The Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) is a generic admissions

test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

, which is used as part of the admissions process for entry to some undergraduate courses at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, and formerly,

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

History

TSA was developed and is run by

Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing (formerly the Admissions Testing Service) provided admissions tests for a range of university level courses and assessments in thinking skills and behavioural styles. It is part of Cambridge Assessment, a n ...

. It was developed to help universities assess whether applicants have the skills and aptitudes considered essential for Higher Education study. Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing produces and distributes practice materials, including specimen questions and past papers, on their website. The test was first introduced for undergraduate entry to the

in 2001 and was used as part of the admissions process for a number of undergraduate courses. It is currently used for application to the Land Economy course only. In 2007, the

introduced TSA as part of its admissions process for

Philosophy, Politics and Economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...

(PPE). At this stage, the test was known as the ‘PPE Admissions Test’. The use of TSA was extended for entry to Economics and Management in 2008; to Experimental Psychology, and Psychology and Philosophy in 2009, Geography, Philosophy and Linguistics, and Psychology and Linguistics in 2012, and in 2015 to Human Sciences. Since 2016, candidates applying for Chemistry have been required to sit a version of TSA consisting of Section 1 of the test only (TSA S1), with History and Economics requiring the same from 2017. From 2018, the University of Oxford no longer required applicants to take TSA for entry to their Geography course. From 2008 to 2021,

used TSA to assist in the selection of applicants to European and International Social and Political Studies (EISPS). From 2022 onwards, UCL replaced TSA with its own Thinking Skills Test (TST), which is modelled on TSA Section 1 but is delivered and marked internally.

Format

TSA consists of one or two sections, depending on the university and course being applied for. Section 2 is used in addition to Section 1 by the University of Oxford for certain courses. * Section 1 (90 minutes): 50 multiple-choice questions testing problem solving (including numerical and spatial reasoning) and critical thinking skills (including understanding argument and reasoning using everyday language). * Section 2 (30 minutes): Candidates must answer one essay question from a choice of four (questions are not subject specific). It tests the ability to organise ideas in a clear and concise manner, and communicate them effectively in writing.

Scoring

The multiple-choice answers (Section 1) are marked by

with 1 mark available per question. Final scores are calculated to one decimal place on the TSA scale (running approximately 0–100) using the Rasch statistical technique. The writing task component of TSA (Section 2) used by the University of Oxford is reviewed by admissions tutors. An average score is about 60, so around 28 out of 50 raw marks. If you score 70 or above, you will find yourself in the top 10% of candidates – this equates to about 38 out 50.

Timing and results

The University of Cambridge and The University of Oxford

For the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford, TSA is held in late October/early November as a pre-interview, paper-based test taken at schools, colleges or authorised test centres globally. Results are issued in mid-January of the following year, via Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing’
results online portal

Usage

The exact use of results varies between the subjects which use the test, and candidates need to refer to their chosen course for precise details.

References

External links

Official website
{{University admissions tests in the United Kingdom Standardized tests University of Cambridge examinations University of Oxford examinations University College London University and college admissions Education in the United Kingdom