TMUA dates, registration and booking for 2027 entry

Every milestone for both sittings, with times exactly as UAT-UK give them.

Here's how that breaks down:

One detail in that table is easy to skim past. The clocks change between the two cycles.

October deadlines are in BST, January's in GMT. The switch happens between the January reopening on 5 October and January booking opening on 26 October.

If you are working from outside the UK, that is an hour of difference in the same stated time, and it falls on the wrong side of a deadline.

This is the single most common way to get caught out, and the dates make it obvious once you see them.

Accounts open on 1 June 2026. October booking does not open until 20 July 2026.

Seven weeks apart.

So "I have registered" and "I have a seat" are two different sentences, and only the second one gets you into a test centre.

The full sequence, from UAT-UK's own registration and FAQ pages:

Step two matters more than it looks, and it produces a genuinely confusing failure.

The order that works: account first, then any applications, then book as soon as the window opens.

The TMUA is sat at Pearson VUE professional test centres, and seats in them are finite.

UAT-UK are direct about it: they cannot guarantee a candidate's first choice of test centre in all cases, though they say they work to ensure candidates can sit within a reasonable distance of home or school.

They publish one concrete piece of guidance, and it is more useful than it first appears.

The part of that advice worth acting on is what comes next, because it turns a bad booking into a recoverable one.

Book something, then improve it. UAT-UK note that new slots appear as other candidates cancel, and that you can reschedule free of charge up to 48 hours before your test time.

So an inconvenient seat you hold is worth far more than a convenient one you are waiting for. Take what is available, then check back.

GhostPrep's advice, not UAT-UK's: book close to the day the window opens rather than close to the day it shuts. Provision is thinner outside major cities, and the reschedule option only helps if you already have a booking to reschedule.

Most candidates pick a sitting. Some do not, and the rule reaches further than it looks.

Here's how that breaks down:

Now the consequence almost nobody states, and it catches out candidates who are not applying to Oxford or Cambridge at all.

There is one more clash worth knowing about, because UAT-UK publish an answer for it.

If the October window collides with your school or college exams and you are not applying to Oxford or Cambridge, UAT-UK say to sit in January instead and that this will not disadvantage you.

If you are applying to Oxford or Cambridge with a clash, they ask you to contact them through the secure messaging function in your account with the dates and times.

If you are sitting two UAT-UK tests

This one is worth planning around and almost nobody mentions it.

ESAT, TARA and TMUA all run in the same window. For October 2026 that is 12 to 16 October, all three, on all days.

So a candidate who needs two of them can end up sitting both inside the same week, on top of whatever else is happening that term.

Sometimes you have no choice. But often you have more than you think, because the October-only rule attaches to the Oxford or Cambridge course, not to you.

GhostPrep's advice, not UAT-UK's: check each test against the courses that actually require it, rather than assuming one Oxbridge choice fixes the timing of everything.

Spreading two tests across two windows is usually worth more than the convenience of clearing them both at once.

Two things to weigh against it. The January cohort scores lower on average, and a January TMUA result arrives on 8 February 2027, which is later than some universities make decisions.

A bursary covers the whole test fee. Two features of how it works cost people the waiver every year.

It is a full fee waiver, not a reimbursement, and it must be approved before you book. You cannot pay and claim it back.

Look at the two dates together and the squeeze is obvious.

Here's how that breaks down:

Seven days between them, of which five can be swallowed by the review. Apply on the deadline and you may have a single working day left to find a seat.

Three further details are published and worth knowing.

1. One piece of evidence is enough. You or a parent need to be in receipt of one of the listed awards, and supply one document that meets the requirements.

2. A bursary is granted for the year, but can only be used once. If you did not book for October, or booked and cancelled more than 48 hours before your test, it carries over to January.

   If you booked using it and simply did not turn up, it will not be reissued.

3. Already booked and paid, but think you qualify? The form will not appear while you hold a booking. You have to cancel the test and withdraw your test card, then refresh. Do both, or the form stays hidden.

   Cancel more than 48 hours before your booking and the original fee is refunded.

Access arrangements have the earliest deadline of anything on this page, and the longest review time.

October's deadline is 14 September 2026, a full two weeks before booking closes, and review takes up to ten working days.

January's deadline is 7 December 2026, with applications reopening on 5 October 2026.

You apply through your UAT-UK account, where the request form sits on your dashboard, and you upload supporting evidence with it.

What counts as evidence depends on where you are:

1. If you are in education, a letter from your school stating your usual way of working in public exams, written by an appropriate member of staff.

   For extra time it must state how much you are entitled to. For a separate room it must state that you are entitled to one-to-one invigilation.

2. If you have left education and have a learning difference such as dyslexia, a full post-14 diagnostic assessment report signed by an appropriate professional.

3. If you have a physical disability, sensory impairment or another medical condition, a recent letter from a relevant professional.

The slow part is almost always the school letter rather than UAT-UK's review, which is why the deadline sits where it does.

UAT-UK also advise applying earlier still if you need a separate room, a reader or a recorder. Full detail is on their Access Arrangements page and policy.

Booking is confirmed through Pearson VUE, and there are a few rules worth knowing before test day rather than on it.

That 48-hour line is the one to remember, because it governs three separate things: rescheduling free, refunding in full, and keeping a bursary for the other sitting.

One situation is handled for you.

If Pearson cancel your booking within 48 hours because of a site closure, bad weather or another unexpected event, UAT-UK say they will work with Pearson to find a solution and you will be contacted after your test date with an option to re-book.

UAT-UK's position is short and gives no room: they are unable to accept test bookings after the stated deadline.

For most candidates, missing October means sitting in January instead, and UAT-UK say there is no advantage to either sitting.

For Oxford and Cambridge applicants there is no January.

The same applies with less severity to everyone else: miss 21 December and there is no third sitting for 2027 entry.

If you have a date booked, the useful thing to do next is start on the archive. Every official paper from 2016 to 2023 is free with worked answers on the past papers page.

Which courses actually require it is on the universities guide, and the test as a whole is covered on the complete TMUA guide.