Which universities require the TMUA for 2027 entry

Before the table, the rule that makes sense of it.

The TMUA is course-led, not institution-led. No university requires it of every applicant, and several require a different UAT-UK test for their other courses.

Imperial is the clearest case:

19 courses need the TMUA, and more than 30 others need the ESAT instead. The heading on Imperial's section of the official list reads "either the ESAT or the TMUA is compulsory", and which one depends entirely on the course.

So look for your UCAS code below, not just your university.

Here's how that breaks down:

If your course is not in that table, you do not need the TMUA. If it is not in the table but your university appears, check whether the course requires the ESAT or TARA instead.

If it is in the table, the complete TMUA guide covers what you will be sitting: the format, the dates, the fee and how the score works.

Two additions, and both are large enough that pages written a year ago are now wrong.

1. Oxford is on the list for the first time. All five of its TMUA courses are new to the list, because Oxford retired the Mathematics Admissions Test, which ran from 2007 to 2025, and adopted the TMUA in its place.

2. Cambridge added Mathematics (G100). Cambridge already required the TMUA for Computer Science and Economics, and Mathematics joins them for 2027 entry.

   Note that this is in addition to STEP, not instead of it.

The test itself is unchanged. The format, the 1.0 to 9.0 scale and the scoring method are all the same as in the previous cycle.

The practical effect is on the size and strength of the field rather than on the test. Candidate numbers rose from 13,855 to 16,092 between 2025 and 2026 entry, and that was before Oxford joined the list.

Both words appear in the official list and they mean genuinely different things.

Compulsory means the application is incomplete without it. UAT-UK put it bluntly: if you do not register and take the test, it may invalidate your application.

Recommended means the university will use a score if you have one, and not having one does not rule you out on its own.

That sounds like an easy skip. Durham shows why it often is not.

So a recommended test can be worth a grade. Whether that is worth the fee and the preparation is your call, but the score can count.

Two more details before you decide. At Warwick, Economics applicants who skip the TMUA "will be considered alongside those who sit the test and achieve a lower score".

And recommended courses see your score whether it helps or not:

UAT-UK sends it to every course on your UCAS application that lists the test, and you cannot choose which.

Several universities used the TMUA in the Cambridge Assessment era and appear in neither the 2026 nor the 2027 UAT-UK course list.

Lancaster, Sheffield, Southampton, Cardiff, Bath and Nottingham are the names that still turn up on prep sites and in older forum threads.

They are not on the current list, so the TMUA is not part of their published requirements for 2027 entry.

Two of them say what happens to a score you sit anyway. Bath says it stopped considering TMUA scores from 2025 entry.

Nottingham's Mathematics page says the TMUA is not factored into offers, though it may be considered when A-level results come out.

Lancaster, Sheffield, Southampton and Cardiff do not mention the TMUA on their 2027 maths course pages.

If it matters to your application, ask that university's admissions office directly rather than relying on any page, including this one.

Each of these sends students to the wrong test or leaves them unprepared.

1. Assuming UCL Computer Science uses the TMUA. It uses TARA. So do MEng Computer Science and Mathematics, BEng and MEng Mechanical Engineering, and MEng Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. UCL Electronic and Electrical Engineering uses the ESAT.

   At UCL, the TMUA applies only to the two Economics degrees. TARA tests critical thinking, problem solving and writing. Its maths is everyday numeracy, such as percentages, averages and areas, with none of the A-level content the TMUA covers. Preparing for the wrong one wastes weeks. See the TARA guide.

2. Assuming the TMUA replaced STEP at Cambridge. Cambridge Mathematics now needs both. Cambridge uses the TMUA to help decide who to interview, and offers typically still require at least grade 1 in STEP 2 and STEP 3.

3. Assuming every Warwick applicant must sit it. Applicants eligible for a contextual offer are exempt, though Warwick says its contextual criteria may change for 2027.

   Applicants to Warwick Mathematics (G100 and G103) can take STEP instead. Any offer then requires grade 2 in a STEP paper sat in June, and Warwick asks you to say this on your UCAS application. The STEP route does not cover Discrete Mathematics or Computer Science.

One more code to check: the official list gives N321 for both LSE Actuarial Science degrees, but LSE's own page gives N322 for the placement-year version. Use the code on LSE's course page.

This page is a summary of an official document, and summaries go stale. The list above was checked on 26 August 2026, and UAT-UK update theirs without announcement.

Four checks settle it for your specific application. Do them in this order.

1. Match the UCAS code, not the course name. Universities run near-identical degrees under different codes, and the requirement follows the code.

   BEng and MEng versions of the same subject often differ, and so do year-abroad and placement variants.

2. Check which test, not just whether there is one. Four of these seven institutions use more than one UAT-UK test. Seeing "admissions test required" on a course page is not the same as seeing "TMUA".

3. Read the university's own course page. UAT-UK say directly that candidates must check the relevant course pages before booking, and that they cannot be held responsible where a test is not booked in line with the entrance requirements.

   Where the two disagree, the university's page is the one that governs your application.

4. Do it for all five choices, not just the one you want most. The requirement attaches to each course independently, and one choice is enough to commit you.

If you have not settled on your five choices by the booking deadline, the safe move is to book if any course you are seriously considering requires it. A test you sat and did not need costs the fee.

A test you needed and did not sit can invalidate an application.

Most candidates choose between October and January. Some cannot.

Oxford and Cambridge applicants must sit in the October window, 12 to 16 October 2026. There is one narrow exception for the TMUA: mature applicants applying to a Cambridge mature college in the January round can sit in January.

UAT-UK also mentions Oxford's Astrophoria Foundation Year, but none of its courses uses the TMUA.

Everyone else may choose, and UAT-UK say there is no advantage to either sitting.

You can only sit the TMUA once per cycle, and that catches people out.

The scaling is identical for both sittings, but October candidates averaged 0.84 of a point higher than January candidates in 2026 entry.

Every deadline, including booking, bursaries and access arrangements, is in the dates and registration guide.

Two of the seven publish a score figure. Imperial publishes historic data.

The other four publish no score figures.

Warwick says most 2025-entry Mathematics offers went to applicants scoring 5.0 or above. For Computer Science and Discrete Mathematics, it says the exact requirement will not be published.

Most offers for its Statistics courses include the option of meeting them with 5.0 in the TMUA or grade 2 in any STEP paper.

Durham uses 5.0 as the score that makes you eligible to be considered for a reduced offer, with a lower floor set each year between 3.2 and 3.5.

Cambridge, Oxford, LSE and UCL publish no threshold of any kind. Imperial publishes no threshold either, but does publish an anonymised dashboard of historic score distributions and outcomes by department.

So any specific figure you find for those four did not come from the university.

And every benchmark from before 2024 is invalid regardless, because the scale was rebuilt. Durham states that a 2023 score of 6.5 equates to 5.0 today.

Our guide to what makes a good TMUA score shows the real distribution.

And whatever your university expects, the preparation is the same. Every official paper from 2016 to 2023 is free with worked answers on the past papers page.