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TARA 2026–27: Format, Dates and Free Practice Test

The TARA is a reasoning test with three 40-minute modules: Critical Thinking (22 questions), Problem Solving (22 questions) and a Writing Task (one essay, up to 750 words). Oxford and UCL list it for named 2027-entry courses.

Sources last checked 2026-10-01

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TARA guides

What this record establishes

Owner
UAT-UK
Dates
2027 entry
Format
Official format source listed
Status
Current test

Registration and sitting dates for 2027 entry

Dates change by cycle. Follow the live official pages named below, then check the exact institution deadline rather than copying a date from another course.

  • Sitting 1: 12–16 October 2026, open to every 2027-entry applicant.
  • Sitting 2: 4–8 January 2027, which most Oxford and Cambridge applicants cannot use; check your course before relying on it.
  • The TMUA costs £78 in the UK and Ireland and £133 elsewhere; registration and booking deadlines are on the UAT-UK registration page.
  • Check your course page before booking: it decides which test, and for ESAT which modules, you sit.

Format and modules

What the official sources listed on this page establish about delivery, timing, and papers or modules.

Delivery
Computer-based admissions test run by UAT-UK at test centres
Timing
Three 40-minute modules, with no calculator or dictionary

Papers or modules

  • Critical Thinking — 22 multiple-choice questions in 40 minutes
  • Problem Solving — 22 multiple-choice questions in 40 minutes
  • Writing Task — one essay from a choice of three, up to 750 words, in 40 minutes

Scope of this format record

  • Critical Thinking and Problem Solving are each scored from 1 to 9 to one decimal place.
  • The Writing Task is not scored by UAT-UK; your essay goes to the universities.
  • A course that used the TSA in the past does not automatically use TARA now; check the course page.

Preparation order

Verify the booking decision first. Preparation advice cannot repair a test choice made for the wrong course, entry year, or module combination.

  1. 1Confirm on your course page that you need the TARA for your entry year.
  2. 2Practise Critical Thinking: find the conclusion, the assumption and the flaw in short arguments.
  3. 3Practise Problem Solving without a calculator, using tables, timetables and spatial puzzles.
  4. 4Write timed 40-minute essays that take a clear position and answer the strongest objection.
  5. 5Sit all three modules back to back at least once before test day.

Institution and course records

Read the institution, exact course scope, and entry year together. A row is not a rule for a different course or university.

University of Oxford · 2027 entry

Economics and Management; Experimental Psychology; Human Sciences; Philosophy, Politics and Economics; Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics

Required for this row

Oxford lists TARA for these named courses for 2027 entry. The transition is specific to this Oxford course group.

Policy owner
University of Oxford
Last checked
2026-08-11
Next review
2026-12-01

Dates · 2027 entry

  • Sitting 1: 12–16 October 2026, open to every 2027-entry applicant.
  • Sitting 2: 4–8 January 2027, which most Oxford and Cambridge applicants cannot use; check your course before relying on it.
  • The TMUA costs £78 in the UK and Ireland and £133 elsewhere; registration and booking deadlines are on the UAT-UK registration page.
  • Check your course page before booking: it decides which test, and for ESAT which modules, you sit.

Format and modules

Computer-based admissions test run by UAT-UK at test centres

Three 40-minute modules, with no calculator or dictionary

  • Critical Thinking — 22 multiple-choice questions in 40 minutes
  • Problem Solving — 22 multiple-choice questions in 40 minutes
  • Writing Task — one essay from a choice of three, up to 750 words, in 40 minutes

Sitting constraints

  • The Oxford course list is the scope of this row; do not apply it to every course that once used TSA.
  • Prepare for all modules named by the current TARA format and follow the live UAT-UK booking window.
  • Confirm the exact course name and entry year on Oxford's live page before booking.

Transition history

  • tsa → tara

    Oxford's named 2027-entry course group moved from TSA to TARA. This is not a universal TSA-to-TARA rule.

Open the primary official source

University College London · 2027 entry

Computer Science undergraduate programmes named on UCL's current tests page

Required for this row

UCL's tests page is the authority for which current Computer Science programmes use TARA. Confirm the exact programme and cycle before booking.

Policy owner
University College London
Last checked
2026-08-11
Next review
2026-12-01

Dates · 2027 entry

  • Sitting 1: 12–16 October 2026, open to every 2027-entry applicant.
  • Sitting 2: 4–8 January 2027, which most Oxford and Cambridge applicants cannot use; check your course before relying on it.
  • The TMUA costs £78 in the UK and Ireland and £133 elsewhere; registration and booking deadlines are on the UAT-UK registration page.
  • Check your course page before booking: it decides which test, and for ESAT which modules, you sit.

Format and modules

Computer-based admissions test run by UAT-UK at test centres

Three 40-minute modules, with no calculator or dictionary

  • Critical Thinking — 22 multiple-choice questions in 40 minutes
  • Problem Solving — 22 multiple-choice questions in 40 minutes
  • Writing Task — one essay from a choice of three, up to 750 words, in 40 minutes

Sitting constraints

  • Use the exact UCL programme page to confirm that the programme is in the tested group.
  • UCL owns this course requirement; the UAT-UK pages own registration and test format.
  • Do not transfer Oxford's TSA transition history to UCL.

Transition history

No transition is asserted for this row in the repository source set.

Open the primary official source

Scope of this record

Check the exact course before booking.

The test owner controls the test; the institution controls whether your course requires it and by when.

Related test records

Official sources

Each link goes to the official test owner, institution, or official report. A test-owner page does not establish a university course requirement; that requires an institution source.

  1. TARA: Test of Academic Reasoning for Admissions

    UAT-UK · checked 2026-08-11 · next review 2026-12-01

    Use for the current TARA structure. Course requirements still need an institution source.

  2. TMUA: Test of Mathematics for University Admission

    UAT-UK · checked 2026-10-01 · next review 2026-12-01

    TMUA papers, timing, scoring, 2027-entry sittings and fees.

  3. ESAT: Engineering and Science Admissions Test

    UAT-UK · checked 2026-10-01 · next review 2026-12-01

    ESAT modules, timing, scoring and 2027-entry sittings.

  4. UAT-UK registration and fees

    UAT-UK · checked 2026-08-11 · next review 2026-12-01

    Use the live page for TMUA, ESAT, and TARA registration, booking, testing, and fee details. Do not infer a course requirement from registration information.

  5. Admissions tests

    University of Oxford · checked 2026-08-11 · next review 2026-12-01

    Use only for Oxford entry-year and course requirements. It must not be generalized to other universities or courses.

  6. Tests, tasks and interviews

    University College London · checked 2026-08-11 · next review 2026-12-01

    Use only for UCL courses and the entry cycle stated by UCL. It must not be generalized to other institutions.

Sources and corrections

Next source review 2026-12-01

These records are dated snapshots of official pages. The live test-owner and institution pages win if a requirement, module, deadline, or sitting rule changes. Send the exact page and row when reporting a correction.

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