Can someone please explain the TMUA process?

[Justlurkingmostly]

Hi - I know the maths admissions tests are sat in Oct (MAT & TMUA) or next summer (STEP) but I can’t seem to get a straight answer on the process for receiving your scores and then transmitting them. Am I assuming correctly for MAT or STEP that scores are sent directly to Ox or Cambs respectively?
How, then, does TMUA work? I have seen the dates for this year’s test but I’m sure I read somewhere that the scores are sent to the student and then the student can elect whether or not to use them? Is that correct? And if you do elect to use the TMUA score are they then automatically sent to all 5 of your choices or can the student pick which unis receive them?
Thanks for any information!

Hi @FiveFoxes, as I previously flagged, this is the first year under the 'new regime' for the TMUA, so everyone is in unchartered waters. Under the 'old regime', schools could be designated test centres for their students, so candidates were probably more dispersed and numbers more easily absorbed.

In an ideal world, the participating unis would have worked with Pearson to model likely demand in terms of numbers and locations; this may or may not have happened. I can imagine high demand for test centre places in the SE given ICL and Warwick appear to have made the TMUA mandatory for a wide range of courses and the SE is traditionally a strongly represented region for those unis.

@PerpetualOptimist I am so sorry! I did read your posts when I first commented at the beginning of July. I should have reread them! Clearly comprehension isn't my strong point.

No worries, @FiveFoxes. It is concerning that the booking process does not seem to be running smoothly at the moment. Hopefully Pearson and the participating unis will react promptly to try and mitigate. Best wishes to your and all DC entering the TMUA in this cycle.

Thanks so much for the heads up!! DD just booked in. FYI seemed to be a few slots available in south Wales if that’s an option for any one.

Glad to have come across this thread. DD doing TMUA in Oct. No tutor here either. Do schools generally help to prep kids for these tests do you know? DD's school (state comp) have a good maths dept but haven't really mentioned the MAT, Step or TMUA.

It varies quite a bit. Ideally it would have happened already. It would be good for DD to sign up to the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme, if in England - I believe RUK offer similar. The AMSP have some prep materials on their website and may offer tuition for a very reasonable fee in the autumn

Best wishes to her

Thank you so much @poetryandwine. I shall get DD to take a good look.

There is an option on the UCAS form to select TMUA as an upcoming exam. Do we need to do this? If we don't how do the universities get the results? There is no option when booking the exams to select where you want the results to be sent and no link to a UCAS number. Like other we did not book immedicately and have ended up with a centre 30 miles away.

Are people planning to add the TMUA as a pending qualification in the UCAS form?

Does anyone know how Pearson will know which universities a candidiate has on their UCAS form, so which universities they need to forward the results to? Thanks.