Test of Mathematics for University Admission (TMUA / CTMUA)

Accepted by

• Cambridge: Computer Science (in the form of CTMUA)
• Cardiff: All Mathematics courses
• Durham: Mathematics
• Lancaster: All mathematics courses, Computer Science with mathematics
• LSE: Mathematics with Economics, Financial Mathematics and Statistics
• Bath: All Mathematics courses
• Nottingham: Mathematics, Statistics, Financial Mathematics, Mathematics and Economics
• Sheffield: All Mathematics courses
• Southampton: All Mathematics courses
• Warwick: All Mathematics courses (not including Discrete Mathematics)

In most cases, the test is not compulsory (but you should check this on the course webpage on the university website), however a good performance on this test may result in a reduced offer. For example, for Mathematics at University of Southampton, the typical offer is AAA but that is reduced to AAB if you have achieved a good score in the TMUA.

Format

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2 maths papers taken in 1 sitting.
Overall grade calculated using total score from the two papers. 

Paper 1
- 75 minutes
- 20 multiple-choice questions

• Primarily maths based
• AS-level Maths

Section 2
- 75 minutes
- 20 multiple-choice questions

• Mainly maths-based but with some logic qus
• GCSE-level Maths

General  Advice

• PRACTICE! The questions that come up in the TMUA aren’t the same style of questions as A-levels so it’s very useful to do past papers to gain experience with these types of questions.
• There are only a handful of past paper questions so:
  • Do them all under timed conditions. 20 questions in 75 minutes is a very tough ask and many people don’t finish the papers in time so it’s useful to get some practice with do maths quickly.
  • Try some STEP and MAT questions in addition to TMUA past papers. They’re not the same but they’ll gain you more exposure to maths admissions papers which can help you with the TMUA.
• Try to spend less time on the earlier questions and more on the later ones as they tend to be harder.
• If you can’t answer a question after 6 or 7 minutes, skip it and come back to it at the end if you have time. You don’t have enough time to spend more than this on questions otherwise you’ll run out of time.

SPECIFICATION

Paper 1

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• The early questions can usually be done in less than 3 minutes so try to blitz through them, leaving you more time for questions 16-20 which can often take up to 8 minutes.
• The first 10 or so questions can usually be solved by following the usual mathematical process you would get taught in school. But, the final 10 questions will often involve more logical thinking and looking for clever patterns that might help you answer the question.
• Topics which often come up in Paper 1:
  • Binomial expansion
  • Logarithms
  • Quadratic Inequalities
  • Arithmetic and Geometric sequences
  • Graph transformations
  • Trigonometric equations

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Paper 2

• There are usually around 6 questions which are logic-based as opposed to pure maths questions. These are often a bit tricky to get your head around so try to slow down when you reach these questions, make sure you read the question properly (it really makes a difference with these logic problems)
• It’s really useful to know what words like ‘contradiction’ and ‘contrapositive’. Understanding things like logical equivalence can help with these questions. (See the Logic and Proof resource at the bottom of the page)
• Topics which often come up in Paper 2:
  • Finding error’s in a student’s working (e.g. you say what line the mistake was on)
  • Finding counterexamples to statements
  • Determining which of the given solutions are sufficient or necessary for a certain statement (important to know what these keywords in bold mean)
  • Questions involving knowing the difference between:
    • If
    • Only if
    • If and only if

Notes on Logic and Proof

Past Papers

PAPER	Explained Answers	Score
Specimen - Section 1 | Section 2	Section 1 | Section 2	All
Practice Paper 1 - Section 1 | Section 2	Section 1 | Section 2	All
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2017 - Section 1 | Section 2	Section 1 | Section 2	All
2018 - Section 1 | Section 2	Section 1 | Section 2	All
2019 - Section 1 | Section 2	Section 1 | Section 2	All
2020 - Section 1 |  Section 2	Section 1 | Section 2	All

Track your progress

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