TARA score percentile calculator
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.
Percentile
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Your scores
Each module is placed on its own published percentiles; TARA has no combined score. This is where a score sat among all 2026-entry candidates.
| Percentile | Critical Thinking | Problem Solving |
|---|---|---|
| 25th | 2.8 | 3.5 |
| 50th | 4.0 | 4.7 |
| 75th | 5.4 | 5.8 |
| 90th | 6.7 | 7.0 |
| Candidates | 2,626 | 2,626 |
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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.
The data story behind this tool
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How we work this out
What it does
Place a Critical Thinking or Problem Solving score among all 2,626 candidates for 2026 entry, by sitting.
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.
Method
- UAT-UK prints the scores at the 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th percentiles for each module and sitting.
- 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 assume scores thin out evenly towards 1.0 and 9.0, as the ESAT tools do.
- Under How we work this out we also say which pair of printed percentiles the score is known to fall between. At a printed score that widens to include both neighbours, because scores are rounded and ties are not published.
Published figures
The published TARA score distribution
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 |
Sources
Checked .
- UAT-UK: TARA Technical Report 2025-26, Tables 2-4 and 16-21, pages 8-33 (2026)