Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA)

We are withdrawing from running university admissions tests with effect from 2024-5. This includes BMAT, TMUA, TSA and the University of Cambridge pre-registration assessments. Read our news article for further information.

Discover students who will thrive on your degree courses

"TSA contains a Critical Thinking component – which is essential for university study, and not something students may necessarily focus on at school. The test helps us to identify those who will thrive at UCL as it allows students to demonstrate their potential to develop this skill."

Tessa Robinson, Administrative Manager, European and Social Political Studies
University College London, UK

TSA is an assessment of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, skills that are widely identified as the most important skills for study and employment.

The test is designed to help you select students with the potential to succeed in higher education. This includes degree courses, such as Engineering, Economics, Politics, and Psychology.

Developed in collaboration with world-leading universities, TSA has been enhancing selection processes since 2001.

Why use TSA?

Discover students with the right skills
TSA focuses on academic thinking skills such as problem-solving and critical thinking, which are crucial for university study but are not the focus of school qualifications.

Predict success
TSA helps you identify applicants who will thrive on your course. Validity studies show a positive relationship between test scores and on-course performance.

Support widening access
TSA is designed to be accessible to all applicants. It is a test of skills, not prior knowledge and therefore provides students with another opportunity to show what they can do.

Gain international reach
TSA can be taken either through our global network of test centres or online as a secure remote-proctored test. You can reach applicants from across the world.

Make a fair comparison
TSA gives a common benchmark of an applicant’s core thinking skills, providing you with a fair way to compare candidates from different educational or cultural backgrounds.

Who uses TSA?

We are a trusted partner to universities around the world. Here’s a selection of institutions using TSA:

Test format
Costs and administration
Preparing for TSA
TSA research

Test format

What does it test?	Questions	Timing	Format
Problem-solving skills, including numerical reasoning. Critical thinking skills, including understanding argument and reasoning using everyday language.	50 multiple-choice questions	90 minutes	Computer-based or paper-based

Read the TSA question guide for an overview of the test format and content.

View a TSA sample paper

Costs and administration

TSA can be administered:

through our global network of authorised test centres
at schools/colleges which have applied to run the test
at home via remote-proctoring technology
at your own institution.

We keep test fees to affordable levels to ensure they do not present a barrier to students entering university.

The test fee depends on how and where the test is administered. The fee can be either charged to the institution direct, or passed on to test-takers.

Preparing for TSA

TSA measures problem-solving and critical thinking skills and is designed to be taken with minimal preparation. There is no need for students to take a preparation course or undertake additional preparation, beyond familiarising themselves with the test format and question style.

We support test-takers with a range of free materials and resources to help them prepare for the test, including specimen papers and the TSA question guide.

You can see samples of TSA preparation materials here.

TSA research

TSA is produced using research and processes conforming to international quality standards. We conduct extensive research to ensure validity and fairness of our admissions tests.

Key TSA research points:

TSA predicts future performance on a range of undergraduate courses.
TSA helps to shortlist candidates who are more likely to perform well at interview in later selection phases.
Preparation for TSA aims to help candidates develop critical thinking skills that will benefit their studies.

The Stockholm School of Economics uses TSA in the admission process of one quota of students to our BSc program in Business and Economics. The students selected based on their TSA scores and interviews have performed very well in the program. We are also very happy with the ease of the TSA administration process and the helpfulness of our company contacts.

Anna Nyberg,
Program Director, BSc Business & Economics,
Stockholm School of Economics