TARA for 2027 entry: the three modules, the dates and how to prepare

TARA is the admissions test UAT-UK runs for courses at the University of Oxford and UCL. It is a reasoning test, not a subject-knowledge test: it rewards the habit of reading an argument or a table exactly as written.

That makes it unusually coachable in one respect and unusually resistant in another. The question types are fixed and learnable. The speed is not — 22 questions in 40 minutes leaves under two minutes each, and that is where most marks are lost.

Here is what the test contains, the dates that matter for 2027 entry, and how to use the time you have before your sitting.

Who needs it

UAT-UK states that TARA is currently used by the University of Oxford and UCL in a range of subject areas (checked 4 October 2026). Applying to either university does not mean you need it — the requirement belongs to the course. Check your course page before you book.

The sitting you choose matters for Oxford. Oxford applicants whose course requires TARA must sit it in October; the exception is the Astrophoria Foundation Year, for which January is also available. Applicants to other institutions may choose either sitting (UAT-UK deadlines page, checked 4 October 2026).

The three modules

Each module lasts 40 minutes. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving each have 22 multiple-choice questions. The Writing Task asks you to choose one of three prompts and write a response of no more than 750 words.

You sit TARA on a computer at a Pearson VUE test centre. You cannot use a calculator or a dictionary, so the arithmetic in Problem Solving has to be done on paper or in your head.

Critical Thinking asks you to take arguments apart: identify the main conclusion, draw a conclusion, find an unstated assumption, judge the effect of new evidence, detect a reasoning error, match two arguments with the same structure, and apply a principle to a new case. Problem Solving asks you to select the information that matters, find a procedure to reach an answer, and recognise the same relationship in different forms.

The Writing Task rewards a particular shape: explain what the proposition means, develop a reasoned argument against it — even if you broadly agree — and then reach a judgement on how far you accept it.

The dates and fees for 2027 entry

The October sitting is already closed to new bookings; the January sitting is the one still open.

How TARA is scored

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving are each reported on a scale from 1 (low) to 9 (high), to one decimal place. There is no pass or fail; universities decide how to use the scores.

The Writing Task is not scored by UAT-UK. Your response is sent to the universities you applied to, which read it themselves.

A practice total out of 22 is not a TARA score. Practice papers that have not been statistically equated cannot be converted to the 1–9 scale, so use your totals to choose what to practise next, not to predict a result.

How to prepare

Start with UAT-UK's free official preparation materials, taken in the Pearson VUE format, so that the screen and the navigation are familiar before your first full sitting.

Then work by question type, not by paper. A wrong answer in Critical Thinking almost always belongs to one named type — an assumption question answered as if it were a conclusion question, for example — and the fix is targeted practice on that type, not another full test.

Practise timing module by module. Forty minutes for 22 questions is about 109 seconds each on average; the real skill is recognising a question that will take four minutes and moving on. Wrong answers lose no marks, so never leave a question blank.

For the Writing Task, practise typing under time with spelling and grammar checking switched off, and plan before you write. The 750 words are a ceiling, not a target.