TMUA score for Imperial and/or Warwick maths offers

[bettyjane]

Hello! I asked this on the student room but didn’t get many answers at all.

If your DC got an offer to study maths at either Warwick or Imperial for 2025 what was their TMUA score?

My daughter is planning to apply for maths for 2026 admissions, but wants to get a feel for where her TMUA scores should be at if she’s aiming to apply for those courses.

Many thanks!

The boundaries were really different from 2023/24 to 24/25. In 2023 7 seemed to be the holy grail , but in 2024 seemed to be more 5.5. DS applied for Warwick and Imperial this year with 6.2 and got offers from both. The Warwick offer was reduced due to his score. This was for Computing though, so maths may ne higher.

There is a curve graph on the TMUA website which seems to explain to those that understand the stats!

Good luck though!

My son did the STEP but regrets not doing the TMUA now. Warwick is his firm. Sorry, not much help.

Thanks both, that’s helpful!
DD has mentioned the scoring has changed, and I think she’s looked at the graphs. Just trying to get an idea of at what point offers are made!
well done to your son Mapletreelane, I think that’s a great score especially with the new scoring.
frugalit hope your son scores ok. I understand the STEP is brutal and one of the main reasons she’s ruled out Cambridge. Good luck for the results 🤞

Try the student room forum it’s usually decent for info on the ones needing additional tests.

Thanks, I have looked through the forms and asked the question there but haven’t seen much info about real life scores for 2025 entry.

DS got 5.6 in October 2025 and got a Warwick maths offer that didn't require STEP. I don't recall what the offer was; maybe Astar Astar A... he didn't firm Warwick in the end hence my forgetting what the offer was.

DS used reddit a lot. Think there was lots on there regarding TMUA scores and offers.

I've also found this on the Warwick website, click on the maths dropdown where they state a score of 5 for the 25 cycle seems to have been the cut off point (you have probably found this already!)

https://warwick.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/apply/admissions-tests/

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Thank you needingcoffee. Well done to your DS. Astar Astar A sounds right from what we’d heard from Warwick.

Thanks Mapletreelane, I’m actually not sure that had been updated last time we looked before the open day. That’s a bit clearer than before when it just mentioned being lower this year due to change in the scoring system, but they didn’t know the score needed yet.

Someone on the student room commented that they’d got 5.4 and their friend below a 5 and both have reduced offers, which doesn’t seem to match much else I’d read. Perhaps they were contextual offers too. Reminder not to take everything online as gospel without all the information though!

For Warwick it seems anything above a 5 should be ok. And somewhere above that for Imperial.

@bettyjane DS took the TMUA in October as he'd applied for Cambridge (post interview rejection) then waited until he got his results in November to see if he'd done OK, and then added Warwick and Imperial to his UCAS application. Also he just practiced, practiced and practiced. School (normal state) gave him 2 days off, one for revision, one for the exam. And also register for your account as soon as you can and book the test as soon as bookings open so you can get a local test centre and don't have to travel miles.

Durham use the TMUA as well I think for maths?

Brilliant thank you, that’s all really helpful.

Durham do use TMUA and give a reduced offer, but she’s not keen on Durham unfortunately!

I think she’s planning to do the same with TMUA, sit in October and wait for results before deciding which of Imperial/Warwick to apply for, or both.

She’s planning to apply to Oxford rather than Cambridge because she isn’t keen on the added STEP condition if she’s lucky enough to get an offer.

DS did TMUA but not straight maths.

But I reiterate - find out when the bookings open. I think it was 1 Aug last year. Depending on where you are in the country, you need to book asap as places can be limited. There is nothing more stressful than having to travel half way across the country to a test centre. And Pearson Vue are an unresponsive unhelpful organisation...

Thank you! She registered last night and we have an alarm set in the calendar!

About to start preparing (well DS is) for TMUA/ESAT in October so watching with interest. Was worried that anything under 6.5 would mean Warwick etc would reject an applicant, but relieved to see this is a Reddit myth!

Yeah, I understood that the whole point is that the levels change each year so there can be no set cut-off score by its nature. They take the top x per cent, and the score that group gets depends on how each year's cohort performed, hence what someone got in with last year has little bearing on this year, although of course a high score will be safer than one in the middle. Stressful unknowns!

DS got a 7.6 and had a reduced offer from Warwick AAA. Also, standard offer from Imperial AA*AA.

We booked for the test early in a test centre about 20 miles. Then managed to rebook it to the local test centre after it opened it slots a few weeks later.

The TMUA is before the MAT and there are some overlaps so good idea to take the 1st sitting, especially since some y13 have mocks in January.

Yes, the TMUA was rescaled last year when it was taken over by Pearson VUE

Just to clarify about the scores, they changed the scoring between 2003/24 and 2004/25. If I remember correctly, a score of 6.5 in 2003/24 is equivalent to a score of 5 in 2004/25. It's not that they just massively dropped the standards!

They also didn't announce the new scoring until after the October results came out, so there were plenty on results day with, for example, 5.8 who were devastated they had done really badly when actually they'd done really well.

Warwick had the guide of 6.5 on their page right up until that point, when they dropped it to 5.

Basically don't worry about the number, they just need to practice and do their best.

If you have a child who might qualify for a monatory bonus from uni(s) for doing really really well, then they might need to take Oct sitting to qualify.

Otherwise, depending on applications requirements, 6th form mock schedules and life, January sitting is fine.

That was an amazing score! Was that for sept 2025 entry?

Thanks for the info everyone, all very useful.

Yes, for 2025. Just noticed an error, Imperial was AstarAstarAA.

The new format threw a lot of people off and the whiteboards didn't help. Good luck to your DD and give me shout if you have any questions.

A lot of posters on Reddit would post lowish TUMA scores and have an offer from Warwick but they nearly always turned out to be contextual (if you are contextual Warwick ignore the TUMA score). My DD is not contextual. I think she probably got the lowest score possible for an offer from Warwick (4.5). She sat the Oct first papers (each sitting had different papers). It was considered a very tough paper 1 though DD probably hadn’t done enough practice. Anyway she got a Warwick offer (she’s at a good comp doing (done) 4 A-levels predicted all A star but don’t know how much any of that factored into the decision).

Thank you Madboys2, I’ll let you know if I think of any more questions, I’m sure I’ll have some!

You’re right Lighthousecat it is tricky to know all the details of exact courses, contextual offers etc when looking online.
Well done to your daughter for her offer!

Good luck waiting for results, I know that but will be stressful too!

It’s also so tricky to know how ambitious/safe to be when admissions rates are so low for some of the choices and admissions tests are thrown in to the mix!

We will be non-contextual too, and she’s applying just for maths.

Knowing what I know now (maths application to COWI and others, also with 4 a stars predictions), I would advise holding at least one UCAS choice until after October TMUA results are known.

DS got offers from all his choices except Oxford, but with hindsight it was risky because if his TMUA hadn't been as good he could have lost 3 of them.
Bath might also be using TMUA this coming year if I remember correctly (they didn't last year), so that's another one at risk of TMUA results.

That’s interesting re bath. I hadn’t seen that. Daughter is going to step into bath so will make sure she asks.
Really good advice re TMUA- she’ll do an early application for Oxford and maybe put one or two others on but has said she’ll wait for TMUA results before deciding on the rest, which is why we were wondering what her cutoff should be. Good to know that seems like a good strategy