Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA)

Oxford

The TSA is unlike any other test you've had

The TSA is one of the entrance exams that students applying to Oxford may need to sit. It examines both your ability to think critically and your ability to write an academic argument, both under intense time pressure. Read our blog to find out which sections of the TSA you may need to take. It is a crucial element of the application process, make sure you are prepared.

There are two clear and distinct sections of the TSA:

• Section 1: Thinking Skills Assessment

• Section 2: Writing Task

What we can do

Mentors will run through a series of questions prepared in advance of the tutorial. They will practice these questions with you and assess your answers, before explaining the correct methods to use to best answer the questions. They will also run through some ideal answers to questions, to help you understand how you should answer your questions. They will also explain to you what mark you need to get for interview.

We believe that succeeding in Oxbridge entrance tests requires you to learn the right technique and then practice applying it. Our Mentors are experienced in helping students do just that, to enable them to get to interview.

During the session, we will send you other sources of relevant and insightful information you can read through in your own time. Mentors send written feedback for the session after it takes place, to ensure you have a copy of everything discussed that you can revisit in your own time.

One to One and Courses

Doxa provides courses and one to one tuition for both. We would recommend students looking to take the full TSA to take our introductory course designed to cover the whole exam. This course explains the structure of the TSA, providing an insight into how to answer each style of question and the purpose of the writing task. In addition the course gives students advice on how to progress with their TSA preparation. For section 1, students are taken through in more detail questions of the various styles and shown the logic behind the answers and well as common mistakes that are made. For section 2, students are given advice on how to write a clear, logical, well reasoned essay, making sure to structure the essay so that it can read well. Students will be shown what an admissions tutor is looking for, and how to demonstrate they are the ideal candidate.

Due to the diverse nature of the TSA, students will often need a more tailored approach. Usually there are one or two areas of the TSA that hold back students from achieving a high score. Given this, we offer one to one tutorials with our expert Mentors, all of which have achieved exceptionally high scores in the TSA. Students can choose, in addition to the main tutorial, to submit completed test papers in advance. Mentors will then mark these papers before the tutorial and run through them during the tutorial.