TMUA and ESAT Explained: The G5 STEM Admissions Tests

Start with one principle: which test you sit is decided by the course you apply to, not by personal choice. As a rule, maths, computer science and economics courses use the TMUA; engineering and science courses use the ESAT. Seven universities currently use the TMUA for some courses: Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, LSE, UCL, Warwick and Durham. Four use the ESAT: Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial and UCL. There is also a third test, TARA (the Test of Academic Reasoning for Admissions), used only by Oxford and UCL; it assesses general reasoning rather than subject knowledge, and is covered in the dedicated TARA section below.

Note the difference between compulsory and recommended. At Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial and LSE, most relevant courses make the test mandatory, and not registering can invalidate your application; at Durham, and for some courses at Warwick and LSE, the test is recommended rather than required. When in doubt, always check the page for your specific course on the university's own website.

Source: UAT-UK, 'Course List 2027 Entry' (PDF, last updated April 2026), esat-tmua.ac.uk

The table above is a directional summary listing representative courses only; the same subject can have different requirements at different universities (for example, Economics uses the TMUA at Cambridge, LSE, UCL and Warwick, but TARA at Oxford). Always defer to each course's official requirements.

Both tests are computer-based, sat at Pearson VUE test centres worldwide, with no calculator or dictionary allowed and no pass mark. But what they test, and how they are structured, is very different.

TMUA: two papers, 2 hours 30 minutes

The TMUA lasts 2 hours 30 minutes and is split into two papers, each 75 minutes with 20 multiple-choice questions. Paper 1 (Applications of Mathematical Knowledge) tests your ability to apply maths in new situations; Paper 2 (Mathematical Reasoning) tests mathematical reasoning and elementary logic, including statements, necessary and sufficient conditions, counterexamples and proof. The content is roughly Higher Level GCSE or AS-level maths (the first year of A-level), plus a small number of full A-level topics; Further Mathematics is not required. In other words, it tests depth of mathematical thinking rather than breadth of knowledge.

ESAT: modular, two hours for most candidates

The ESAT is modular, with five modules: Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics, Chemistry and Biology, each 40 minutes with 27 multiple-choice questions. Every candidate must take Mathematics 1, and most take two further modules, for about 120 minutes in total. Which two you take is set by your course: engineering courses are usually Mathematics 1 plus Mathematics 2 plus Physics; biochemistry and biology courses are usually Mathematics 1 plus Chemistry plus Biology; while Natural Sciences, Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Cambridge and Oxford are Mathematics 1 plus any two chosen from Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics 2.

The ESAT uses maths and science you will have already met at school, with the emphasis on applying it rather than on advanced material beyond the syllabus (it dropped the advanced section that the old Cambridge NSAA had). It is worth noting that the ESAT's Mathematics 2 module shares the same official maths notes as the TMUA, so the two are very close in mathematical level and scope.

To round out the full picture of the G5 admissions tests, here is the third one, the TARA. The first two (the TMUA and ESAT) remain this guide's focus, but if your child applies to certain Oxford or UCL courses, the required test may be the TARA instead. It is also run by UAT-UK, but it tests no subject knowledge at all; instead it assesses general academic reasoning. Only two G5 universities currently use it: Oxford and UCL.

What it tests, and its format

The TARA has three compulsory modules, each 40 minutes, for about two hours in total: Critical Thinking (22 multiple-choice questions), Problem Solving (22 multiple-choice questions), and a Writing Task (one essay chosen from three, with a 750-word limit). Critical Thinking and Problem Solving are each scored on the 1–9 scale to one decimal place; the Writing Task is not scored by UAT-UK but sent directly to the universities you applied to. As with the other two tests, no calculator is allowed, there is no pass mark, and there is no penalty for wrong answers.

Who sits it: Oxford and UCL

At Oxford the TARA is used for social science and humanities courses, including PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics), Economics and Management, History and Economics, History and Politics, Human Sciences, Experimental Psychology, and the joint Psychology and Philosophy, Psychology and Linguistics, and Philosophy and Linguistics courses; at Oxford it replaced the former TSA (Thinking Skills Assessment). But note one thing carefully: at UCL the TARA is used not for humanities but for STEM and computing courses, namely Computer Science, Computer Science and Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, and Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. So the same subject, Computer Science, requires the TMUA at Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial and Warwick, but the TARA at UCL.

Source: Ivy Education, 'TARA Test Guide', and Keystone Tutors, 'TARA Admissions Guide' (third-party sources for the adoption timeline: Oxford adopted the TARA for 2027 entry, replacing the TSA, and UCL has used it since 2026 entry), ivyeducation.co.uk and keystonetutors.com

This shows whether each G5 university uses each test at all; which test an individual applicant sits is always decided by their specific course, and a candidate takes at most one of the three. The TARA shares the same test windows (12–16 October 2026 and 4–8 January 2027), fees (£78 in the UK and Ireland, £133 elsewhere) and registration as the other two tests, and its dates in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau are likewise restricted (14 October or 7 January). The rest of this guide stays focused on the TMUA and ESAT, the two tests most relevant to maths and science applications.

The dates below are for 2027 entry (the cohort applying through UCAS, the UK's central university application system, in autumn 2026). There are two test windows per cycle, and each candidate may sit only once per cycle.

The two test windows

The first window is 12–16 October 2026, open to all 2027-entry candidates; the second is 4–8 January 2027. Important: applicants to Oxford or Cambridge must sit in the October window (with rare exceptions: a few Cambridge mature colleges with a January deadline, and Oxford's Astrophoria Foundation Year, which also has a January deadline). Applicants to other universities can choose either window, with no advantage to sitting in one over the other.

Registration and deadlines

The process: from 1 June 2026 you can create a UAT-UK account (also where you apply for a bursary or access arrangements); from 20 July you can book a test slot; booking for the October window closes on 28 September (6pm UK time). Book early so you can choose a convenient, nearby test centre. Results for the October window are released on 16 November 2026 through your UAT-UK account and sent automatically to the relevant universities, so you do not send them yourself.

Fees, and what overseas candidates should note

The fee is set by where you sit the test, not by nationality: it is £78 in the UK or Republic of Ireland, and £133 anywhere else, including sitting in Singapore, mainland China, Hong Kong and elsewhere. UAT-UK's bursaries, which cover the full fee, are only for UK candidates in financial need and are not available to overseas candidates.

Neither test has a pass or fail. Scores are reported on a scale from 1 (low) to 9 (high), to one decimal place. The TMUA gives one overall score; the ESAT gives one score per module. Importantly, universities usually do not publish a fixed cut-off score; scores are considered alongside your UCAS application, predicted grades and school background. Warwick, for example, states plainly that its TMUA requirement is set only once all results are in, and is not published.

Source: University of Warwick, Admissions Tests (TMUA), warwick.ac.uk

There is no negative marking, so it is worth attempting every question. Scores are mainly used for shortlisting candidates for interview. Take Oxford Maths as an example: admissions tutors cannot interview everyone, so they combine TMUA scores with the UCAS application to shortlist roughly three applicants per place for interview. Oxford's rough timeline is shortlisting decisions in November, interviews in December, and offers sent in January.

The official line is that both tests are based on what students have already learned at school, and that the best preparation is to get familiar with the format and question styles, work through specimen papers under timed conditions, and use the official Content Specification (the syllabus) to find gaps. That is true, but in practice competition for G5 places is intense, and the questions reward flexible application under time pressure rather than plugging numbers into formulas. For most students, real preparation means drilling the fundamentals until they are quick and accurate, and getting comfortable working without a calculator at computer-based pace.

Free official preparation materials (specimen papers, the syllabus, and for the TMUA the Notes on Mathematics and Notes on Logic and Proof) are all on the UAT-UK website. Because the ESAT is new, the supply of real past papers is limited; UAT-UK recommends the same notes for TMUA candidates, and Oxford's Maths department runs free online TMUA sessions and past-question walk-throughs each summer. Since the ESAT syllabus closely matches Section 1 of the old Cambridge NSAA, past Section 1 papers can also be useful practice, skipping the advanced section that has been removed.