Skip to content

Preparing for university admissions tests

Do you want to apply for a degree that requires you to take one or more of the maths admissions tests – STEP, MAT and TMUA?

  • Students applying for places to study Mathematics or Computer Science courses (including joint honours) at The University of Oxford will be required to sit the Mathematics Admission Test (MAT)
  • For The University of Cambridge, Computer Science and Economics courses require the Test of Mathematics for University Admission (TMUA)
  • For Imperial College, Mathematics, Computer Science and Economics, Finance and Data Science applicants will be required to sit the TMUA
  • London School of Economics requires applicants for their Economics and Econometrics and Mathematical Economics courses to sit the TMUA and recommend it for several of their other programmes
  • The University of Warwick and Durham University strongly encourage applicants for their Mathematics courses to take the TMUA, and will give a preferential offer to students who gain a good grade

For further information about admissions tests, see: TMUA – UAT UKMAT – University of Oxford and STEP – OCR.

It’s important to ensure you’re well-prepared because the questions in these tests are longer and less structured than most A level Mathematics and Further Mathematics examination questions. You’ll benefit from getting used to this style of question beforehand and gaining confidence in tackling them.

Tuition

Support to develop your problem-solving skills and prepare for taking university admissions tests was previously available from the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme (AMSP). As of 1 April 2025, this support is no longer available through the programme.

MEI is happy to confirm that, thanks to philanthropic funding, we are able to continue to offer this support for free to students looking to progress to studying maths at university level.

Problem Solving Matters

Problem Solving Matters is a free course for Year 12 students from state-funded schools, academies and colleges who are interested in applying to study Mathematics, Mathematical Sciences or other highly mathematics-dependent courses at University. It is designed to prepare students for the way they will have to think to achieve success in the MAT, TMUA and other problem solving mathematics examinations, including STEP, by developing their mathematical thinking and problem-solving skills.