Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA)

What is the TSA?

The Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) is an admissions assessment used by the University of Oxford to assess students for entry to various humanities and social sciences undergraduate degrees. The TSA was formerly used by the University of Cambridge and University College London, but these universities no longer use it.

From 2026 Oxford has replaced the TSA with the TARA.

The test lasts either 90 minutes or two hours, depending on which degree you are applying for, and is designed to assess your critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

The TSA is required for students applying to the following courses at Oxford:

• Economics and Management
• Experimental Psychology
• History and Economics
• Human Sciences
• Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE)
• Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics.

What does the TSA involve?

The test is divided into two sections.

Section 1 lasts 90 minutes and consists of 50 multiple-choice questions:

• 25 on critical thinking (requiring students to read an argument and identify its premises and logic)
• 25 on problem-solving (more mathematical, requiring students to analyse and interpret graphs and data)

Section 2 lasts 30 minutes. Students must write an essay in response to one of four questions. These questions do not require specialised subject knowledge but are designed to test a student’s ability to argue clearly, logically and persuasively. Example questions from past papers include:

• “Should political advertising and campaigning on social media be banned?”
• “Should people be free to live in any country they wish to?”
• “Would a world in which no one ever experienced disappointment be better or worse than the world as it is?”

Section 1 is compulsory for all applicants. You only need to answer Section 2 if you are applying for Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE).

Registration

Applicants can register for the TSA between 15^th August and 4^th September 2024. To register, visit the Oxford admissions test registration portal and create an account. You will need your UCAS ID to complete the registration.

Exam dates

The TSA will be held on 24^th October 2024.

Cost

There is no fee to take the test.

Where to take the TSA

You can take the TSA at any Pearson VUE Test Centre. You will select your test centre when registering for the assessment.

Results

The TSA is one data point which Oxford admissions tutors use when deciding who to invite for interview and who to offer a place to (alongside, for instance, your predicted grades, personal statement, and teacher’s reference). However, Oxford do place greater weight on TSA scores, because they consider the test to be more of a level playing field for all applicants and a more accurate indicator of whether a student has the skills needed to succeed in their degree.

In Section 1 of the test, there is one mark available for each correct answer. No marks are lost for incorrect answers, so it is worth making a guess if you are not sure. Your score (out of 50) is then graded on a scale of 0-100, depending on the results which other applicants achieve.

Oxford have stated that a result in the top quartile of applicants significantly improves your chances of interview and admission, while coming in the second quartile or below reduces your chances. Although grade boundaries vary from year to year, a score of around 65/100 or more typically places you in the top quartile. This roughly equates to a ‘raw’ score of 30-35/50 correct multiple-choice answers.

Section 2 is marked by an admissions tutor at the college you have applied to. No numerical score is given for Section 2.

How to get the test results

Your test results will be made available to the Oxford admissions tutors in time for them to decide whether or not to invite you for interview. Invitations to interview typically go out in November (the month after you take the TSA).

In previous years, Oxford released test results to applicants in the January after they took the test. However, the administration of the TSA has changed from Cambridge Admissions Assessment Testing (CAAT) to Pearson VUE for 2025 entry, and Oxford has not yet released any information about whether applicants will be able to see their test results.

From 2026, the TSA has been replaced by the TARA.

Time management is a real challenge in the TSA (in Section 1, you have less than 2 minutes per question), so in the weeks before you sit the test, you should complete at least two full past papers under timed conditions to build up your speed and stamina.

One exam technique tip for the critical thinking sub-section: for each question, read the question and answers first, then read the paragraph of ‘argument’ second. Reading the question first will enable you to know what you are looking for in the argument and will save you time.

For Section 2, it is absolutely vital that you answer the question. And by this we don’t just mean that you address the question, but come up with answer. Don’t find yourself writing an essay which even-handedly covers both sides of the argument but fails to reach a conclusion. You should acknowledge other viewpoints and consider their merits, but ultimately argue for why your viewpoint is stronger. To make sure the admissions tutor sees that you have done this, state your answer clearly in the opening and closing lines of your essay. Your language should reflect your confidence in the merits of your argument – use phrases like ‘I contend’ or ‘I argue’, not ‘I think’ or ‘I believe’.

Once you’ve selected your question, the first step is to plan your essay. You should use up to 10 of your 30 minutes in planning. A clear, cogent argument which runs to a side-and-a-half of A4 will be rewarded far more than a rambling essay three pages long. You should plan each of the paragraphs you will write. A basic but reliable structure is:

1. Introduction – state your viewpoint
2. Define any key terms
3. Argument 1 in favour of your viewpoint
4. Argument 2 in favour of your viewpoint
5. Consider opposing viewpoints and weigh their merits against your arguments
6. Conclusion – re-assert your viewpoint, summarise why you hold it, and reflect on its implications

To give your preparation an extra boost, you should consider enlisting the expert support of an experience TSA tutor. A tutor can help you build up the core skills that underpin Section 1 of the TSA and can mark your answers to Section 2, providing vital feedback to improve your writing and argumentation. When just one correct answer could be the difference between an offer and not even getting an interview, it is well worth doing all you can to prepare.

Past and practice papers

Oxford publishes all the TSA past papers and mark schemes going back to 2008.

Frequently asked questions

How do you prepare for the Thinking Skills Assessment?

Practise using the past papers which Oxford publishes. In the months before the test, you should do some quick-fire practice of Section 1 questions to build up your skills. As the TSA approaches, practice Section 1 under exam conditions to hone your time management and exam technique. For Section 2, answer mock questions under timed conditions, not forgetting to plan your essay and answer the question directly. Enlisting the support of an experienced TSA tutor to improve your skills for Section 1 and to mark your Section 2 answers can drastically improve your performance.

Which universities require the TSA?

From 2026 no universities require the TSA, which has been replaced by the TARA. It was formerly used by Oxford, UCL and Cambridge.

How hard is the TSA?

The TSA is a highly demanding assessment which requires exceptional critical thinking and reasoning abilities and the ability to work accurately at high speed. Only around a quarter of students who take the TSA receive an invitation to interview from Oxford.

What is the TSA exam for?

The TSA is an admissions assessment used by the University of Oxford to assess students for entry to a variety of humanities and social sciences degrees, including Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) and Economics and Management.