About TMUA
“What is TMUA?”, “How do I revise for TMUA?”, “How do I get a 9 in TMUA?” are maybe a few questions you have asked yourself since finding out you need TMUA for your university offer. This page collates together many invaluable resources for TMUA, some of which I’ve created, others of which I’ve come across during my own preparation, in order to be a valuable tool during your own TMUA revision and preparation.
TMUA Frequently Asked Questions
TMUA, more formally known as the Test of Mathematics for University Admission, is a university admissions test designed to allow applicants to demonstrate the essential mathematical thinking and reasoning skills needed for a degree in Mathematics or Mathematics-related course.
TMUA is 2.5 hours long and consists of two papers which are taken consecutively.
The papers are:
- Paper 1: Applications of Mathematical Knowledge
- Paper 2: Mathematical Reasoning
Both papers are 75 minutes long and consist of 2o multiple choice questions.
Paper 1 focuses on assessing your ability to apply mathematical knowledge to new situations and Paper 2 focuses on assessing your mathematical reasoning and your ability to deal with simple ideas from elementary logic.
Your score on the test is based on your overall performance on both papers (i.e how many correct answers you give) and it is given on a scale 1.0 to 9.0.
The test uses mathematics you will have already learned in your school studies up to the point of taking the test.
For more information, see the TMUA 2021 test specification.
There is no pass or fail for TMUA and so you should just aim to do your best.
A typical offer for Mathematics at Durham University is obtaining 6.5 overall.
See the following document to see which Universities and their relevant courses use TMUA.
Because this is such an important question, and one I’m asked very frequently by students I tutor, I have dedicated an entire page where I have written an article highlighting valuable tips and advice on how to revise for TMUA, along with several effective approaches which will help you do well in TMUA. These allowed me to achieve 8.4 overall in TMUA, with a 9.0 in the first paper. Read the article here.
No calculators or dictionaries are allowed.
All you should need is:
- some black or blue pens
- pencils (for sketches or rough work)
- a ruler
- a rubber.
The following is a video created by Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing which offers information about the test, advice on how to approach the test, plus some worked examples of questions. Download the questions here to give them a try before watching the worked solutions.