ESAT, TMUA and TARA Dates: Booking, Sittings and Results

The ESAT, TMUA and TARA are run by UAT-UK and share one timetable, with two sittings in each admissions cycle, one in October and one in January. Which sitting a student can take depends on the university, and the booking deadlines, access arrangement deadlines and bursary deadlines fall several weeks before each sitting. The current dates for the next cycle are in the key facts on this page, taken from the UAT-UK deadlines page, and the sections below explain how the cycle works and what to do at each stage.

How the UAT-UK testing cycle works

Each admissions cycle has two test windows. The October window falls a few days before the middle of the month, and the January window falls in the first full week of the new year. All three tests run on every day of each window for candidates in most countries, and the tests are taken on computer at a Pearson VUE test centre.

A candidate can sit each test only once in an admissions cycle. UAT-UK says there is no advantage to either sitting, so for universities that accept both, the choice comes down to which date suits the student's preparation and other deadlines.

Students applying to both Oxford or Cambridge and another university that uses the same test take it in October, and the result is sent to every university that requires it.

The deadlines before each sitting

Every sitting has a sequence of deadlines, and missing one can mean missing the test, since UAT-UK does not accept bookings after the stated deadline. The sequence is the same for both windows:

1. Account creation and applications for access arrangements and bursaries open. For the October sitting this happens in early summer, and for January it reopens in early October.
2. Test booking opens. Booking for October opens in July, and booking for January opens in late October.
3. Access arrangements deadline. Requests need to be in about four weeks before booking closes. UAT-UK says a review can take up to 10 working days, and it strongly advises applying before this date if a separate room, a reader or a recorder is needed.
4. Bursary deadline. Bursary requests close one week before booking closes, and a review can take up to five working days.
5. Booking closes. For October, booking closes in late September, about two weeks before the window opens. For January, booking closes before Christmas.

A candidate who requests access arrangements or a bursary by its deadline can still book once the request is approved, even if approval comes close to the booking deadline. UAT-UK advises booking early in any case, since test centre slots fill up and each test runs on only five days per window.

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Choosing a test date and centre

Within the window, candidates choose their own day, time and test centre when they book. Students who book early have the widest choice of local centres and times, which matters for anyone who needs to travel or who wants to avoid a clash with school commitments.

Candidates for the engineering and science test choose their modules at the same time, and UAT-UK does not allow modules to be added, removed or changed after booking. A student who books the wrong modules must cancel and rebook, with no guarantee of the same slot, so checking each university's module requirements in the guide to its modules and course requirements before booking saves a lot of trouble.

Rescheduling and cancelling a test

Candidates can cancel or reschedule up to 48 hours before their appointment without any financial penalty, through the Manage Appointment option on the test card in their UAT-UK account. Pearson customer services can also help, while UAT-UK itself cannot change a booking.

A missed appointment, or a change made inside the 48-hour limit, loses the test fee, and a candidate who used a bursary does not receive a second one for the rebooking. Anyone who cancels after booking has closed cannot book another slot in that window. Illness, injury and personal circumstances on the day are covered by UAT-UK's special consideration policy, and the candidate should contact UAT-UK through their account as soon as possible.

Candidates sitting in China, Hong Kong and Macau

For security reasons, UAT-UK runs each test on set days in China, Hong Kong and Macau, with no exceptions. The engineering and maths tests run on two days of the October window and one day of the January window, and the TARA runs on one day in each window. Candidates in these regions must book one of the listed days, which are on the UAT-UK deadlines page.

When results are released

Results arrive in the candidate's UAT-UK account on a release date that UAT-UK publishes in advance, a few weeks after each window. TMUA results are also sent automatically to the TMUA universities in the candidate's UCAS application. Each result is a score from 1 to 9 to one decimal place: ESAT candidates receive a score for each module, TMUA candidates receive one overall score, and TARA candidates receive separate scores for Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, with the Writing Task passed to universities unscored. UAT-UK does not accept appeals against scores.

The score pages explain what the numbers mean: TMUA score conversion and ESAT scores and results.

A planning timeline for October candidates

The timeline below works back from an October sitting for a student applying through UCAS in the autumn of Year 13.

Preparation plans for each test are in the guides to preparing for the TMUA and preparing for the engineering and science test, and past papers are on the TMUA past papers, ESAT past papers and TARA practice questions pages.

Related guides

• University admissions tests in the UK: which test for which course
• TMUA guide: format, scoring and which courses require it
• Engineering and Science Admissions Test guide: modules and scoring
• TARA guide: the Test of Academic Reasoning for Admissions
• Applying for maths at Cambridge
• Oxford physics entry requirements
• Super-curricular activities for maths

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Students sitting a UAT-UK test often want help planning the months before it, with someone setting timed practice and checking their work. Our tutors are graduates of Russell Group universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, and the tutor pool includes former heads of department and school leaders, experienced exam-board examiners, teachers from independent and boarding schools, and educational consultants with independent-school admissions experience.

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