TMUA or ESAT: which test do you sit?
Your course decides, not you. The TMUA is for mathematics heavy courses such as mathematics, computer science and economics; the ESAT is for engineering and the sciences. This page shows the difference and where they overlap.
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The short answer
Look up each course on its university's admissions page: it names the test, and some courses ask for none. Both tests are set by UAT-UK (esat-tmua.ac.uk) and sat on a computer at a test centre.
The two tests side by side
| TMUA | ESAT | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Two papers of 20 questions, 75 minutes each | Modules of 27 questions, 40 minutes each, chosen by your course |
| Time per question | About 3 minutes 45 seconds | About 1 minute 29 seconds |
| Content | Mathematics applied, then reasoning about arguments | Mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, by module |
| Calculator | No | No |
| Typical courses | Mathematics, computer science, economics | Engineering, natural sciences, physics |
The ESAT gives less time per question, about 89 seconds against 225, so practise each test at its own pace.
Oxford, the MAT and the PAT
For 2027 entry Oxford uses the TMUA where it used the MAT, for Mathematics and its joint courses and for Computer Science and its joint courses, and the ESAT where it used the PAT, for Physics, Physics and Philosophy and Engineering Science. Advice that tells you to sit the MAT or the PAT for these courses is out of date for 2027 entry: the MAT page and the PAT page say what replaced each.
If you need both
Applying to, say, economics at one university and engineering at another can mean sitting both. The pure mathematics overlaps: the algebra, functions and calculus in TMUA Paper 1 are close to the ESAT's mathematics modules, so the ESAT Mathematics 2 questions are useful practice for either. TMUA Paper 2's reasoning has no ESAT equivalent and needs its own practice: the TMUA methods cover it.
Where to start
Unseen questions with worked solutions for each test: TMUA practice and ESAT practice, both free to start.
Quick answers
Which should you take, the TMUA or the ESAT? Your course decides: each course's admissions page names the test. The TMUA is for mathematics heavy courses, the ESAT for engineering and the sciences.
Has the TMUA replaced the MAT? For Oxford, yes: for 2027 entry its mathematics and computer science courses ask for the TMUA where they used to ask for the MAT.