University Clinical Aptitude Test

Admissions test for medical and dental programmes

The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) is an admissions test used in the selection process by a consortium of universities in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand for their medical and dental degree programmes. UCAT is needed, except very few universities, for admission into undergraduate medical degrees in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and UK. Launched in 2006 as the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT), it was renamed in 2019 following the launch of the test in Australia and New Zealand. It was one of two main admissions tests used in the UK for medical, dental and other health related courses, the other being the BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT). However, from 2024 onwards, the BMAT has been cancelled. It has now been confirmed that for undergraduate medical admissions, all ex BMAT universities have moved to using the UCAT, including Oxford and Cambridge. Verbal Reasoning – assesses candidates' ability to think logically about written information and arrive at a reasoned conclusion. The candidate is given 21 minutes, with 11 passages to read and 44 questions to answer in that time. Decision Making – assesses the ability to apply logic to reach a decision or conclusion, evaluate arguments and analyse statistical information. The candidate is allocated 31 minutes to answer 29 items associated with text, charts, tables, graphs or diagrams. Quantitative Reasoning – assesses candidates' ability to solve numerical problems. The candidate is given 25 minutes to answer 36 questions associated with either tables, charts, graphs etc. as information. Abstract Reasoning – assesses candidates' ability to infer relationships from information by convergent and divergent thinking. The candidate is allocated 12 minutes to answer 50 questions associated with sets of shapes. The situational judgement test is a different type of test from the tests above:

Situational Judgement – measures candidates' responses in situations and their grasp of medical ethics and capacity to understand real world situations. This section of the test is 26 minutes long, with 69 questions associated with 22 scenarios. The test is a computer based, online test taken at a Pearson Vue centre near the candidate. Candidates are not allowed to bring external materials in to the exam. A basic calculator is provided on the screen, along with a white board and a marker pen for taking notes. The equipment and conditions vary slightly between different test centers. Including 1 minute to read instructions before each subtest, the test lasts a maximum of 2 hours (or 2.5 hours for the UCATSEN version of the test). Each of the UCAT subtests is in a multiple choice format and is separately timed. There is also 2 minutes of warm up time (to read general instructions on the whole exam) at the start. The test must be sat in the summer of 2024 by candidates who want to apply to member universities for entry in 2025 (or deferred entry in 2026).

There is no curriculum content, as the test is designed to probe innate skills. These include basic arithmetic, reading and writing ability, along with character, and personal and social attitudes. Past papers are not available. There are however question banks and fully timed practice tests on the UCAT website. All candidates are urged to read this attentively. The UCAT Consortium recommend that candidates prepare for the test, and provide extensive free materials on their site to assist.

Each of the first four subsections (Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning and Abstract Reasoning) are each scored in a range of 300 900. The Situational Judgement Test is scored with bands 1–4. Unlike the BMAT, UCAT test takers are informed of their UCAT result immediately after sitting their test, and well in advance of the UCAS deadline, allowing them to consider this when selecting their UCAS choices. Universities use UCAT results in different ways during their admissions processes, but should all provide information on their websites regarding how they use the UCAT in selection. For some universities the UCAT score is a significant factor in their consideration of applications. For others it may be a less significant factor or only used in marginal situations. Most universities consider total score (i. e. the score after each of the cognitive subtest scores have been added together). However some do look at individual subtest scores and may even have a cut off score for a particular subtest.

The UCAT Consortium offers a bursary scheme to cover the full test fee to UK and EU candidates in financial need who meet a set eligibility criteria.

The UCAT Consortium specifies, "Every university uses the UCAT result as part of a well rounded admissions policy in which several other factors also carry considerable weight." UCAT has been shown to have some independent predictive validity of performance at medical school, but considerably less than A levels. There is some evidence from Australia that women and people from more rural areas or of lower socio‐economic status perform less well on the UCAT, and this appears to be to a greater extent than with the UMAT exam that it replaced in Australia. A summary of relevant published work since 2009 is available on the Published Research page of the UCAT website.