Skip to main content

View Related Sites

  • About us
  • Find a centre
  • Help
  • Contact us
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing

Main navigation

  • Home
  • For test-takers

    For test-takers

    • BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT)
    • Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA)
    • Test of Mathematics for University Admission (TMUA)
    • Cambridge Personal Styles Questionnaire® (CPSQ)
    • International Medical Admissions Test (IMAT)
    • University of Cambridge pre-interview assessments
    • Cambridge Test of Mathematics for University Admission (CTMUA)
    • Sixth Term Examination Paper (STEP)
    • University of Oxford admissions tests
    • Mathematics Admissions Test (MAT)
  • For institutions

    For institutions

    • About us
    • Contact us
    • About our tests
    • BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT)
    • Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA)
    • Test of Mathematics for University Admission (TMUA)
    • Cambridge Personal Styles Questionnaire (CPSQ)
    • Selection test for schools
    • Test development and review
    • Research
    • Events
    • Case studies and testimonials
  • Administering our tests
  • News
  • Blog
  • Help
  • Find a test centre
  • About us

You are here:

  1. Home
  2. For test-takers
  3. Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA)
  4. TSA Cambridge
  5. Preparing for TSA: Section 1

Preparing for TSA Cambridge

  • For test-takers
    • Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA)
      • TSA Cambridge
        • About TSA: Section 1 for Cambridge
        • Scoring and results
        • Dates and costs
        • How to register
        • Preparing for TSA: Section 1
        • FAQs

Twitter

For key date reminders, our preparation top tips and much more, follow us on Twitter.

Follow us

Preparing for TSA: Section 1

TSA: Section 1 does not require a lot of extra study as it is a test of skills and aptitudes that students already possess. You can get familiar with the test format by doing practice papers, available for download below.

Anyone offering a paid service to help you prepare for TSA: Section 1 will have no more knowledge than someone who has read the information on this website and done practice tests. So while a test-taker’s performance at any test will improve with some familiarisation or practice, we would not advise anyone to pay for such help.

TSA: Section 1 practice tests

TSA Specimen Test
TSA Specimen Answer Sheet
TSA Specimen Answer Key
TSA Specimen Explained Answers

TSA 2019 Section 1
TSA 2019 Section 1 Answer Key
TSA 2019 Section 1 Score Conversion

TSA 2018 Section 1
TSA 2018 Section 1 Answer Key
TSA 2018 Section 1 Score Conversion

For more practice papers, go to our TSA Oxford preparation page and click in the area marked Section 1 practice papers – Thinking Skills Assessment. These are past papers that were produced for TSA Oxford, but are equivalent in format and level to TSA: Section 1 for application to Cambridge.

TSA Question Guide

TSA Question Guide 2020 

Please note, the Question Guide has replaced the Test Specification. 

Further reading

Thinking Skills by Butterworth, John and Thwaites, Geoff
Critical Reasoning: A Practical Introduction by Thomson, Anne
Thinking from A to Z (2nd Edition) by Warburton, Nigel
Critical Thinking: An Introduction by Fisher, Alec

An introduction to the Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA)

In the presentation below we explain why TSA is used by universities for admissions, and provide information about the test and how to prepare for it.

For a general introduction to thinking skills, watch A short film about thinking.

On this site

  • Administering our tests
  • For institutions
  • For test-takers
  • About us
  • Community
  • Help

View Related Sites

  • Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing main site
  • Results Online - test-takers
  • Results Online - test centres
  • Entries Extranet


©  Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing

  • Terms and conditions
  • Data protection
  • Accessibility statement
  • Statement on modern slavery
  • Safeguarding policy
  • Policy for publishers
  • Sitemap
Go to top
We use cookies. By clicking any link on this page you are giving your consent for us to set cookies Accept