The UKCAT is the main aptitude test utilised by medical schools in the UK. It is important to book to sit the UKCAT between July and October of the year you are applying. Click here for a list of universities and courses requiring applicants to sit the UKCAT.

 

The exam is divided into five sections. Verbal Reasoning is the first section, involving 44 questions in 22 minutes and assesses your ability to evaluate written information presented to you. This is followed by a Decision Making section with 29 questions in 32 minutes, where you need to make judgements using complex information. Quantitative Reasoning involves 36 maths questions in 25 minutes. Abstract Reasoning is the penultimate section and involves 55 questions in 14 minutes. It will assess the use of convergent and divergent thinking in order to draw relationships from information. Finally, Situational Judgement tests your ability to understand and decide what to do in real life situations you could encounter.

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The test itself will more than likely be different to any exam that you have sat so far in your school career and working to the time constraints requires practice. The UKCAT is an aptitude test as opposed to a test of knowledge, and in that sense it is not an exam that you can revise for. However, this does not mean that you cannot prepare. Practice questions were the most useful resource that I used in preparation for mine and being familiar with the format of the exam as well as the style of the questions helped tremendously in the real thing, making me feel more relaxed and confident.

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At first, the questions can be hard to get into - everyone finds the test strange, but it just takes practice! Some revision resources are harder than the real thing, so read reviews before you worry.

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There are plenty of myths surrounding the UKCAT. Ones that I hear a lot are: "you need a UKCAT score of 700 to get into medical school" and "You get rejected if you don't score a band 1 in the situational judgment test". These are, as I've said, complete myths. Every medical school has different ways of scoring candidates; some weight your UKCAT score heavily, and some very lightly. So it may be true that some medical schools will have high UKCAT requirements, many do not. Most universities post the average UKCAT scores of both successful and unsuccessful applicants from previous years, so you can get an idea for what score that medical school is looking for. Most importantly you should remember that the UKCAT is just one part of your application. In the same way that a fantastic score does not guarantee you offers, a weaker score does not guarantee rejection, you may simply have to make up for it in other parts of your application, such as: grades, work experience, personal statement, or an interview.

 

There are lots of online resources and books that are incredibly useful for UKCAT preparation. Do not feel that you will be disadvantaged if you do not attend an expensive UKCAT course that you will no doubt see advertised. From chatting to people, most of the information is the same as what you can find online and at the end of the day, it is the work that you put into your preparation that will ultimately give you the best possible chance of success.

If possible, I would recommend booking your UKCAT as soon as registration opens. The date of this can be found at http://www.ukcat.ac.uk/. Slots usually fill up quickly so this will enable you to have first pick of when and where you sit your exam. Further to this, I would book to sit the UKCAT during the summer holidays before you submit your UCAS application. This will give you the time to prepare adequately before you go back to school when you will be busier with commitments and will have less time to prepare. As well as this, sitting it early will give you plenty of time to research the criteria different medical schools use to select for interview so you can apply to your strengths. This is particularly important if you do not do as well as you hoped, since this will narrow down your choices and, as a result, you may also decide to sit the BMAT.