UCAT: Medicine admissions tests top tips

Here are top tips from our medicine experts on how to prepare for, and boost your scores in, the UK’s admissions tests for medicine, the UCAT. Happy preparation!

What is the UCAT?

The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) is a test used by many UK medical and dental schools as part of their admission process. It consists of 5 sections and is 2 hours long. Universities use the UCAT in different ways, and give the test different weights as part of the application; you should therefore thoroughly research the required scores for your desired universities. (You’ll receive your UCAT scores before submitting your UCAS applications, which will help you choose where to apply strategically.)

Our top UCAT tips:

1)   Book your test early - test slots go quickly and you don’t want to end up with an inconvenient date or location. We’d also advise (if possible) avoiding bookings for after the summer holidays, as this can clash with school exams and personal statement writing and risks making the rest of your applications a little rushed.

2)  Know the test format - the UCAT consists of five subsections: verbal reasoning, qualitative reasoning, abstract reasoning, decision making and situational judgment. Make sure that you are familiar not just with the types of questions in each section but also with the number of questions and time available. (It’s also helpful to have worked out the halfway time point for each subtest.)

3)  Start practising early – practice is key to acing the UCAT. Leaving all the revision to just before the exam can mean you don’t have enough time to finesse the necessary skills Practising little and often over a longer period is much more effective – not to mention less stressful and more enjoyable as well!

4) Rehearse under timed conditions – time pressure is one of the hardest aspects of the UCAT. With unlimited time, many more people would get all the questions right.

5)  Identify your weaknesses early on – don’t just focus on the section you like the most. It’s important that you work out what you find most difficult and improve there, to improve your overall UCAT score. 

6) Don’t linger too long on any one question - if you don’t an answer, guess, flag, and move on! There’s no negative marking, so don’t waste time on difficult questions. 

Good luck!