Advice & Insight From TSA Specialists
The following courses in Oxford require both Sections 1 and 2 of the TSA:
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Chemistry and the joint-honours course in History and Economics require section 1 but not the essay section. (Note that applicants in History and Economics must also take the HAT, History Aptitude Test.)
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If you are applying to study Land Economy in Cambridge, you will also need to take Section 1 of the TSA. At UCL, applicants for European Social and Political Studies (ESPS) and International Social and Political Studies (ISPS) also require TSA Section 1.
The score that you are awarded for the TSA is different from the raw mark out of 50 that you achieve in the section 1 paper. Like most A-level and GCSE examinations, the score conversion changes each year, and takes account of how difficult candidates found the paper that year.
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Let’s look at the 2016 and 2015 exam scores to illustrate this:
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In 2016:
1/50 = 12.8Â Â Â Â Â 10/50 = 39.9Â Â Â Â Â 25/50 = 56.3
30/50 = 61.1Â Â Â 38/50 = 70.1Â Â Â Â 50/50 = 107.3
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In 2015:
1/50 = 16.3Â Â Â Â Â 10/50 = 42.4Â Â Â Â Â 25/50 = 57.8
30/50 = 62.5Â Â Â 38/50 = 70.7Â Â Â Â 50/50 = 106.3
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We can see from these two that there is variation in the UMS for each year, and if you look at further score converters (available on the Admissions Testing website) you will see that this is true across all the past papers available.
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It is important to note that this plays to your advantage, because it means that if a paper is objectively more difficult, then your mark will be automatically moved up.
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This is all interesting stuff, but the most important part of preparing for the TSA is not focussing on what number you would have got in a given year, but rather on improving your score out of 50 (and your essay technique, if section 2 is relevant) to ensure that you do yourself justice in the exam and make the most of the time available for you to prepare.
Learn the best TSA strategies and practice with reflective TSA questions & worked solutions.
It is likely that, as applicants to the country’s best universities, you are used to getting 100% in school tests, and maybe even 100 UMS in A-level and GCSE exams. It is important to realise that the standard of the TSA means that this is not our goal! Instead, we need to be more realistic about what it is possible to achieve, and equally what it is necessary to achieve in order to get an offer or interview.
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Given this information, it is important not to be disheartened when you mark your work and get lower marks than you are used to getting at A-level. Put those numbers into context, but most importantly, use the mistakes that you make on each practice paper to learn and develop your technique.
