (Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning) (MEng)Computing | 823 | 838 | 770 | 678 | 808 | 782 |
| Design Engineering (MEng)Design Engineering | 509 | 609 | 621 | 715 | 731 | 782 |
| Physics (BSc)Physics | 585 | 718 | 736 | 748 | 762 | 700 |
| Physics (MSci)Physics | 734 | 682 | 620 | 610 | 577 | 677 |
| Mathematics (MSci)Mathematics | 592 | 529 | 516 | 553 | 502 | 649 |
| Electrical and Electronic Engineering (BEng)Electrical and Electronic Engineering | 533 | 641 | 754 | 567 | 694 | 642 |
| Computing (MEng)Computing | 669 | 701 | 627 | 634 | 670 | 616 |
| Electrical and Electronic Engineering (MEng)Electrical and Electronic Engineering | 571 | 660 | 632 | 551 | 528 | 601 |
| Mathematics and Computer Science (BEng)Joint Maths and Computing | 344 | 373 | 705 | 638 | 722 | 585 |
| Materials Science and Engineering (BEng)Materials | 302 | 272 | 215 | 254 | 391 | 531 |
| Mathematics and Computer Science (MEng)Joint Maths and Computing | 316 | 306 | 358 | 416 | 396 | 455 |
| Mathematics with Statistics for Finance (BSc)Mathematics | 433 | 517 | 428 | 256 | 251 | 444 |
| Chemistry (MSci)Chemistry | 330 | 315 | 343 | 382 | 365 | 426 |
| Mathematics with Statistics (BSc)Mathematics | 291 | 401 | 345 | 252 | 278 | 422 |
| Civil Engineering (MEng)Civil and Environmental Engineering | 449 | 445 | 447 | 414 | 412 | 402 |
| Materials Science and Engineering (MEng)Materials | 276 | 254 | 205 | 244 | 295 | 384 |
| Biotechnology (BSc)Biochemistry | 299 | 320 | 300 | 374 | 344 | 345 |
| Molecular BioengineeringBioengineering | 169 | 172 | 174 | 175 | 240 | 341 |
| Medicine (Graduate Entry) (MBBS)Pears Cumbria - Graduate Entry | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 329 |
| Computing (Software Engineering) (MEng)Computing | 253 | 343 | 385 | 438 | 434 | 325 |
| Mathematics with Applied Mathematics/Mathematical Physics (BSc)Mathematics | 198 | 238 | 261 | 215 | 213 | 307 |
| Physics with Theoretical Physics (MSci)Physics | 353 | 323 | 253 | 266 | 294 | 291 |
| Electronic and Information Engineering (MEng)Electrical and Electronic Engineering | 239 | 206 | 215 | 169 | 223 | 236 |
| Medical Biosciences with Management (BSc)Medical Biosciences | 164 | 180 | 153 | 156 | 157 | 231 |
| Mathematics (Pure Mathematics) (BSc)Mathematics | 124 | 147 | 154 | 150 | 189 | 230 |
| Physics with Theoretical Physics (BSc)Physics | 135 | 196 | 198 | 189 | 243 | 194 |
| Biomedical Technology Ventures (BSc)Bioengineering | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 193 |
| Ecology and Environmental Biology (BSc)Biological Sciences | 97 | 120 | 132 | 124 | 143 | 175 |
| Earth and Planetary Science (BSc)Earth Science and Engineering | 47 | 81 | 90 | 123 | 134 | 174 |
| Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry (MSci)Chemistry | 109 | 135 | 133 | 127 | 159 | 167 |
| Electronic and Information Engineering (BEng)Electrical and Electronic Engineering | 148 | 190 | 162 | 122 | 149 | 134 |
| Materials with Nuclear Engineering (MEng)Materials | 43 | 37 | 49 | 47 | 77 | 128 |
| Mathematics with Mathematical Computation (BSc)Mathematics | 87 | 84 | 95 | 84 | 79 | 123 |
| Geology (BSc)Earth Science and Engineering | 58 | 71 | 56 | 87 | 87 | 120 |
| Microbiology (BSc)Biological Sciences | 56 | 85 | 118 | 113 | 99 | 118 |
| Chemistry with Molecular PhysicsChemistry | 55 | 66 | 76 | 59 | * | 102 |
| Chemistry with Molecular Physics (MSci)Chemistry | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 76 | 102 |
| Physics with a Year Abroad (MSci)Physics | 155 | 172 | 165 | 134 | 133 | 100 |
| Mathematics with a Year Abroad (MSci)Mathematics | 115 | 91 | 114 | 103 | 85 | 95 |
| Earth and Planetary Science (MSci)Earth Science and Engineering | 43 | 29 | 43 | 51 | 66 | 94 |
| Computing (Visual Computing and Robotics) (MEng)Computing | 107 | 107 | 96 | 106 | 129 | 85 |
| Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Management (MEng)Electrical and Electronic Engineering | 134 | 137 | 106 | 81 | 86 | 85 |
| Geophysics (BSc)Earth Science and Engineering | 25 | 30 | 44 | 60 | 48 | 84 |
| Chemistry with a Year in Industry (MSci)Chemistry | 57 | 56 | 63 | 60 | 79 | 84 |
| Civil Engineering with a Year Abroad (MEng)Civil and Environmental Engineering | 101 | 88 | 96 | 77 | 70 | 81 |
| Computing (Security and Reliability) (MEng)Computing | 81 | 97 | 68 | 76 | 80 | 79 |
| Computing (Management and Finance) (MEng)Computing | 128 | 175 | 159 | 119 | 87 | 78 |
| Computing (International Programme of Study) (MEng)Computing | 97 | 92 | 90 | 82 | 77 | 74 |
| Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (MEng)Materials | 51 | 57 | 37 | 46 | 58 | 74 |
| Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry and a Year in Industry (MSci)Chemistry | 43 | 51 | 45 | 51 | 69 | 73 |
| Chemistry with Research Abroad (MSci)Chemistry | 50 | 33 | 60 | 59 | 71 | 67 |
| Chemistry with Management (BSc)Chemistry | 45 | 47 | 45 | 48 | 56 | 60 |
| Chemistry with Research Abroad and a Year in Industry (MSci)Chemistry | 28 | 35 | 29 | 39 | 48 | 59 |
| Geophysics (MSci)Earth Science and Engineering | 17 | 23 | 26 | 32 | 29 | 49 |
| Earth and Planetary Science with a Year Abroad (MSci)Earth Science and Engineering | n/a | 36 | 39 | 53 | 42 | 34 |
| Geology with a Year Abroad (MSci)Earth Science and Engineering | 44 | 36 | 44 | 30 | 28 | 33 |
| Biochemistry with French for Science (BSc)Biochemistry | 11 | 23 | 27 | 21 | 23 | 33 |
| Geology (MSci)Earth Science and Engineering | 26 | 20 | 19 | 38 | 24 | 32 |
| Chemistry with Molecular Physics and a Year in Industry (MSci)Chemistry | 17 | 10 | 26 | 17 | 24 | 27 |
| Chemistry with Management and a Year in Industry (BSc)Chemistry | 8 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 21 |
| Biological Sciences with French for Science (BSc)Biological Sciences | 20 | 12 | 21 | 10 | 20 | 18 |
| Biological Sciences with Spanish for Science (BSc)Biological Sciences | 15 | 20 | 24 | 22 | 18 | 13 |
| Biochemistry with Spanish for Science (BSc)Biochemistry | 11 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 19 | 12 |
| Geophysics with a Year Abroad (MSci)Earth Science and Engineering | 22 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 10 |
| Biotechnology with Spanish for Science (BSc)Biochemistry | * | 6 | * | * | * | 10 |
| Biomedical Tech Ventures (BSc)Bioengineering | n/a | n/a | n/a | 81 | 115 | 8 |
| Biological Sciences with German for Science (BSc)Biological Sciences | 6 | 11 | 11 | * | 7 | 8 |
| Biochemistry with German for Science (BSc)Biochemistry | 18 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 6 |
| Materials with Management (BEng)Materials | 43 | 50 | 47 | 29 | n/a | n/a |
| Biotechnology with French for Science (BSc)Biochemistry | * | * | 9 | * | * | * |
| Chemistry with French for Science (MSci)Chemistry | * | 8 | 13 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Chemistry with German for Science (MSci)Chemistry | * | 7 | 11 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Chemistry with Spanish for Science (MSci)Chemistry | * | * | 10 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Mathematics, Optimisation and Statistics (BSc)Mathematics | 68 | * | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Physics and Music Performance (BSc)Physics | 32 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| All programmes listed | 25,756 | 28,891 | 28,870 | 30,731 | 32,874 | 33,694 |
Every department, 2023 to 2025
| Department▲▼ | 2025 apps▲▼ | 2025 rate▲▼ | 2024 apps▲▼ | 2024 rate▲▼ | 2023 apps▲▼ | 2023 rate▲▼ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 3,900 | 18.4% | 2,985 | 24.4% | 2,883 | 25.0% |
| Computing | 3,206 | 14.8% | 3,816 | 15.9% | 3,576 | 16.0% |
| Mechanical Engineering | 2,650 | 15.3% | 2,328 | 18.5% | 2,004 | 21.4% |
| Business School | 2,183 | 14.2% | 3,036 | 7.4% | 2,882 | 6.5% |
| School of Medicine | 2,149 | 30.8% | 3,444 | 19.4% | 3,459 | 18.7% |
| Physics | 1,962 | 36.3% | 2,009 | 35.4% | 1,947 | 36.2% |
| Chemistry | 1,910 | 30.4% | 1,665 | 35.1% | 1,492 | 34.4% |
| Medical Biosciences | 1,864 | 20.2% | 1,593 | 23.8% | 1,352 | 29.2% |
| Biochemistry | 1,833 | 21.5% | 1,702 | 24.0% | 1,754 | 22.5% |
| Electrical and Electronic Engineering | 1,698 | 25.0% | 1,680 | 28.7% | 1,490 | 31.7% |
| Aeronautics | 1,667 | 19.6% | 1,574 | 20.1% | 1,304 | 22.9% |
| Biological Sciences | 1,626 | 32.5% | 1,385 | 36.5% | 1,472 | 33.1% |
| Bioengineering | 1,623 | 34.4% | 1,064 | 50.8% | 907 | 52.4% |
| Materials | 1,117 | 26.9% | 821 | 36.3% | 620 | 48.4% |
| Joint Maths and Computing | 1,040 | 13.2% | 1,118 | 16.6% | 1,054 | 19.1% |
| Chemical Engineering | 948 | 40.9% | 980 | 43.7% | 852 | 46.5% |
| Design Engineering | 782 | 23.1% | 731 | 24.5% | 715 | 24.8% |
| Earth Science and Engineering | 630 | 46.8% | 474 | 62.9% | 485 | 64.5% |
| Civil and Environmental Engineering | 483 | 56.1% | 482 | 59.8% | 491 | 53.2% |
| Pears Cumbria - Graduate Entry | 329 | 19.1% | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| All departments | 33,600 | 24.1% | 32,887 | 25.1% | 30,739 | 25.9% |
Home, overseas and EU applicants, 2025
| Department and fee status▲▼ | Applications▲▼ | Offers▲▼ | Offer rate▲▼ | Places▲▼ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MathematicsHome | 1,425 | 313 | 22.0% | 104 |
| MathematicsOverseas | 2,239 | 380 | 17.0% | 126 |
| MathematicsEuropean Union | 236 | 9 | 3.8% | 0 |
| ComputingHome | 1,411 | 180 | 12.8% | 104 |
| ComputingOverseas | 1,628 | 258 | 15.8% | 119 |
| ComputingEuropean Union | 163 | 7 | 4.3% | 0 |
| Mechanical EngineeringHome | 1,080 | 208 | 19.3% | 85 |
| Mechanical EngineeringOverseas | 1,375 | 174 | 12.7% | 86 |
| Mechanical EngineeringEuropean Union | 195 | 24 | 12.3% | 15 |
| Business SchoolHome | 539 | 137 | 25.4% | 70 |
| Business SchoolOverseas | 1,474 | 157 | 10.7% | 84 |
| Business SchoolEuropean Union | 170 | 15 | 8.8% | 8 |
| School of MedicineHome | 1,369 | 501 | 36.6% | 264 |
| School of MedicineOverseas | 693 | 153 | 22.1% | 88 |
| School of MedicineEuropean Union | 87 | 7 | 8.0% | 0 |
| ChemistryHome | 775 | 364 | 47.0% | 136 |
| ChemistryOverseas | 1,153 | 206 | 17.9% | 94 |
| ChemistryEuropean Union | 70 | 16 | 22.9% | 0 |
| PhysicsHome | 837 | 373 | 44.6% | 148 |
| PhysicsOverseas | 980 | 301 | 30.7% | 120 |
| PhysicsEuropean Union | 140 | 33 | 23.6% | 12 |
| Medical BiosciencesHome | 542 | 210 | 38.7% | 91 |
| Medical BiosciencesOverseas | 1,196 | 148 | 12.4% | 86 |
| Medical BiosciencesEuropean Union | 126 | 18 | 14.3% | 0 |
| BiochemistryHome | 654 | 202 | 30.9% | 81 |
| BiochemistryOverseas | 1,041 | 168 | 16.1% | 80 |
| BiochemistryEuropean Union | 117 | 15 | 12.8% | 10 |
| Electrical and Electronic EngineeringHome | 397 | 239 | 60.2% | 103 |
| Electrical and Electronic EngineeringOverseas | 1,231 | 170 | 13.8% | 74 |
| Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEuropean Union | 66 | 0 | n/a | 0 |
| AeronauticsHome | 840 | 144 | 17.1% | 69 |
| AeronauticsOverseas | 682 | 165 | 24.2% | 76 |
| AeronauticsEuropean Union | 145 | 17 | 11.7% | 0 |
| BioengineeringHome | 243 | 182 | 74.9% | 61 |
| BioengineeringOverseas | 1,279 | 339 | 26.5% | 152 |
| BioengineeringEuropean Union | 93 | 33 | 35.5% | 15 |
| Biological SciencesHome | 401 | 233 | 58.1% | 67 |
| Biological SciencesOverseas | 1,146 | 257 | 22.4% | 97 |
| Biological SciencesEuropean Union | 56 | 22 | 39.3% | 10 |
| MaterialsHome | 298 | 141 | 47.3% | 60 |
| MaterialsOverseas | 767 | 142 | 18.5% | 61 |
| MaterialsEuropean Union | 52 | 0 | n/a | 0 |
| Joint Maths and ComputingHome | 347 | 63 | 18.2% | 32 |
| Joint Maths and ComputingOverseas | 614 | 70 | 11.4% | 23 |
| Joint Maths and ComputingEuropean Union | 79 | 0 | n/a | 0 |
| Chemical EngineeringHome | 379 | 189 | 49.9% | 77 |
| Chemical EngineeringOverseas | 530 | 188 | 35.5% | 91 |
| Chemical EngineeringEuropean Union | 39 | 11 | 28.2% | 8 |
| Design EngineeringHome | 233 | 97 | 41.6% | 48 |
| Design EngineeringOverseas | 514 | 81 | 15.8% | 52 |
| Design EngineeringEuropean Union | 35 | 0 | n/a | 0 |
| Earth Science and EngineeringHome | 155 | 121 | 78.1% | 26 |
| Earth Science and EngineeringOverseas | 464 | 164 | 35.3% | 46 |
| Civil and Environmental EngineeringHome | 181 | 106 | 58.6% | 41 |
| Civil and Environmental EngineeringOverseas | 260 | 140 | 53.8% | 80 |
| Civil and Environmental EngineeringEuropean Union | 42 | 25 | 59.5% | 8 |
| Pears Cumbria - Graduate EntryHome | 321 | 63 | 19.6% | 37 |
| Pears Cumbria - Graduate EntryOverseas | 6 | 0 | n/a | 0 |
| All rows listed | 33,610 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Comparing systems? We publish the equivalent figures for LSE, for UCL, for Oxford and Cambridge, and for the top US universities.
Imperial College London: Undergraduate Admissions Statistics, Transparency Information, workbook covering the 2020 to 2025 UCAS cycles, published 1 May 2026 and read 31 August 2026.
Imperial College London: ESAT scores: applicant outcomes, 2025 entry cycle, the interactive dashboard published with Understanding your ESAT and TMUA scores, read 1 September 2026.
Imperial College London: response to Freedom of Information request IMPFOI-24-313, contextual admissions.
Frequently asked questions
About 10.7% of applicants take up a place: Imperial received 33,923 undergraduate applications for 3,627 places in the 2025 UCAS cycle. That is an acceptance rate. Imperial’s offer rate is materially higher at 24.0%, because it makes more offers than it has places and many offer holders go elsewhere.
On a like-for-like basis, yes, at School level: Imperial’s acceptance rate of 10.7% is below Oxford’s 14.2% and Cambridge’s 16.3% for comparable cycles. But the comparison only holds if both sides use the same measure, and course matters far more than institution at all three.
By offer rate, Computing (Software Engineering), which made 17 offers against 325 applications in 2025, an offer rate of 5.2%. Mathematics with Statistics for Finance is next at 5.6%. Medicine, despite its reputation, has an offer rate of 30.8%.
On Imperial’s published figures, yes. Home applicants received offers at 32.7% in 2025 and overseas applicants at 19.0%, so a home applicant is about 1.7 times as likely to receive an offer. Overseas applicants make up 57.3% of all applications.
Substantially. The offer rate fell from 34.0% in 2020 to 24.0% in 2025. Applications rose 31.6% over those six cycles while places rose only 5.0%, and Imperial actually issued 7.0% fewer offers in 2025 than in 2020.
Imperial does not set a pass mark, but it publishes what applicants scored. In the 2025 cycle, across all departments, applicants who were never invited to interview averaged 4.1 out of 27 while offer holders averaged 9.7 and those interviewed then rejected averaged 10.6. The threshold that matters is the one that gets you an interview, and it varies by department: Aeronautics and Physics offer holders averaged 17.5, Design Engineering 8.9.
Sitting the ESAT?
Imperial applicants who never reached interview averaged 4.1 out of 27. Those who did averaged around 10, and in the most competitive departments closer to 17. Sit a full paper under real timings and find out where you actually land before you commit a UCAS choice, or read what counts as a good ESAT score for the department-by-department breakdown.
Take a free ESAT practice testOr talk to us about your Imperial application →