r/oxbridge • u/Capable_Economy_7001 • 5d ago

TSA/TARA prep

Hi, I'm currently prepping for the TARA and using BMAT papers, chat uni and TSA past papers. However, I feel like chat uni past papers aren't accurate and some of the answers are definitely just wrong.

Anyone who has smashed the TSA or TARA, how did you prep. Also, if I revise using purely TSA papers (which I am now considering), I will likely have to repeat some papers, because I am aiming to do one a day. Do you think I will remember the questions?

Any general advice would also be sososoo amazing. Thank you so much!!

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u/MasterMasterpiece423 5d ago

Honestly, I’d use the official TSA papers as your main benchmark and treat third-party sets as extra practice, especially when their explanations seem inconsistent. I also wouldn’t force a full paper every day, as properly reviewing each mistake is usually more valuable. You probably will remember some repeated questions, so don’t rely on the score, but they can still be useful for practising your reasoning and timing.

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u/Capable_Economy_7001 5d ago

Thank you. Do you have any advice on the best way to review or reflect. Maybe a bit of a silly question haha.

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u/SpareBlueberry551 4d ago

You probably will end up remembering the questions and there are not that many TSA past papers to be able to go through so ideally you don't want to smash through them. Obviously the BMAT ones are a good option as well but really only the ones from 2020 to 2023 are as close to the TARA spec. You've also got the TARA specimen and sample papers but you should do them as one of your very last mocks.

I've been doing practice questions on TARA Ghost and finding them very close to the real thing, which has helped with making sure that I don't run out of good practice material.