The Ultimate UCAT Guide

Thinking of applying to medical school in the UK? You will have to sit the UCAT – a specialised test designed to help universities select their applicants. Read on for everything you need to know about the UCAT and its sections!

What Is The UCAT?

The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) is an admissions test required for medicine at UK universities. The Biomedical Admissions Test (BMAT) used to be the other test used, but has now been withdrawn, so most universities (except for Oxford which has not yet confirmed its updated arrangements) are swapping to the UCAT. The UCAT is also used for admissions to medical schools in Australia and New Zealand, as well as a handful of international universities in other countries. So taking the UCAT gives you a lot of options for medical school in the UK and across the world! You might also hear about the UCAT ANZ, which is the same exam: 'ANZ' stands for Australia and New Zealand. You'll take the UCAT ANZ if you're in Australia or New Zealand, but you can still use it to apply to any country. There are also the UCATSÉN, UCATSA, UCATSENSA and UCATSEN50 – these are versions of the exam with extra time or rest breaks for candidates with special exam arrangements because of disability. Make sure you apply for the extra time if you need it!

What Are The UCAT Sections?

The UCAT is made up of 5 sections, which each test different skills and are scored separately. This means that if you underperform in one section, you can make up for lost points in another. The first four sections are cognitive-based and scored from 300-900. The scores are then added together to give an overall score from 1200-3600. The first section is verbal reasoning (VR), where you have 21 minutes to answer 44 questions. Each question is based on a 200-300 word passage of text – you have 11 texts and 4 questions about each text. About one-third of the questions are the (easier!) true/false/can't tell type where you are asked if a statement is true or false based on the passage. The other questions ask you to pick the most suitable statement from four statements based on the passage.

You then have a one-minute break before moving on to the next section, Decision Making (DM), where you have 31 minutes to answer 29 questions.

DM tests your logical reasoning without including any specific mathematical knowledge. You will find questions based on Venn diagrams, syllogisms (reasoning to a conclusion from previous statements), probability, argumentation, and other kinds of logical puzzles.

The next section is Quantitative Reasoning (QR), with 36 questions in 25 minutes. QR focuses on GCSE (16 year old) level mathematical reasoning, applied in tricky ways, like giving very large data tables. Most questions come in sets of four that all apply to the same data.

Abstract reasoning (AR) is the final cognitive UCAT subtest and is usually the most strikingly different from exams you may have taken before. You have 12 minutes to answer 50 questions based on pattern recognition, a bit like an IQ test. Most questions are shown in sets of five, and you are asked if the shape you're shown fits into one of two pattern-based sets or neither.

The Situational Judgement Test (SJT) is the final UCAT subtest. It is not scored out of 900 but split into bands, from band 1 (best) to band 4 (worst). You have 26 minutes to answer 69 questions around how doctors or medical students should behave ethically in a variety of scenarios. You usually have to rank the appropriateness or importance of certain actions in the scenario.

Which Universities Require The UCAT?

All UK medical schools require the UCAT, as the other medical admissions test, the BMAT, has been withdrawn. The only current exception to that is Oxford University, which hasn't yet confirmed whether it will switch to the UCAT or craft a new test for 2024 applicants. You can also take the UCAT for universities in Australia and New Zealand, and a handful of other universities. You should always check what admissions test the universities you want to apply to use well in advance – they can change, as we saw with the BMAT! Universities may also require other tests alongside the UCAT, like the CASPer exam that Kent and Medway uses for some applicants, an English test for international applicants, or Sunderland's numeracy test at an interview.

How Is The UCAT Used In Admissions?

This question is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string, unfortunately! Different medical schools all use the UCAT in different ways and it can change year on year. The best thing to do is always to check with the individual medical schools – increasingly, many publish a lot of information on their websites.

In general, there are three broad ways universities can use the UCAT:

• As the sole tool for selection after checking candidates meet other requirements. In this case, universities take all eligible candidates, rank them by UCAT score, and invite the top-ranked candidates to interview. The interview cutoff becomes the UCAT score of the last person invited to interview. Newcastle, Bristol, and Sheffield are examples of medical schools that have historically done this.
• As part of a component score, where the UCAT is scored alongside other factors (typically GCSEs or widening participation). Scottish medical schools, Nottingham and Leicester are examples of medical schools that have historically done this.
• As a one-off check – for example, requiring that all applicants have a UCAT score above the bottom 2 deciles (so in the top 80% of test-takers) or a SJT score of band 3 or above. Kent and Medway, Sunderland and Cardiff are examples of medical schools that have historically done this.

In general, though, there will likely be a medical school that uses the UCAT in a way that suits your score – you just need to find it! However, a UCAT in the bottom 20% of test-takers or a band 4 SJT will be a problem for most UK medical schools.

Where To Register For The UCAT?

You should register for the UCAT on the UCAT Consortium's online website. It is simple to use and can be found here: https://www.ucat.ac.uk.

To register, you will need to make an account with Pearson VUE, the company that runs testing, and validate your email address. When you register, you should:

• Use your legal name as it shows on your ID.
• Make sure this name matches what it is on your UCAS application.
• Wait for your password to come via email – and contact Pearson VUE if it doesn't arrive within 36 hours.
• Apply for UCATSEN or other access arrangements, and for a bursary, if eligible.

This year, you can book the UCAT on June 18th – the last test day is September 26 2024. For UCAT ANZ, booking opens on March 5th 2024, and the test period is shorter, with the closing date on August 9th 2024. Registration fees are £70 for tests taken in the UK and £115 for tests outside the UK in 2024. If you need to, you can apply for the UCAT bursary to cover the cost of the test if you're from the UK.

When To Take The UCAT?

You can take the UCAT from the start of July to the end of September. The important thing is taking the test at the best time for you: the test is the same difficulty throughout the testing period, so there's no inherent advantage to taking it earlier or later.

In general, most people take around 6-8 weeks to prepare for the UCAT so you want to book your test with enough time to practice. Plan around any holidays, summer work or work experience you might be doing: the day after you get back from a festival with your friends may not be the best time to take it! For many people, taking a break after the end of school and then taking about 6 weeks to prepare means testing in late August makes sense. The goal is to give yourself enough time to both prepare and then reflect on where to apply with your score.

How To Prepare For The UCAT?

It is important to prepare for the UCAT early and to make sure you practice. In general, you want to practice timed questions early on as the most difficult part of the UCAT is the timing. You will also want to do several full mock exams under exam conditions – so make sure you give yourself enough time! The UCAT is in some ways a test of speed: being well prepared with shortcuts and strategies on how to approach each section in the most time-efficient way, picking up any easy marks, is crucial. Time to go over the questions you practice and find out what you did wrong is as important as spending time doing questions. What can often go wrong, especially with thousands of questions and twenty to thirty mock exams available via most exam prep sites, is that students do all the questions... but make the same mistakes each time. Taking time to work out what you did wrong, and how you'll change your exam strategy for next time, is key. At the same time, you don't want to burn out: taking breaks and having time to do fun things will, paradoxically, boost your score! Often people find that you can over-prepare for the UCAT, and their scores go down after two months or so of prep. Taking breaks is the best way to avoid this.

Common Misconceptions Surrounding The UCAT

"The UCAT is impossible!"

When you first hear about the UCAT, it can sound really difficult: it's very time-pressured, and the variety of sections means there will be something you're less confident with.

But tens of thousands of people sit the UCAT every year and thousands of people get into medical schools. Over three thousand people get top decile (top 10% of test-taker) scores – it's achievable! Rather than focusing on how hard the exam is, focus on what you need to do to achieve the best score you can. Break the exam down into chunks and map what you need to cover.

“I need to start preparing at age 12 or I won't stand a chance!”

This isn't true – if anything, preparing for too long can harm your score and cause you to burn out. Preparing for 6-8 weeks over the summer is more than enough for most test-takers, and many will prepare for less time. But it is important to prepare, as being familiar with the UCAT format is crucial: less than two weeks is definitely risky. You want to make sure you have time to rest.

“The UCAT is unfair – my aptitude for medicine can't be measured by a glorified IQ test!”

On one level, this is true – it's why medical schools also use interviews and academic grades, as well as personal statements and references. At the end of the day, though, there are more medical school applicants than places at the moment: medical schools had to pick some kind of extra selection hurdle. The UCAT is objective and is arguably one of the fairest ways to select med applicants.

“A good UCAT score means I'm guaranteed an interview!"

No medical school automatically accepts applicants with a high enough UCAT score. They will also have minimum academic qualification requirements and other scoring criteria. Having a strong UCAT score will definitely help your application, but beware: you should always do your research into how that medical school selects candidates for interview!