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Will a 5.0 TMUA be enough for a STEP offer for Warwick Maths?

Is it enough to at least get a STEP requirement? I know I won’t get only A-Levels. Thanks in advance, I have been stressing after a Cambridge interview horror show :smile:

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You know that a 5 this year is equivalent to 6.5 last year? If Warwick uses last year’s criteria you’ll potentially get a-level only offer.
What happened in the Cambridge interview?
Reply 2
Original post by Anonymous
You know that a 5 this year is equivalent to 6.5 last year? If Warwick uses last year’s criteria you’ll potentially get a-level only offer.
What happened in the Cambridge interview?


I took a lot of hints in my first interview and in the second, I struggled A LOT with the graph sketching. Which I shouldn’t have. The. Other silly mistakes in the second interview. Almost felt like the interviewers were disappointed with my ability
I had an interview for maths today at Cambridge as well and I literally feel the exact same. You don’t know what they are looking for or what they are actually thinking so just try not to overthink it which is what I have been doing for the past 12 hours 😂
Reply 4
Original post by Anonymous
I had an interview for maths today at Cambridge as well and I literally feel the exact same. You don’t know what they are looking for or what they are actually thinking so just try not to overthink it which is what I have been doing for the past 12 hours 😂


How do you do it?! I’m trying to say it’s not the end of the world, but I only have an offer from Leeds, I still have an interview from Manchester which is stressing me out but it’s in Feb. I have imperial as my other choice, and realistically I’m not getting in with my tmua.
Reply 5
Original post by Anonymous
How do you do it?! I’m trying to say it’s not the end of the world, but I only have an offer from Leeds, I still have an interview from Manchester which is stressing me out but it’s in Feb. I have imperial as my other choice, and realistically I’m not getting in with my tmua.

Your TMUA might actually be fine- 5 this year is equivalent to 6.5 last year so don't stress too hard :smile:
Reply 6
Thanks for calming my mind. I would love to stay in Leeds with my family so Leeds Maths has a strong chance to be my firm, however I don’t know if it is worth giving up on a COWI level degree for this? Any help? Thanks
Original post by Anonymous
Thanks for calming my mind. I would love to stay in Leeds with my family so Leeds Maths has a strong chance to be my firm, however I don’t know if it is worth giving up on a COWI level degree for this? Any help? Thanks

Tbh it depends on what you want from a maths degree. Are you studying solely for the purpose of being challenged by the best of the best? Or do you love maths and want to learn more of it for learnings’ sake? Also with being near family, is that or a “reputable” maths degree more important to you? There’s no right answer bcs I think everyone goes to uni for different reasons. At any rate, you haven’t got all your offers back yet, and you have ages before you need to choose. It sounds like whatever uni you choose you’ll get a good degree!
Original post by Anonymous
I took a lot of hints in my first interview and in the second, I struggled A LOT with the graph sketching. Which I shouldn’t have. The. Other silly mistakes in the second interview. Almost felt like the interviewers were disappointed with my ability


Literally everyone gets nervous and makes silly mistakes, as long as you interacted well through some questions you cpuld have shown enough
Original post by Anonymous
Is it enough to at least get a STEP requirement? I know I won’t get only A-Levels. Thanks in advance, I have been stressing after a Cambridge interview horror show :smile:

Did you get an offer from Cambridge or Warwick? My son's still waiting to hear from Warwick (and Imperial) with a 5.7 TMUA. Hearing about so many Warwick offers mostly 6 and above, wondering if 5.7 is too low or if they are still working through applications/ waiting to see who firms the offers already made. Not much news from imperial yet
Original post by Anonymous
Did you get an offer from Cambridge or Warwick? My son's still waiting to hear from Warwick (and Imperial) with a 5.7 TMUA. Hearing about so many Warwick offers mostly 6 and above, wondering if 5.7 is too low or if they are still working through applications/ waiting to see who firms the offers already made. Not much news from imperial yet
I didn't get an offer from Cambridge unfortunately. Still waiting on Imperial, and I switched from Math to Maths and Physics at Warwick so my TMUA isn't considered and the requirements are nicer :smile:.
Original post by Anonymous
Did you get an offer from Cambridge or Warwick? My son's still waiting to hear from Warwick (and Imperial) with a 5.7 TMUA. Hearing about so many Warwick offers mostly 6 and above, wondering if 5.7 is too low or if they are still working through applications/ waiting to see who firms the offers already made. Not much news from imperial yet


Hi there! My son is also still waiting to hear from Warwick, for Maths, and his TMUA is 5.4. There's still no clarification from Warwick about a minimum TMUA score for 2025 entry. I emailed their admissions team last week and got this response yesterday:

"I can confirm that yes, some offers have gone out for our maths courses already, and they will be continuing to go out over the next few weeks. The admissions team are hoping that all offers will have been made before our final Offer Holder Open Day takes place (26th April). I suspect that the April/May date you have been previously advised would be the latest that offers should be going out.

Unfortunately, I am informed that the final threshold for TMUA scores has not yet been finalised so I’m sorry that I can’t confirm this for you at the moment."

What I can't understand is why they can't state what the TMUA threshold is if they're already sending out offers! Anyway, good luck to your son. I hope they hear soon as the waiting is very frustrating. I'll let you know if we hear...would you let me know if you do? Thanks!
Original post by Dolly1970
Hi there! My son is also still waiting to hear from Warwick, for Maths, and his TMUA is 5.4. There's still no clarification from Warwick about a minimum TMUA score for 2025 entry. I emailed their admissions team last week and got this response yesterday:
"I can confirm that yes, some offers have gone out for our maths courses already, and they will be continuing to go out over the next few weeks. The admissions team are hoping that all offers will have been made before our final Offer Holder Open Day takes place (26th April). I suspect that the April/May date you have been previously advised would be the latest that offers should be going out.
Unfortunately, I am informed that the final threshold for TMUA scores has not yet been finalised so I’m sorry that I can’t confirm this for you at the moment."
What I can't understand is why they can't state what the TMUA threshold is if they're already sending out offers! Anyway, good luck to your son. I hope they hear soon as the waiting is very frustrating. I'll let you know if we hear...would you let me know if you do? Thanks!

Thanks so much for sharing. And how frustrating!! They must know what score they’re wanting by now. And telling you they’ll reply by April/May is telling you nothing at all - isn’t the deadline May?
I have to say I think Warwick has handled the whole regrading of TMUA situation badly. Really does make you question whether, as an institution, they have the mental health of the students as a high enough priority.
I’ll definitely keep you posted 😀
To be fair, this is the first year that Imperial and Warwick Maths use TMUA in place of MAT in the admissions process. So they have no previous stats that they can lean on. The case for Warwick is more peculiar. They know that candidates generally would firm Imperial over Warwick. So they need to see what TMUA threshold Imperial is using before Warwick can determine its own. If Warwick sets its Step threshold too close to Imperial’s TMUA threshold, Warwick would run the risk of not having enough people in their class. If it sets it too low, this would have negative implications on Warwick Maths’ brand. I do agree that Warwick knows what its Step threshold is now, but they do not want to disclose it formally yet - just to give them some flexibility if they need.

I have seen Imperial Maths has given out some offers (no step) with TMUA at least 6.0. My hunch is that the Step threshold for Warwick Maths would be 5.0-5.3 area.
Original post by Anonymous
To be fair, this is the first year that Imperial and Warwick Maths use TMUA in place of MAT in the admissions process. So they have no previous stats that they can lean on. The case for Warwick is more peculiar. They know that candidates generally would firm Imperial over Warwick. So they need to see what TMUA threshold Imperial is using before Warwick can determine its own. If Warwick sets its Step threshold too close to Imperial’s TMUA threshold, Warwick would run the risk of not having enough people in their class. If it sets it too low, this would have negative implications on Warwick Maths’ brand. I do agree that Warwick knows what its Step threshold is now, but they do not want to disclose it formally yet - just to give them some flexibility if they need.
I have seen Imperial Maths has given out some offers (no step) with TMUA at least 6.0. My hunch is that the Step threshold for Warwick Maths would be 5.0-5.3 area.

That context is really useful, thanks. Unfortunately an offer with STEP this late in the process leaves the applicants with no time to prep though (without affecting Alevel prep). Cambridge recommends 9-12 months (admitted for higher score and 2 exams rather than one but regardless a few weeks just isn’t enough- the pressure would be too much)
Original post by Anonymous
That context is really useful, thanks. Unfortunately an offer with STEP this late in the process leaves the applicants with no time to prep though (without affecting Alevel prep). Cambridge recommends 9-12 months (admitted for higher score and 2 exams rather than one but regardless a few weeks just isn’t enough- the pressure would be too much)


I could not agree more. I study IB, and unfortunately there are some A-level FM topics which are not covered in IB maths. If I need to do Step, I need to self studies those topics. But the Step test date is very close to my IB exam dates. As I want to focus on my IB, I have decided not to take Step this year (and there is exactly the reason why I did not apply to Cambridge).

UCL is running a series of Step tutorials, and any applicant to UCL maths is allowed to participate. I think this would be useful to those taking Step this year.
Original post by Dolly1970
Hi there! My son is also still waiting to hear from Warwick, for Maths, and his TMUA is 5.4. There's still no clarification from Warwick about a minimum TMUA score for 2025 entry. I emailed their admissions team last week and got this response yesterday:
"I can confirm that yes, some offers have gone out for our maths courses already, and they will be continuing to go out over the next few weeks. The admissions team are hoping that all offers will have been made before our final Offer Holder Open Day takes place (26th April). I suspect that the April/May date you have been previously advised would be the latest that offers should be going out.
Unfortunately, I am informed that the final threshold for TMUA scores has not yet been finalised so I’m sorry that I can’t confirm this for you at the moment."
What I can't understand is why they can't state what the TMUA threshold is if they're already sending out offers! Anyway, good luck to your son. I hope they hear soon as the waiting is very frustrating. I'll let you know if we hear...would you let me know if you do? Thanks!

Have you heard yet? My son heard today with an offer. So glad the wait is over. Hope it is for you too
Original post by Anonymous
Have you heard yet? My son heard today with an offer. So glad the wait is over. Hope it is for you too


Big congrats!

Has your son heard back from Imperial?
Original post by Anonymous
I could not agree more. I study IB, and unfortunately there are some A-level FM topics which are not covered in IB maths. If I need to do Step, I need to self studies those topics. But the Step test date is very close to my IB exam dates. As I want to focus on my IB, I have decided not to take Step this year (and there is exactly the reason why I did not apply to Cambridge).
UCL is running a series of Step tutorials, and any applicant to UCL maths is allowed to participate. I think this would be useful to those taking Step this year.

Did your IB Maths cover the material for TMUA?
Original post by Anonymous
Have you heard yet? My son heard today with an offer. So glad the wait is over. Hope it is for you too


Congratulations to your son! What a relief. No, still no news here!😕

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