TARA score percentile calculator
Place a Critical Thinking or Problem Solving score among all 2,626 candidates for 2026 entry, by sitting.
TARA scores, all 2026-entry candidates
Enter a score to place it
Each module is placed on its own published percentiles. There is no combined TARA score.
Critical Thinking
Half of all 2026-entry candidates scored 4.0 or less; one in ten scored 6.7 or more.
Problem Solving
Half of all 2026-entry candidates scored 4.7 or less; one in ten scored 7.0 or more.
- Published percentile score
- Range your score falls in
- Your score
Not a pass mark or an offer chance. This is where the score sat among all 2026-entry candidates. Oxford joins TARA for 2027 entry, so next year’s candidates may differ.
2,626 candidates · UAT-UK TARA Technical Report, July 2026, Table 4
TARA · 2027 entry
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How we estimate
Scope, source, method, uncertainty, dates and what the answer can and cannot tell you.
How we estimate
Scope, source, method, uncertainty, dates and what the answer can and cannot tell you.
What it covers
TARA Critical Thinking (CT) and Problem Solving (PS) scores from 1.0 to 9.0, compared with the 2,626 candidates who sat TARA for 2026 entry (976 in October 2025 and 1,650 in January 2026). Each module is placed separately. Writing has no numerical score.
Sources
- UAT-UK: TARA Technical Report 2025-26, Tables 2-4 and 16-21, pages 8-33. Official.
Method
- UAT-UK prints the scores at the 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th percentiles for each module and sitting (Table 4).
- Between two printed points we draw a straight line. For example, CT 6.0 in the whole cohort sits between 5.4 (75th) and 6.7 (90th): 75 + (6.0 - 5.4) / (6.7 - 5.4) x 15 = 81.9, so about the 82nd percentile.
- Below the 25th or above the 90th percentile no points are printed, so we say which side of the published point the score sits and give no number.
- The hatched range is the pair of printed percentiles the score is known to fall between. At a printed score it widens to include both neighbours, because scores are rounded and ties are not published.
Uncertainty and limits
- The range is an identification range from rounded printed points, not a confidence interval.
- A straight line between points is an assumption. Tested by leaving out one printed point at a time and predicting it from its neighbours, the error averaged 0.23 of a scaled point (largest 0.48) across 12 checks. These checks share candidates, so they are not independent.
- The report does not publish how many candidates share each rounded score, so an exact percent-below cannot be known.
- 2026-entry candidates were mostly applying to UCL. Oxford uses TARA from 2027 entry, which will change who sits it.
Dates and versions
- TARA 2026-entry score distribution, scaling, reliability and timing: data version 2026-09-26.1, checked 26 September 2026.
- Page last changed 26 September 2026.
What the answer means
The answer says roughly what share of 2026-entry candidates scored below you in that module. It is not a pass mark, a course cut-off, a prediction of next year's percentile or a chance of an offer. No university publishes a TARA cut-off.
The published TARA score distribution
Every figure below is printed in UAT-UK’s technical report (Table 4). Scores run from 1.0 to 9.0 in each module; there is no combined score.
| Module and sitting | Candidates | Mean | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Critical Thinking, All 2026 entry | 2,626 | 4.21 | 2.8 | 4.0 | 5.4 | 6.7 |
| Critical Thinking, October 2025 | 976 | 4.46 | 2.9 | 4.5 | 5.8 | 7.0 |
| Critical Thinking, January 2026 | 1,650 | 4.06 | 2.8 | 4.0 | 5.2 | 6.6 |
| Problem Solving, All 2026 entry | 2,626 | 4.72 | 3.5 | 4.7 | 5.8 | 7.0 |
| Problem Solving, October 2025 | 976 | 4.66 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 5.8 | 7.0 |
| Problem Solving, January 2026 | 1,650 | 4.76 | 3.5 | 4.8 | 5.7 | 7.0 |
Questions people ask
What is a good TARA score?
For 2026 entry the median was 4.0 in Critical Thinking and 4.7 in Problem Solving; the 90th percentile scores were 6.7 and 7.0. Those describe all candidates. Oxford and UCL publish no TARA cut-off, so no score is good enough on its own.
Why is my Critical Thinking percentile different from my Problem Solving percentile for the same score?
The two modules have different score distributions. In 2026 a 5.4 was the 75th percentile in Critical Thinking but only the 50th to 75th in Problem Solving, where the median was 4.7.
Is there a combined TARA score?
No. UAT-UK reports Critical Thinking and Problem Solving separately and publishes no total or average, so this tool never combines them.
Does the sitting matter?
UAT-UK fixes each cycle's October median at 4.5 and 90th percentile at 7.0. January candidates scored a little lower in Critical Thinking and a little higher in Problem Solving in 2026. That describes the groups; it does not show that one sitting helps.
Sources
- UAT-UK: TARA Technical Report 2025-26OfficialTables 2-4 and 16-21, pages 8-33. Published 2026-07. Checked 26 September 2026.
TARA 2026-entry score distribution, scaling, reliability and timing: version 2026-09-26.1, First published version.