UCAT

Attaining a good UCAT score is the first step of a successful medical application. Most universities set a cutoff score to rank candidates by score when shortlisting candidates for interview.

Unfortunately, most students do not recognize the importance of UCAT; most are underprepared when they walk into the test room and consequently miss out on the chance to get into their dream medical schools. Practice makes perfect - start early!

The first step in studying for UCAT is to understand the types of questions that you will face. UCAT is not a test of knowledge; it is a test of your generic/cognitive skills. The questions are completely different to those you will have encountered at school. It is highly time pressured, which means that the vast majority of students do not finish the exam. The UCAT is a test requiring extreme concentration and quick-thinking skills.

The good news? It is possible to prepare for and do well in UCAT - first you must familiarize yourself with UCAT-style questions + Learn strategies for tackling each type of question.

Each type of question requires a certain approach, and there are strategies you can learn to help you answer challenging questions quickly and accurately. There are many strategies to learn which are covered in our UCAT crash course.

UCAT preparation can be overwhelming if you’re not sure where to start. Here are some top tips on how to organise your preparation into an effective UCAT timetable.

1. Book your test date early

For overseas test centres, there are limited test spaces - early booking will ensure you secure your preferred test date and location. We would recommend doing the UCAT earlier (in July or August) before school term starts for several reasons. Firstly, UCAT preparation can take up a fair amount of time, so if you get it done earlier on in your summer break, it’s one less thing to worry about later on and you could focus on other aspects of your medical application (BMAT, personal statement). Secondly, by setting a test date, you will be motivated to focus and get on with your preparation. If you feel you are not ready, you could postpone the test date.

2. Have a realistic study plan and stick to it

Starting early and studying smart are key.

As mentioned, around 30 hours of preparation is recommended for UCAT. Many students seem to think they’ll be able to spend 4-5hours a day preparing for the UCAT days before the test - but this just isn’t feasible.

You should pace yourself, integrate your UCAT prep around your normal routine and other commitments (start with 30mins - 1hour/day) and gradually build up to more intensive preparation closer to the exam day.

3. Practice under timed condition and track your progress

At the start of your preparation, attempt the practice questions at your own pace to familiarize yourself with the question format. Then you should practice under both untimed and timed conditions - afterall, time pressure is the most challenging aspect of the test. You should track your progress by doing mini mocks for each subtest (timed) to track your progress and adjust your study focus accordingly.

4. Start with the difficult UCAT topics

There is nothing worse than putting off the difficult bits until a few days before and realising that you just don’t get it. Start early, identify the question type or subtest that you are weak at, take it slow and give yourself time to demystify the challenging topics – you don’t want to have to rush through them or leave them out.

5. Don’t spend all your time on the parts you like or are already good at

This is an unfortunate truth:students like to spend time on topics they do well at and the UCAT is no different. If you are already quite good at a subsection, e.g. qualitative reasoning, don’t dwell too long on it. It benefits you much more to dedicate time to things you struggle with, so make sure when you’re making your timetable you factor this in.

6. Build up your mental stamina

The actual exam is 2 hours with no breaks in between; we suggest, in order to get used to this condition, you should attempt a full two-hour mock (timed) every week. This will build up your mental stamina against burning out halfway through the actual exam as well as track your own progress.

UCAT is a computer-based test; you will navigate within the test using a keyboard and mouse. As it is an extremely time-pressed test, using keyboard shortcuts instead of the mouse will enable you to navigate questions faster and save you precious time

Here are a few keyboard shortcuts - Make sure you are familiar with using the keyboard shortcuts and on-screen calculator for even more speed and efficiency on test day.

MUST learn keyboard shortcuts

• Alt + N = Next question
• Alt + P = Previous question
• Alt + F = Flag a question
• Alt + C = Calculator

Calculator-specific shortcuts*

• Alt + C = Calculator
• Num Lock = Activate number keypad
• Back space = ON/C

Other keyboard shortcuts

• Alt + A = Review all question
• Alt + V = Review flagged questions
• Alt + I = Review incomplete questions
• Alt + S = Return to review screen
• Alt + E = End review

*Using keyboard shortcuts is especially important and useful in the numerical sections of the exam, as there can be a lot of number crunching and it will be a lot faster for you to type the numbers in than click them onto the on-screen calculator one after another.

Surprisingly, students often ignore the questions and tests on the official UCAT website. UCAT tuition courses and various online resources are exceptional resources but you must do ALL the questions set by the OFFICIAL UCAT examiners. They’re the ones writing the UCAT exam! They know what’s going to be on the UCAT exam each year! So please do those UCAT questions.

The official UCAT practice tests are free resources. Start going through the official UCAT practice questions early but wait to use the full UCAT to practice under timed conditions closer to your test date.

Official UCAT Question Banks and Practice Tests: https://www.ucat.ac.uk/prepare/practice-tests/