Abstract.Results from large-scale theoretical cross section calculations for the total photoionization of the 4f, 5s, 5p and 6s orbitals of the neutral tungsten atom using the Dirac Coulomb R-matrix approximation (DARC: Dirac-Atomic R-matrix codes) are presented. Comparisons are made with previous theoretical methods and prior experimental measurements. In previous experiments a time-resolved dual laser approach was employed for the photo-absorption of metal vapours and photo-absorption measurements on tungsten in a solid, using synchrotron radiation.The lowest ground state level of neutral tungsten is 5p 6 5d 4 6s 2 5 D J , with J =0, and requires only a single dipole matrix for photoionization. To make a meaningful comparison with existing experimental measurements, we statistically average the large-scale theoretical PI cross sections from the levels associated with the ground state 5p 6 5d 4 6s 2 5 D J [J = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4] levels and the 5d 5 6s 7 S 3 excited metastable level. As the experiments have a self-evident metastable component in their ground state measurement, averaging over the initial levels allows for a more consistent and realistic comparison to be made.In the wider context, the absence of many detailed electron-impact excitation (EIE) experiments for tungsten and its multi-charged ion stages allows current photoionization measurements and theory to provide a road-map for future electron-impact excitation, ionization and di-electronic cross section calculations by identifying the dominant resonance structure and features across an energy range of hundreds of eV.