UCAT: How to revise?

First things first, the more time you spend on UCAT the better you will do. There is a direct correlation, and I commonly have students who are repeating the year who did not spend enough time on UCAT before. Strengths in subjects related to the UCAT will not directly translate into doing well in the relevant sections without adequate practice. E.g. just because you’re good at Maths A-Level does not mean you’ll be good at Quantitative Reasoning.

Each section:

Verbal Reasoning (VR): This section involves being given a chunk of text often from a newspaper or textbook and then being asked questions about the information provided. It’s a very difficult section and you will have to brush up on your skim reading skills.

Quantitative Reasoning (QR): This section is made of different basic maths questions. The questions will be at a GCSE maths level or below - they remind me of the maths in Biology questions (with no statistics). The types of calculations will be Percentage changes, ratios, tax and interest, fractions, and geometry.

Decision Making (DM): This section is basically problem-solving. It involves dealing with a variety of logic problems, Venn diagrams, Syllogisms, Probability, and Shape logic problems and interpreting graphs.

Abstract Reasoning (AR): This section is about pattern recognition. You have to look at two sets of data and determine the pattern for set A and set B. You then hadveto decide if your test shape fits into Set A, Set B, or Neither. There are other types of questions but this is the most common!

Situational Judgement (SJT): This section is all about reading a scenario and determining how appropriate each suggested action is. The other question type also requires reading a scenario, and determining how important each consideration is to take into account. This is often thought of as the easiest section, however it should not be underestimated.

For more information on what the UCAT is check out my other article here.

Timings:

First of all

• Verbal Reasoning (VR): 2 min/question set (or 30 secs a question)

• Quantitative Reasoning (QR): 36 secs/question

• Decision Making (DM): 1 min/question

• Abstract Reasoning (AR): 18 secs/question

• Situational Judgement (SJT): 35 secs/question

Key tips and tricks for each section before starting:

QR: You only get a calculator on the computer. So NEVER practice with your scientific A Level calculator. Instead, use the calculator on your computer and use the keypad to type the numbers in. This will feel slow initially but will help you to build up the speed you need for the exam. Think of the slow and clunky on-screen calculator as part of the challenge of the exam.

VR: In general I recommend getting used to searching for keywords within your questions, which will allow you to slowly increase your ability to skim-read the passage. For ‘True, False, Can’t Tell’ Questions - Think about hard vs. soft qualifiers to guide your answers.

DM: The most important thing to remember for Decision Making is to always write notes, making the maximum use of your whiteboard. You have up to a minute per section so this is a slightly slower placed section so you have more time to actually write things down. The next key idea is to make sure you have practised every type of Decision Making question. This includes Venn Diagrams, Syllogisms, Probability, Data analysis, and problem-solving questions.

AR: This is probably a repeat of advice you have seen in other places but I’ll repeat it because it is key. Start with the simplest box and keep a list (physical or mental) of the key lists.

SJT: In this section I recommend slowing down, really reflecting when you get answers wrong. If you are finding you are getting a lot of answers wrong, read through GMC's Fitness to Practice guidelines, which will fill you in on some common scenarios. This may not be necessary if you are finding this section easy - but DON’T underestimate it!! Band 4 will stop you from getting into a lot of medical schools.

Best resources:

Most importantly: We recommend Medify or Medentry - they are both equally excellent but do not pay for both - one of them will be fine!

Free/Cheap resources we also recommend:

• Passmedicine - has lots of free questions and Mini-mocks

• UCAT Ninja - is a pay-what-you-want service and has lots of questions on here which are great to practice with

• The Official UCAT Mocks - There are several official UCAT mocks which are great to practice with. We would recommend only doing these mocks when you have been revising for around 6 weeks. This is so you really understand the question types and you can analyse how these questions are similar/different to the ones you have been practising with.

NOTE - We do not think you can revise well enough for the UCAT from free resources alone. You need to pay for Medify or Medentry to properly prepare. We suggest these free resources because it is great to get a range of questions from different question banks as each will have slightly different styles of questions.

Revision Schedule

Structure your revision:

Our advice is to split your revision into three Stages:

Do one initial mock to act as a guide and a benchmark for your progress.

Stage 1: 1.5 hours/day for 1-3 weeks - No timed practice, Focus on getting used to every section equally without the timings. Do no mini mocks or other full-length mocks.

Stage 2: 3-4 hours/day for 1-3 weeks - Start to introduce timing into your practice, practice timed questions, mini-mock, and maybe some full mocks.

Stage 3: 5-6 hours/day for 2-3 weeks - Start to practice full-length mocks, timed and untimed practice, and a lot of reflection on which questions you are commonly getting wrong. Think about when questions are time-effective to do or when it is more time-effective to guess and move on

N.B - You should try and get through every mock on the official UCAT website within Stages 2 and 3, but don’t worry if you don’t get through every Medify or Medentry mock!

This structure can be applied if you have 4 weeks until your exam (1 week in the first two stages and then 2 weeks in the final stage) or if you have 9 weeks until your UCAT (3 weeks on each section). If you have less than 4 weeks until your exam just start straight away and make sure you are putting in maximum time (5-6 hours a day) whilst not burning out. Remember it's never too late to start revision, but it can be too early! Don’t start revising more than 9 weeks before your exam - UCAT prep can be taxing, and it's nice to get a break after year 12 exams before starting immediately on the next hurdle.

N.B - A really common mistake we see is people worrying about timings way too early in their revision. Obviously, timing is a very important and difficult aspect of the UCAT - BUT - if you were playing a musical instrument you wouldn't start playing a new piece of music at full speed, you would break down each section slowly before putting it all together and increasing the speed. This is the same in the UCAT - you need to learn the common patterns in Abstract Reasoning and develop your techniques for Verbal Reasoning, because if you bring in timing straight away you won’t actually develop these techniques properly. So please stick to the plan - don’t think about timing to start with.

This is our sample of how you may structure that revision in 2024. You will have to look at your own commitments and ensure that you can dedicate enough time to revision in August, and if not book the UCAT earlier or later.

Thank you for reading this article! If you have any suggestions on how we might improve, or any questions, please get in contact!