Introduction to the UKCAT

What is the UKCAT?

•UK Clinical Aptitude Test

•26 UK universities for Medical and Dental Courses

•Tests Innate skills - no ‘knowledge’

•Contains 5 core sections

•Online test

•Lasts 120 minutes (150 minutes if you qualify for additional time)

5 components to the UKCAT

Verbal Reasoning

Quantitative Reasoning

Abstract Reasoning

Decision Analysis

Situational Judgement Test

The structure

1. Verbal reasoning (22 minutes) Assesses logical thinking and reasoning about

written information2. Quantitative reasoning (23 minutes)

3. Abstract reasoning (14 minutes) Assesses ability to solve numerical problems

Assesses ability to infer relationships from information  

The structure

Assesses the ability in complex, ambiguous situations to deal with various forms of information, infer relationships, make informed judgements, and decide

on an appropriate response

4. Decision Analysis (34 minutes)

The structure

5. Situational Judgement (27 minutes) Assesses judgement regarding situations

encountered in the workplace

Results

• Receive results on the day– Numerical score for parts 1-4 and a short descriptive passage for part 5

Mean Results in 2012: Verbal reasoning – 580

Quantitative reasoning – 656

Abstract reasoning – 633

Decision Analysis – 646

Total – 2,515 (mean – 629)

Registration

Register: 1 May 2014 – 19 September 2014

Sit the Test: 1 July 2014 – 3 Oct 2014

Registration fee (bursaries available) £65 if sat by 31 August 2014 £80 if sat 1 September – 3 October 2014

Register with Pearson Test Centre via the UKCAT website

Special Requirements

• If you have any Special Educational Needs or access requirements you MUST specify them when you register

• 25% extra time for dyslexic students which makes the test 2 and a half hours long

• Go to the website for further information

The Test Centres

Same centres where you take your driving theory test.

There will be other tests going on at the same time

Make sure you know where your test centre is and leave plenty of time to get there

Make sure that you have the ID you need

Beware that you cannot stop once the time starts

Choosing medical schools

You will have your UKCAT score before the UCAS deadline so….

USE IT!

When going to open days/looking at prospectuses work out how they use UKCAT to make informed decisions

How the University of Nottingham uses UKCAT

There isn’t a threshold at Nottingham

Your score is given an internal score, based on the scores of other applicants (i.e. how well you do compared to your peers)

Each section is weighted equally

The SJT score is currently not being used to score candidates

How the University of Nottingham uses UKCAT (A100)

Candidate scores for each component of the application are added together: UKCAT 4 cognitive sections

Top six GCSEs including English Language, Maths and Sciences

Score from the Online Questionnaire

The top 50% of applicants then have their personal statement and reference scored and added

Preparing for the test!

Familiarise yourself with the question formats

Practice untimed

Get used to tools like the online calculator

Get used to the time constraints

Do some timed practices

The highest scoring candidates last year spent over 20 hours preparing