The TMUA is the UK admissions test most likely to apply to you if you're applying for Mathematics, Computer Science, or a quantitative Economics degree. It's used by seven universities, but -- like every test in the five-test UK admissions-test system -- whether it's compulsory, recommended, or irrelevant depends on the specific course, not just the university.
Who requires it, course by course
- Cambridge: compulsory for Computer Science, Economics, and Mathematics.
- Oxford: compulsory for Computer Science, Computer Science and Philosophy, Mathematics and Computer Science, Mathematics and Philosophy, and Mathematics (or Mathematics and Statistics).
- Imperial College London: required for Mathematics, Computing, the Joint Mathematics and Computing (JMC) course, and its Economics, Finance and Data Science degree.
- London School of Economics: mandatory for BSc Economics and for Econometrics & Mathematical Economics; recommended for roughly eight further quantitative degrees.
- University of Warwick: required for Computer Science; single-honours Mathematics applicants can choose between the TMUA and STEP instead; a strong score can earn a reduced offer for MORSE, Statistics, and Data Science.
- Durham University: strongly encouraged, not strictly required, for Mathematics -- a good score can earn a reduced offer.
- UCL: used only for Economics.
If you're applying to a Maths, Economics, or Computer Science degree at any of these seven universities, check that specific course's own admissions page -- "TMUA university" isn't a single yes/no answer even within one school.
What's actually in the test
The TMUA runs 2 hours 30 minutes, split into two 75-minute papers of 20 multiple-choice questions each -- 40 questions total. Paper 1 tests your ability to apply mathematical knowledge in unfamiliar problem settings; Paper 2 tests mathematical reasoning and basic logic. No calculator or dictionary is allowed.
Dates, registration, and cost for 2027 entry
Like the ESAT, the TMUA is delivered by UAT-UK (a Cambridge/Imperial joint venture, run through Pearson) at two annual sittings: 12-16 October 2026 for the large majority of applicants, and 4-8 January 2027 for a narrow set of later-deadline cases. Registration opens 1 June 2026, and Oxford's own published deadline has test booking closing 28 September 2026 -- nearly three weeks ahead of the test window itself, so don't treat the October dates as your real deadline. The fee is £78 at a UK or Ireland test centre, or £133 elsewhere, which is what applies if you're testing from the US.
What this means for you
- "TMUA required" doesn't mean the same thing at every university -- Cambridge and Oxford make it compulsory for the courses listed above, Warwick and Durham let a good score substitute for a lower offer instead of gating admission outright, and UCL only uses it for Economics.
- Register well before the October test window -- booking deadlines land in September, and missing one can mean missing your UCAS deadline too, not just the test.
- A single sitting covers every TMUA university on your UCAS form, so if both Cambridge and LSE want it for your courses, you only need to test once.
- This isn't the same test as the ESAT or TARA, even though it shares a registration system and dates with both -- see the full breakdown of all five UK admissions tests to confirm which one your course actually needs.
If your course also carries a published AP-exam requirement, our piece on what AP scores Cambridge and Oxford actually want covers how the two are weighed together, and our interview and admissions-test prep guide covers what comes after the test if you're shortlisted.