UCAT is an acronym for the University Clinical Aptitude Test. The UCAT is used by most Medical and Dental Schools in the UK as part of their selection process. 

What is the UCAT?

 A 2 hour long, computer-based multiple choice test ⌛

 Most medical schools in the UK use UCAT scores as a baseline for deciding who to invite to interview (the higher your score, the better chance you have of securing an interview) ✅

 Click here to view our comparison of all UK medical schools

 The UCAT tests: your problem solving abilities; your reading and comprehension skills; your cognitive and situational reasoning; your pattern recognition 🧠

 The 5 subtests: Verbal reasoning, decision making, quantitative reasoning, abstract reasoning, situational judgement

 Marking: all subtests, excluding situational judgement, are scored between 300 and 900 (3600 total points). The situational judgement subtest does not have a numerical score, instead you are given a band rating from 1 to 4, determined by how closely your answer matches those of an expert panel ✅

 You do NOT lose marks for getting questions wrong ❌

Preparation

 Decide when you want to take the exam and register for it on the UCAT website 💻

 Prepare a plan or timetable to make sure you have enough time, and use it to prepare effectively

 Click here to view our studying tips and our procrastination advice to help you prepare for the exam as well as possible

 Practice questions: this is one of the most useful tools to help you prepare, the more practice questions you do, the better prepared you will be❓

 Click here to view our 100 top tips on 'How to get into Medical School'

 Stay calm❗

 Read the instructions carefully 🤓

 Every question is worth the same amount of marks so don’t spend too long on a harder question at the expense of easier marks ❗

 If you come across a question to which you do not know the answer, it is best to take an educated guess as there is no negative marking, and so, you will not lose marks for getting it wrong ❌

The exam

Verbal Reasoning

 Assesses your ability to critically evaluate information in a written format 🤔

 21 minutes in total + 1 minute for instructions ⌛

 No prior knowledge is necessary 🧠

 Doctors require strong verbal reasoning skills in order to understand complex information and successively communicate this in a patient friendly manner 

 44 questions: 11 passages to read, each with 4 questions (up to approximately 400 words each)

 Some questions require you to read the the passage of information, and make inferences/conclusions from it and use this to select the most appropriate of 4 responses to a question/incomplete statement ❓

 Other questions require you to read the passge of information and decide whether the statement given is true/false/can’t say ❓

Verbal reasoning Tips

1. Read the question
2. Determine the keywords 
3. Scan the passage for keywords 🔎
4. Read around keywords to get context

Decision making

 Assesses your ability to apply logic to reach a conclusion

 31 minutes in total ⌛

 No prior knowledge is necessary 🧠

 Doctors require strong decision making skills as they often have to make complex decisions which require problem solving and risk management skills 

 29 questions: refer to text/charts/tables/graphs/diagrams 📉

 Every question is standalone

 Some questions have 4 answer options with just 1 correct answer ❓

 Other questions require a response to all 5 statements with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ ❓

 You have access to: a simple onscreen calculator; a whiteboard and pens 🖋

Decision making tips

 Pay close attention to the language used e.g. will/must vs could/might 🔎

 Remember an argument must flow directly, based on the evidence not assumptions, so you can rule out arguments based on assumptions

Quantitative reasoning

 Assesses your ability to utilise your numerical skills to solve problems

 24 minutes in total ⌛

 You need to have a solid GCSE level mathematic ability, however this section is more about testing your problem solving ability 🧠

 Doctors need strong quantitative skills as they have to review data and apply it when practising medicine e.g. drug calculations/weight calculations/clinical research etc.

 36 questions: tables/charts/graphs displaying data which are mostly associated with 4 questions, not always though ❓

 You must select the best of 5 options for each question by extracting information from the tables/charts/graphs provided📉

 You have access to: simple onscreen calculator; whiteboard and pens 🖋

Quantitative reasoning tips

 Utilise the UCAT online practice website calculator to ensure you are familiar with it

1. Read the question
2. Identify the data points the questions is asking you to analyse 🔎
3. Return to the table/chart/graph and refer to these data points only 📉
4. Perform the calculation

Abstract reasoning

 Assesses your ability to identify patterns between abstract shapes, drawing correct conclusions in spite of distracting material

 13 minutes in total ⌛

 Doctors need strong abstract reasoning skills directly for carrying out research involving data, and it can help doctors identify the important information when evaluating results/symptoms 

 55 questions: associated with a set of shapes

 Type 1 questions: you are given 2 sets of shapes (“Set A/B”) and have to decide which set each test shape belongs to ❓

 Type 2 questions: you have to select the next shape in the given series ❓

 Type 3 questions: you must decide which shape completes the given statement ❓

 Type 4 questions: you are given 2 sets of shapes (“Set A/B”) and have to select which set each response option belongs to ❓

Abstract reasoning tips

1. Start by looking for simple patterns simple
2. If no simple pattern is present, begin looking at more complex patterns

 Learn to screen for common patterns

 This section is very time-pressured, and so, you should flag hard questions and return to them at the end ⌛

Situational judgement test

 Assesses your ability to undestand real life scenarios and make appropriate decisions to deal with them

 26 minutes in total ⌛

 No prior knowledge is necessary 🧠

 Doctors need to be able to make appropriate choices and decisions in the best interests of their patients, taking all factors into consideration 

 69 questions: associated with 22 scenarios

 You are given a series of scenarios and must decide the appropriateness or the importance of a range of possible actions

 For some questions you must rate how appropriate each of the 4 actions given are ❓

 For other questions you are given 3 possible actions and must decide which is the most appropriate, and which is the least appropriate ❓

Situational judgement test tips

 Consider the language used

 Consider the negative and positive aspects of each action

 Utilise your knowledge of medical ethics, click here to see our blog explain this 🧠

Post exam advice

 Go home and research which universities will accept your score 💻

 If your score is too low, or not what you wanted, you have to wait until the next year to reapply and retake the test as the UCAT is only valid for 1 year 📅

Summary

1. The UCAT is a 2 hour long, computer-based multiple choice test
2. It is used in the selection process of most UK universities
3. You should do as many practice questions as possible to prepare
4. The verbal reasoning section assesses your ability to critically evaluate information in a written format
5. The decision making section assesses your ability to apply logic to reach a conclusion
6. The quantitative reasoning section assesses your ability to utilise your numerical skills to solve problems
7. The abstract reasoning section assesses your ability to identify patterns between abstract shapes, drawing correct conclusions in spite of distracting material
8. The situational judgement section assesses your ability to undestand real life scenarios and make appropriate decisions to deal with them
9. There is no negative marking, and so, you should attempt every question, even if you can only make an educated guess
10. Once you have your UCAT score you should research which universities will accept it
11. Good luck!