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The TMUA is a two-paper test of mathematical reasoning used by Cambridge, Imperial, LSE, Warwick and UCL for some courses, recommended by Durham for Maths, and from 2027 entry by Oxford for Maths, Computer Science and their joint courses, where it replaces the MAT. It uses no content beyond A-Level Maths and is difficult because it never tells you which technique to reach for.
We also build cookie, which has a free guide to which admissions test each Oxford and Cambridge course asks for, now that the TMUA, ESAT and TARA have replaced the older tests, and free past TMUA papers linked from the test’s own site.
Read the admissions tests guideOxford’s Mathematics Admissions Test was last sat in October 2025, and from 2027 entry Oxford uses the TMUA, which Cambridge also uses. If a school, a teacher or an older guide has pointed a student at the MAT, the TMUA is what they should be preparing for.
MAT past papers are still worth doing, because the reasoning overlaps heavily, but the format, the timing and the paper they will sit are different, and practising the wrong timing is worse than not practising it.
Paper 1 is applying mathematical knowledge to unfamiliar problems. Paper 2 is mathematical reasoning: logic, proof, necessary and sufficient conditions, and spotting the flaw in an argument that looks fine.
Paper 2 is the one students consistently under-prepare, because nothing at A-Level looks much like it, and it is also the one that improves fastest with practice.
A lot of unfamiliar problems, done under time, with someone to talk through the ones that did not work. The valuable feedback is almost never about the algebra; it is about why a particular first move looked promising and was not.
Starting in Year 12 is normal and comfortable. Starting in September of Year 13 is tight but workable.
No. It was last sat in October 2025, and from 2027 entry Oxford uses the TMUA for Maths, Computer Science and the joint courses.
For 2027 entry, Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, LSE, Warwick and UCL require it for some courses, and Durham recommends it for Maths. Check the specific course for the year you apply.
Yes, for the reasoning, but do timed practice on real TMUA papers, because the format and the pacing are different.
No. The TMUA is deliberately built on standard A-Level Maths content. Further Maths students often find Paper 2 more familiar, but it is not a requirement.
Year 12 is the comfortable answer, with concentrated work over the summer. September of Year 13 is late but workable.
The TMUA is multiple choice, sat before an offer, and used to select. STEP is long-form proof, sat in June, and usually a condition of an offer already made.
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