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What is the TMUA?
The TMUA, the Test of Mathematics for University Admission, is a mathematics admissions test for courses such as mathematics, computer science and economics. It is two papers of twenty multiple choice questions, seventy five minutes each, with no calculator.
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The short answer
The TMUA is set by UAT-UK (esat-tmua.ac.uk) and taken on a computer at a test centre. It has forty questions in all, in two papers, and takes 2 hours 30 minutes of testing time. It asks for school mathematics used quickly and carefully, and for reasoning about mathematics, rather than for topics beyond the specification.
The two papers
- Paper 1: applications of mathematical knowledge. Twenty questions in seventy five minutes on algebra, functions, sequences, coordinate geometry, trigonometry, calculus and probability, used in unfamiliar settings.
- Paper 2: mathematical reasoning. Twenty questions in seventy five minutes on reading and judging arguments: negating a statement, what a counterexample must do, necessary and sufficient conditions, and finding the step where a proof goes wrong.
That is 3 minutes 45 seconds a question on average, so the test rewards a clean first method over a long one. The TMUA methods work through the approaches for each paper.
Who asks for it
Universities including Cambridge, Imperial, Warwick and LSE use the TMUA for some of their courses, and for 2027 entry Oxford uses it for its mathematics and computer science courses where it used the MAT. Requirements differ by course and change between years, so check each course's own admissions page before you book. If a course asks for the ESAT instead, TMUA or ESAT explains the difference.
When you sit it
There are two sittings a year. Most Cambridge and Oxford applicants sit in October (12 to 16 October in 2026). The January sitting runs from Monday 4 to Friday 8 January 2027 and is mostly for applicants to other universities; booking with UAT-UK closes at 6pm on 21 December 2026, and your universities may set an earlier deadline of their own. The ten week January plan sets out the preparation for that sitting.
How it is scored
Results are reported as one overall score on a scale from 1.0 to 9.0 and appear in your UAT-UK account: on Monday 16 November 2026 for the October sitting and on 8 February 2027 for the January one. There is no pass mark: each course decides how to use the score alongside the rest of your application. TMUA scores explained covers what the scale means and how to read your result.
Where to start
Answer a few questions before reading anything else, so you know which paper costs you more. TMUA practice has unseen questions with full worked solutions and timed papers, free to start.
Quick answers
What is the TMUA? The Test of Mathematics for University Admission: two papers of 20 multiple choice questions, 75 minutes each, with no calculator, set by UAT-UK.
How long is the TMUA? Two papers of 75 minutes, 150 minutes of testing time in all, about 3 minutes 45 seconds a question.
Is there a pass mark for the TMUA? No. Each course decides how to use the score alongside the rest of the application.