UCAT

The UCAT assesses a range of mental abilities identified by university medical and dental schools as important.

The test consists of three cognitive subtests (Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning) alongside the Situational Judgement Test: 

• Verbal Reasoning assesses your ability to critically evaluate information presented in a written form
• Decision Making assess your ability to make sound decisions and judgements using complex information
• Quantitative Reasoning assesses your ability to critically evaluate information presented in a numerical form
• Situational Judgement measures your capacity to understand real world situations and to identify critical factors and appropriate behaviour in dealing with them

The standard test is just under 2 hours. Once the test has started it cannot be paused but each subtest is preceded by a 1 minute instruction section.

The duration of each section is as follows:

• Verbal Reasoning: 22 minutes
• Decision Making: 37 minutes
• Quantitative Reasoning: 26 minutes
• Situational Judgement: 26 minutes

Eligible candidates can apply for Access Arrangements to sit an extended version of the test. 

The Verbal Reasoning subtest assesses your ability to read and think carefully about information presented in passages and to determine whether specific conclusions can be drawn from information presented.  You are not expected to use prior knowledge to answer the questions.

Doctors and dentists need excellent verbal reasoning skills in order to understand complex information and communicate this clearly and simply to patients. Medical practitioners must also be able to interpret findings from published materials and apply this to their own practice. It is essential they are able to critique such materials and draw their own conclusion as to the validity of any findings.

Verbal Reasoning Questions

You are presented with eleven passages of text, each associated with four questions.

There are two different question types in this subtest:

• a question or incomplete statement with four answer options where you are required to pick the most suitable response.
• a question where you must determine, on the basis of the information in the passage, whether a statement is true, false or you can’t tell.

The Decision Making subtest assesses your ability to apply logic to reach a decision or conclusion, evaluate arguments and analyse statistical information. Knowledge of specific mathematical or logical reasoning terminology is not required to answer any questions.

Doctors and dentists are often required to make decisions in situations that may be complex. This requires high-level problem solving skills and the ability to assess and manage risk and deal with uncertainty.

Decision Making Questions

You are presented with questions that may refer to text, charts, tables, graphs or diagrams. Additional information may be presented within the question itself.  

There are several different question types in this subtest:

• Syllogisms
• Logical Puzzles
• Recognising Assumptions
• Interpreting Information
• Venn Diagrams
• Probabilistic and Statistical Reasoning

Some questions have four answer options, but you are only able to select one response.

Other questions require you to respond to five statements by placing a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer next to each statement.

A simple on-screen calculator is available for use in this subtest.  You may also need to use your notebook and pen.

The Quantitative Reasoning subtest assesses your ability to use numerical skills to solve problems. Questions are less to do with numerical facility and more to do with problem solving.

Doctors and dentists are constantly required to review data and apply it to their own practice. On a practical level drug calculations based on patient weight, age and other factors have to be correct. At a more advanced level, clinical research requires an ability to interpret, critique and apply results presented in the form of complex statistics. Universities considering applicants need to know they have the aptitude to cope in these situations.

Quantitative Reasoning Questions

You are presented with questions that most often refer to charts and graphs containing data.

Most questions are shown as sets of four questions each connected to the same data. There are some questions that standalone and do not share data.

Each question has five answer options. You are only able to select one response.

A basic onscreen calculator is available for use in this section.  You may also need to use your notebook and pen.

The situational judgement test (SJT) measures your capacity to understand real world situations and to identify critical factors and appropriate behaviour in dealing with them. Questions do not require medical or procedural knowledge.

The test assesses integrity, perspective taking, team involvement, resilience and adaptability. SJTs are used widely in postgraduate medical and dental selection.

Situational Judgement Questions

You are presented with a set of hypothetical scenarios based in a clinical setting or during educational training for a medical or dental career.

Each scenario may have up to six questions associated with it.

Some questions ask you to rate the importance or appropriateness of a series of statements in response to each scenario.There are four answer options, but you are only able to select one response.

Other questions require you to choose the most and least appropriate action to take in response to the scenario, from the three actions provided.