Top Tips for the UCAT (From Successful Applicants!)

As UCAT season is approaching, I have collaborated with a few successful applicants from the medic studygram community who very kindly shared their best tips for acing the UCAT. Read ahead for some great advice!

· My top tip for revising for the UCAT is to practice doing it under strict time conditions. This can be done by simply using a stopwatch and working through some questions or by using websites such as Medify which allow you to sit mock tests under timed conditions.

· Try studying with another person; this can be especially useful when practicing Abstract Reasoning.

· Finally, give yourself enough time to study. You should be aiming to start preparing about a month before your exam and do a couple hours each day.

-Izabella Starzycka, University of East Anglia (@medic_bella)

When taking the UCAT, I was so worried and apprehensive as it is something new and different. I was never very good at aptitude tests so I knew I’d struggle. However, I practiced everyday for around 2 hours, up to 2 months before my test date. I recommend setting your date as early as possible so you have something to work towards. Then, have a practice of each section so you can help focus your revision towards your weaker areas. I used the ‘Medic Portal’ UCAT programme which had lots of practice questions and tests, however, looking back I wish I used Medify instead as it looked more accurate for the exam style. Then, just practice lots and lots. Once you’ve got the hang of the questions try and time yourself as timing was the biggest issue for me. Try and do full practice tests throughout your revision process to help piece all your sections into one. For the Quantitative Reasoning section I’d also recommend practicing mental math as using a calculator is very time consuming. It’s all about getting the hang of the style and timing in the long run though so it does come down to practicing as much as possible by the end as there really aren’t just ‘facts’ you can learn for it.

-Jess, 2020 Offer-Holder, Brighton and Sussex Medical School (@medicinewithjess)

One thing I would definitely advise pre-UCAT me (or UKCAT as it was called for dinosaurs like myself) is to do plenty of practice questions! I remember being told at a University of Nottingham ‘taster day’ I did with my sixth form that it would be sufficient enough to do just the official UKCAT mock exams, of which I think there are 3- I foolishly followed this advice and consequently missed out on a offer for interview at Newcastle’s Medical School by a mere 70 points, since Newcastle largely base their decisions on your UCAT score. I am sure the lady who told me this didn’t do so to be malicious, because she was indeed correct, the UCAT is technically an aptitude test and thus surely should test your ‘raw talent’ and so mocks should only serve the purpose of making you comfortable with the system and what the sections roughly include, this is of course not the reality we face as it has been made unfairly competitive due to the option of paid for services.

So, what can you do to combat this? Well to start with there are plenty of resources which are free or fairly low cost, I recommend using: the Medic Portal’s free bank of questions (they also have a paid one, but it is very overpriced); The 1250 UKCAT question books which you can buy for around £10 or get them second hand even cheaper; as mentioned before the mock exams on the UCAT website which again are free as well as their app and twitter where they upload questions too. There are of course many more resources you can use too, but the point I am trying to make is that you can use little bits from multiple resources- even for marking and tracking progress! Even some of the ‘premium’ services such as Medify have offers on where you can get a few month’s subscription for £20ish, so keep an eye out for them! The above applies not just for practice, but for learning technique too!

-Harriet, Brighton and Sussex Medical School (@harrietsmedicine)