The Esade Admission Test (TAE): Complete Guide (2027/28)

The ESADE Admission Test is ESADE's own entrance exam for its bachelor programmes in Barcelona, including the BBA. This guide covers what the test is, how it's structured and scored, and where it fits in ESADE's wider review, based on ESADE's official admissions pages and its official sample tests.

Format details can change between cycles. Confirm the current requirements on ESADE's official admissions pages before you plan.

What the test is

The ESADE Admission Test is a 185-minute online test in four sections: three multiple-choice reasoning sections plus an English level test that includes a written task.^[1] It's sat in English or Spanish depending on the programme you apply to; applicants to a programme's English section sit it in English. It is not adaptive, and ESADE says the questions are of increasing difficulty.

ESADE is explicit that the test measures abilities rather than knowledge: "you cannot study any specific subject to try to improve your results", and it recommends consulting a sample test "to have a general idea about the types of questions you'll be asked".^[2] That's the frame for everything below: know the item types, the penalties and the clock, so your one attempt in the academic year isn't the first time you see the format.

For the BBA and the Double Degree in Business Administration and Law, ESADE's other-admissions-tests page accepts the SAT or the ACT instead of its own test.^[3] Its admissions page, though, says you can sit the SAT or ACT "when applying for admission to any of our programmes", so ESADE's pages disagree on the scope: confirm with admissions@esade.edu before relying on that route. If you haven't taken (and don't plan to take) the SAT or ACT, the ESADE test is the route.

The sections, and which ones you sit

ESADE publishes the breakdown, and it isn't the same for every programme. Three reasoning sections plus an English level test, but which three depends on the degree you apply to. Minutes below are from ESADE's website; question counts are from the official sample tests, which the website does not give.

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and the other business-track programmes

• Sufficiency of information: 30 minutes, 16 questions. Interpreting texts, categorising information, and telling the main ideas from the supporting ones well enough to draw the right conclusion. The sample shows three shapes: a text with "can / cannot be deduced" statements, a business word problem, and data sufficiency.
• Numerical analysis: 35 minutes, 48 questions. Operating with numbers and figures, and picking the correct result quickly and precisely. In the sample, each item is an operation with a question mark in one slot, and you pick the missing number or sign.
• Logical reasoning: 35 minutes, 45 questions. Identifying the logical criteria behind sequences. In the sample, each item is a series of diagrams, and you pick the one that continues it.
• English level test: the website says 90 minutes. The official sample says 85: a 25-minute written task plus 100 multiple-choice items in 60 minutes.

Bachelor in Law and the Double Degree in Law + Global Governance, Economics & Legal Order

• Sufficiency of information: 30 minutes, 16 questions.
• Logical reasoning: 35 minutes, 45 questions.
• Verbal ability: 35 minutes, 25 questions. Understanding and critically evaluating written information, then extrapolating it to spoken language. In the sample, a text is followed by statements you mark as true, false, or not decidable from the text. (This replaces Numerical analysis.)
• English level test: the website says 90 minutes (80 for the double degree). The official sample says 85, split as above.

Look at the arithmetic of that: on the sample's timings, 85 of the test's 185 minutes go to the English level test, a little under half. A large share of what ESADE is measuring is your English, not your reasoning, which is worth knowing before you spend all your time on the reasoning sections.

Section names and timings above are as published by ESADE; the counts come from its sample tests. All nine programme variants follow one of the two shapes: the seven business-track programmes (including the Double Degree in Business Administration and Law) sit Numerical analysis, and the two Law programmes sit Verbal ability. The only other difference is the English level test, which ESADE's page gives as 80 minutes rather than 90 for the Double Degree in Law + Global Governance, Economics & Legal Order and for the Bachelor in Transformational Leadership and Social Impact. ESADE publishes one sample test per programme on its admission-test page; the Law sample is in Spanish only.

How it's scored: negative marking

This is the part that changes your strategy: on the three reasoning sections, points are deducted for wrong answers, and the official sample tests publish the size. 0.25 points per wrong answer in Sufficiency of information, Numerical analysis and Logical reasoning, and 0.50 points in Verbal ability (Law programmes).^[4] The English level test does not deduct points. What a correct answer is worth is not stated in the bachelor sample tests.

Negative marking means a blind guess can cost you, so the smart move is to eliminate options first and answer when you've genuinely narrowed it down, rather than guessing at random on questions you haven't read. We cover the full answer-or-leave-blank arithmetic in a dedicated guide.

Two more things ESADE says about the score: there is no pass or fail ("Candidates do not pass or fail the Esade Admissions Test"), and you never see your result: it goes to the Admissions Committee only.

It's one part of the review

ESADE gives the test equal weight with the information in your online application and your academic transcript: "The Admissions Test is just one of the elements considered during the admissions process. We also give equal weight to the information you provide via your online application and your academic transcript."^[2] Its admissions page lists what the Admissions Committee analyses for each applicant, all with equal weight:^[5]

• the admissions application (the requirements page names your past academic record, most recent grades, education system and application essays among the inputs),
• your academic transcript,
• results from the ESADE or SAT/ACT admissions test,
• results from the English language test, and
• a personal interview, if required: compulsory for the Bachelor in Transformational Leadership and Social Impact, "if required" for the rest. ESADE publishes no duration or format for it.

ESADE says none of its degrees has minimum entry grades, but the same requirements page publishes reference school-grade minimums by education system, "provided as a reference only": for the Spanish Bachillerato, an average of 7 out of 10 for a single degree and 8 out of 10 for a double degree, maths minimums for some programmes, and for the IB a predicted 32/42.^[6]

On English: a certificate isn't mandatory if you sit the test, particularly if you studied in an Anglophone system. ESADE does publish waiver levels at which you may be exempted from the English level test, with the Admissions Committee making the final decision: Cambridge C1 Advanced 190 (minimum 175 per component) or C2 Proficiency 190, IELTS Academic 7 (minimum 6 per component), TOEFL iBT 100 (minimum 20 per component), among others listed on the requirements page.

The test carries equal weight with your application and transcript, and ESADE says you cannot study for it. What you can change before the day is how well you know the format, the penalties and the clock.

Rolling admissions: apply early

ESADE does not run rounds. It runs rolling admissions with biweekly Admissions Committees, from October to June or until all places are filled, and it warns applicants not to wait until the end of their last school year "or you will run out of options because places are limited".^[6] Once your application is complete (and the non-refundable €150 application fee paid), you receive an email to choose your test date and time; ESADE schedules several tests a week from October to June, and a decision "tends to take at least 3 weeks".^[7] If you're ready, applying early is the stronger move.

How to prepare

1. Know every item type before the day. ESADE says you cannot study for the test, and recommends consulting a sample test. Download the one for your programme from ESADE's admission-test page and read it closely: what each item asks, how the instructions are worded, what the options look like.
2. Know the penalties. 0.25 per wrong answer in three sections, 0.50 in Verbal ability, none in the English level test. Decide in advance what you'll do with a question you can only half-narrow down.
3. Know the clock. 16 questions in 30 minutes, 48 in 35, 45 in 35 (or 25 in 35 for Verbal ability), and 100 English items in 60: roughly 112, 44, 47 (or 84) and 36 seconds each. Nothing on paper and no calculator: ESADE bans both for the whole sitting.
4. Don't neglect the application and transcript. ESADE gives them equal weight with the test.

Sources: ESADE's official bachelor admissions pages (admission test, admissions, requirements, other admissions tests, FAQ) and its official sample tests, verified 21 September 2026. ESADE's pages disagree on SAT/ACT minimums: the requirements page publishes SAT minimum 1200 / ACT minimum 24 (averages 1350 / 30), while the other-admissions-tests page says no minimum score is required (averages 1320 / 31); confirm with admissions@esade.edu. EsadePrep is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by ESADE.