Full Computer Science Notes

Welcome to my guide, ‘everything else about the UCAT’. This guide isn’t here to tell you how to do each section or how to tackle different types of questions, but rather anything else that could possibly be related to the UCAT to give you an ease of mind, from someone who took the test (in 2020).

But please do check the UCAT website itself for up-to-date information just in case! The information shared here is mostly for the UK UCAT test.

It is the University Clinical Aptitude Test

Use as an entry requirement for Medicine & Dentistry

To test a range of abilities that general exams don’t (like your IBs or A-levels).

Registration opens on the 2nd of June

Test booking opens on the 28th of June

Testing begins on the 26th of July

Registration closes on the 22nd of September;
This includes the Access/UCATSEN registration
And the online booking

The last test date is the 29th of September

Results are delivered to universities in early November.

*All are subject to change

Registration can’t be done by your school, you need to do it yourself (unlike the BMAT).

Create a Pearson Vue Account (one account per person)*. This can be done from the day registration opens.

Provide the appropriate ID & details.

*If you have an existing account, please try to retrieve and use that.

You can locate them here - just search for your address.

Bring an appropriate ID as mentioned on the website.

A printed version of your confirmation email.

Selecting a date depends on you and how you’ve planned your application.

Early: To focus on other parts of your application such as the BMAT test, personal statement, IELTS/TOEFL (if required), or any unique requirements set by your universities and so on...

Later on: More time to focus on practicing for your UCAT so you feel confident about it.

Please do keep in mind how COVID-19 and the pandemic can affect your exam dates. If you suspect you’re going into lockdowns and can’t access any test centres, or your computer/internet may not be suited for the UCAT Online test, you may want to do the test sooner if you feel comfortable and ready.

You receive them immediately after your exam, printed on an A4 piece of paper waiting at the front desk for you. They will also be available on your Pearson Vue account.

Both the printed and online version includes your full score and score of each section.

Interim* decile results will be released before the UCAS deadline.

Full decile results are released in late October.

Universities receive these results in November.

*These results are vital in giving you an idea of which universities would be a good or a not so good idea to apply to. I’ll explain more in the next section.

There are a bunch of different ways a university can use your results and no two universities will use them in the same way, but you have to be absolutely smart about this.

Some universities use it before your interview and some use it after. Make sure you look up “X University’s Medicine application policy” as most of them will share these online for you to read and understand.

However, if you want a summary of the different ways each university might use them, this is what I came across in my research:

1. The “First Criteria of Assessment” types:

These are the ones that set a cut-off score right from the very start, and immediately reject you if you are below that score. Obviously, don’t waste your options on them if you don’t meet this requirement.

But the good news is that these are usually rare.

2. The “Ranking” types:

They are similar to the previous type, however, they wait for the results of their applicants, and then set a cut-off score based on the average of their own applicants, not the average of all UCAT test takers.

So this year the average might be 2800, but from their pool of applicants, it would be 2900. It’s possible that their average would be similar to the UCAT’s average but if they are more competitive then expect it to be higher.

3. The “Weigh it with Other Aspects” type:

Unlike the previous two, these universities take a more holistic approach to your application. They would weigh your UCAT score by giving it a percentage of how much it will account for your total application.

As an example, the UCAT could make up 30% of your application, A-levels would be 10%, GCSEs would be 10%, and your interview would be 50% of your application.

These universities are great if you have a weaker UCAT/A-level/GCSE and you can make up for them by having higher results in the other sections. So for example, if you have weaker GCSEs, but a great UCAT and A-level score, then this is going to benefit you. These universities are also a good “safety net” if you were looking for one.

4. The “Scoring” type:

Scoring your application is usually more common than the other types mentioned.

This is where each part of your application would be assigned a certain score (out of whatever the university decides) and it can either be a percentage of a total score or each of them can be their own category.

For example, one university might have a total mark of 100. 10 will be assigned to your GCSE results, another 10 will be assigned to your A-level results, and 30 will be assigned to your UCAT results (remaining 50 for interviews). That 30 marks itself might be dependent on the deciles you get. Decile 1 will have 3 marks, decile 5 will have 15.

Some universities might say that above a certain score, you’re guaranteed an interview. It’s a good idea to include one of these in your 4 choices (if you’re looking for a safety net).

5. Tie Breakers

Some universities might not care as much about your UCAT score and focus a lot on the other aspects of your application, and the time they do look at your UCAT score is to only break a tie between you and one (or more likely many other) applicants that are very similar to you.

These types are not very common.

Now, these are only a very simplified summary of how your UCAT results might be scored and how you need to use them to your advantage, but, be mindful of some extra requirements that might be in place for some universities:

Individual component assessments:

Even though your average score might be high, if one of your UCAT test components (quantitative, verbal etc…) falls below a certain score, you might face some issues and possibly be rejected.

Situational Judgement Component:

This one's a bit tricky. Some universities might not consider it, or some will pay lots of attention to it.

For example, one university might state that if you get below a 3 on your SJT, you will automatically be disqualified. Some others might consider it as a “station” in your interview, and give you a score based on what you achieved in your UCAT test. Keep an eye out for these!

There are around 30 universities in the UK that accept it.

There are around 16 Australian/New Zealand universities that accept it.

2 other universities that aren’t located in the UK/ANZ use it as well.

The test can be for both undergraduate or graduate-entry courses (but for graduate courses, there are other tests as well so make sure you check the university’s requirements, and there’s obviously the BMAT for undergrad).

2-hour computer-delivered exam

5 components
Quantitative Reasoning
Abstract Reasoning
Verbal Reasoning
Decision Making
Situational Judgement

Scores between 300-900 for each component (SJT is in bands of 1-4 for the UK version)

Maximum of 3600

Since it’s computer-delivered:

Each candidate gets a different set of questions

The system draws them from a large bank of questions

Out of all the questions present, each will have a level of difficulty assigned to them (which you won’t know about)

The test tries to keep it fair but sometimes it might be in or against your favour depending on what type of questions you’re stronger at (this isn’t an issue with the test itself, but rather what’s your forte, shall we say)

Make sure you are used to their calculator! This is what it’ll look like in the test - don’t worry though, it doesn’t take a whole page.

UCAT Consortium – all the info you need

UCAT Practice Tests

UCAT Component Practice Tests

There are websites and books which contain paid courses related to the UCAT if you search about them on Google.

Using them is completely up to your discretion and I do not endorse nor want to advertise them as this is in direct violation of ROA’s philosophy - free access to education and educational resources. I’m very sorry if this caused an inconvenience and I hope you understand!

1. Understand the aim of each component and question.

2. Understand the type of each question. There are only so many questions that someone can come up with for testing your different skills. Be smart about it. Recognize patterns and how questions are asked & solved. From one point onwards you’ll realise that the shapes, numbers, and letters will change but you can still use the same techniques across lots of questions.

3. Make a plan for yourself. Set deadlines, know what you need to do and when you need to get it done.

4. Start untimed. Don’t start by timing yourself right off the bat. Allow yourself to learn the question types and what each component wants, then when you get better at it, start timing yourself.

5. Get used to the setting. Do the tests on your laptop/computer if you can. Use a mouse. Use a whiteboard and marker. Use the calculator that’s on the screen. Make sure by the time you’re doing the test, you’re used to how it’s done.

UCAT UK’s SJT is banded, ANZ is scored (from 300-900)

UCAT UK is used for universities only located in the UK (and 2 outside the UK that are not in the ANZ region).

UCAT ANZ is for Australia & New Zealand
But it can also be used for the UK! Please be aware that the opposite is not possible.
You cannot use the UK UCAT for ANZ universities as the timings don’t work with one another.
You can only sit 1 one of them.

*How to deliver ANZ to UK universities

I won’t go into much detail about this as I didn’t sit the BMAT test, but this is just a very simple comparison:

1. Both include aptitude tests

2. BMAT has and added science and argument section (other than the aptitude section)

3. BMAT has 2 sittings only

4. BMAT takes place at specific locations and dates

5. BMAT is also used in lots of other countries other than the UK.

6. You cannot sign up for the test on your own. A test centre needs to do this on your behalf (which might be your school, or somewhere else).