What to track in TARA practice

Why the number of questions you've done tells you little

TARA has three modules, each 40 minutes long: Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and a Writing Task. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving each have 22 multiple-choice questions. In the Writing Task you choose one of three questions and write up to 750 words. The Writing Task isn't scored by UAT-UK. Your response is sent to the universities you apply to, and they decide how to use it.

It's easy to practise each part casually and hope it all comes together on the day. A better plan is to write down a few things after every practice session, so you can see what's improving and what isn't. The notes are different for each module, because each one tests something different.

After a Critical Thinking set

When you've marked a Critical Thinking set, go back to every question you got wrong, guessed or spent too long on. Give each mistake a name, and use the same names every time. For example: mistook a reason for the conclusion, accepted an assumption the passage doesn't support, chose a statement that's true but doesn't strengthen the argument, or missed a necessary condition.

For each of those questions, write down:

• The argument's conclusion in one line. If you can't write it, that's the first thing to work on.
• The name of the mistake.
• How long the question took, and whether you flagged it.

After a Problem Solving set

When a Problem Solving question takes too long, the fix is often a different way of setting it out. A table can make a schedule clear, a diagram can show where things are, a list can keep track of cases, and working backwards can cut out possibilities you don't need.

Over a few weeks, notes like the ones below become a list of what to try first: when to draw, when to make a table, when to work backwards and when to test cases.

For each wrong or slow question, write down:

• Which way of setting it out worked in the end, such as a diagram, a table, a list of cases, some algebra or working backwards.
• What in the question should have pointed you to it. Repeated allocations, for example, often suggest a table.
• Whether the time went on setting the problem out or on the arithmetic.
• How long it took, even if you got it right.

After a Writing practice

Learning impressive phrases won't help much in the Writing Task. What helps is a structure you can repeat: decide your position, pick your strongest reasons, deal with one complication and write clearly in the time.

After each practice response, write down:

• Which of the three questions you chose, and why. Did you pick the one you could argue best, or the one that sounded most impressive?
• How many minutes you spent choosing, planning, writing and checking.
• Your position in one sentence. If it takes more than one, it probably wasn't clear in the essay either.
• Whether each paragraph made one point, and whether you dealt with at least one serious objection.
• Your word count. 750 words is the most you can write, not a target.
• One thing to do differently next time.

Reading your notes back

Every couple of weeks, read back through your notes for each module and look for anything that keeps coming up.

In Critical Thinking, progress means the same mistake names turn up less often and you find the conclusion faster. In Problem Solving, it means you choose a useful way to set the problem out earlier, and you give up sooner on arithmetic that isn't going anywhere. In Writing, it means a clearer position, more precise examples, paragraphs that each do one job, and a few minutes left at the end to check what you've written, even when the question is unfamiliar.

Turn the most frequent mistake into your next practice set. If 'accepted an assumption the passage doesn't support' keeps appearing, find ten questions about assumptions and do them before your next full module. Without that step, review tends to become rereading old passages and hoping the next one feels easier.