the medway UCAT E book

@Medwayuk
 Table of contents
1. Legal
2. What is the UCAT
3. General advice
4. Advice from our members
5. UCAT overview of each subsection
6. What you need to revise for the UCAT
7. Commonly asked questions
8. UCAT shortcuts
9. How I got 3000+ on my UCAT!

Main section
VERBAL REASONING :
1. Overview of section and type of questions
2. General method
3. Question examples

DECISION MAKING:
1. Overview
2. Types of questions & tips

QUANTITATIVE REASONING:
1. Overview of section and type of questions
2. General method
3. How to use the calculator
4. All of the equations & common topics
5. Question examples
6. Still struggling + want more?

ABSTRACT REASONING:
1. Overview of section and type of questions
2. General method
3. Question types + examples
4. Other little tips
SITUATIONAL JUDGEMENT:
1. Outline of section and type of questions
2. Definitions
3. Common themes asked
4. Method + marking
5. 4 pillars of medical ethics
6. Question examples

the final stretch!

1. List of university requirements
2. What to do before your UCAT
3. What to do after UCAT
4. Upset about the score?
5. Final messages!
 Legal!
This Ebook may only be used for personal use and may be
printed and downloaded. However, information from this E
book cannot be under any circumstances be used for reselling
with or without modifications, as it has been made by our team
and has information from our notes that we used for when we
did the UCAT. Printing for personal use is permitted.

You must not resell this E book or send it to others free of

charge.

All rights reserved to Medway UK.

Created by:
Dania, Issy, Faisal, Aathif - The MedwayUK team.
 What is the UCAT?

The university clinical aptitude test (UCAT) is a test used by 31 medical

schools from the UK and (correct as of July 2023, where the newest
university added is the University of Leeds) . It is also used in Australia and
New Zealand.
Information on registering for the UCAT and when to book test dates are
available from the UCAT website.

It consists of 5 sub sections:

Verbal reasoning
Decision making
Quantitative reasoning
Abstract reasoning
Situational Judgement Test

These sections range from a score of 300-900 (where 900 is the highest
possible score)

POINT TO NOTE : every year there is only about 4/5 UCAT tests made so
everyone typically has a different exam

General advice
In this E book we have consolidated notes from all 4 of the members on the
Medway UK team and we aim to help each and everyone of you to get the
best score possible on the UCAT and one step closer to achieving your
doctor dreams!

We at Medway want to make it clear that we understand that this exam

can feel very stressful at first glance, and you might not know where to
start. This is not like other E books you have seen on the market, as this
Ebook has all the information you need to be able to maximise your score
but also, we have top notch advice from Faisal, who went from a score of
2670 to 3000+ in only one year!

We also have a list of all the university requirements so you do not have to
scour the internet for information that might not be true, and so you can
apply strategically. All information in this Ebook is correct as of July 2023
but we will aim to update the book whenever possible and inform you of
any changes :)

We at Medway UK wish all the best of luck!

 Advice from all our members
Dania :D
The one thing that I would change if I was to do the UCAT
again is to always note down all the incorrect answers I had,
and not just in AR. I only did this towards the end and I feel like
I could have really benefited from this earlier on. Also, it's a
challenging exam and there will be days where you will doubt
yourself and feel unmotivated but be rest assured that with
perseverance you can do this. Do not compare yourself to
others because everyone has a different experience. I hope
you find that this book helps out!

Faisal!
The main thing with UCAT revision is consistency.
Conditioning your mental stamina is equally as
important as your raw skills. The UCAT exam is very
draining, and if you aren’t used to having 100% focus for
long periods of time, you’ll struggle, even if you have raw
talent. So make sure you get your 1-2 hours in every
single day, no rest days. NO EXCUSES!!

Issy <3
Don't worry too much about learning UCAT content in depth. The key
to achieving high scores is to practise more and more questions.
This is especially true for QR and AR, as these sections are relatively
easy to improve. Even if you struggle with maths, keep practising! If
you're having trouble improving in one section, such as VR, and your
exam is approaching, focus on your stronger sections like AR or QR.
Your strongest sections will have the most impact on your score. For
example, getting a score of 500 in VR and 600 in DM isn't significant if
you also score 860 in AR and 850 in QR, as your total score would be
2810, which is still a competitive score!

Aathif :)
I totally understand that little noise that creep in, like, "What if I totally
flop the UCAT?" or "What if my score just doesn't cut it for my dream uni
or any uni?" But my friend…There's always a way forward, no matter what
score you end up with. So, aim high, give it your all, but don't sweat it if
things don't go exactly as planned. Each uni has its own unique
requirements, and some even have sweet perks if you meet specific
criteria. Trust me, I worked those perks to my advantage when I
applied, and guess what? I landed interviews from all the unis I set my
sights on. Nerves can affect your UCAT score but when test day arrives,
stand tall, ooze confidence, and remember this: even if you're not over
the moon with your score, it's not game over, my friend. Keep your chin
up, You've got this in the bag!
Overview of each subsection

Verbal Reasoning
Verbal reasoning is the first section of the exam.

The verbal reasoning section of the UCAT tests your ability to read and understand
information. You'll read short passages and then answer questions about them. The
questions ask if you can draw conclusions from the text. This section is the first part of
the exam.
There are 44 questions in 21 minutes, so around 29 seconds per question on average.
Verbal reasoning has two types of questions: true, false, or can't tell, and selecting the
correct conclusion.
The mean score for this section in 2022 was 567, which is the lowest of all the sections.

Decision Making
Decision making is the second section of the exam.

The Decision Making part of the UCAT tests your ability to use logic to make decisions,
evaluate arguments, and analyse statistics. You don't need to know specific math or
logic terms to answer the questions.
There are 29 questions in 31 minutes, so 64 seconds per question on average.
The UCAT Decision Making subtest has six types of questions: logical puzzles, syllogisms,
interpreting information, recognising assumptions, Venn diagrams, and probabilistic
reasoning.
The mean score for this section in 2022 was 616.

Quantitative Reasoning
Quantitative reasoning is the third section of the exam.

The Quantitative Reasoning subtest tests your ability to use numbers to solve problems.
It assumes you are familiar with numbers to the level of a good pass at GCSE. The
questions focus more on problem-solving than on numerical ability
There are 36 questions in 25 minutes, so around 42 seconds per question on average.
To do well in this section, you need good calculation skills in rates, proportions,
percentages, and averages.
The mean score for this section in 2022 was 658.

Abstract Reasoning
Abstract reasoning is the fourth section of the exam.

Abstract Reasoning assesses your ability to recognise patterns in shapes and disregard
irrelevant information. It evaluates your use of convergent and divergent thinking to
deduce relationships from data.
There are 50 questions in 12 minutes, so around 14 seconds per question on average.
In abstract reasoning, there are four types of questions. You need to figure out which
set of shapes a test shape belongs to, predict the next shape in a sequence, follow a
change in shape, or identify a shape that belongs to a specific set.
The mean score for this section in 2022 was 659, which is the highest of all the sections.

 Situational Judgement Test

The Situational Judgment Test is the fifth and final section of the exam.

The Situational Judgment Test measures how individuals react to real-life situations and
evaluates vital personal qualities, including honesty, outlook, perseverance, and
flexibility, which are essential in medicine and dentistry.
There are 69 questions in 29 minutes, so roughly 25 seconds per question on average.
There are two types of questions in the Situational Judgement Test: Appropriateness and
Importance. Appropriateness questions ask you to rate an action based on its suitability in
the scenario, while importance questions ask you to rate actions based on their
significance in the scenario.
The scoring system for the Situational Judgment Test is different from the other sections,
as it is graded using bands instead of a numerical score.
The highest band is Band 1, and the lowest is Band 4.

What you need to revise for UCAT

Buy a Medentry subscription for 2 months, we think it’s the best platform to use compared
to the other paid resources. Use our code AFPD-b2yhmk for 10% off.
Medentry also provides 50% off their products if you are a widening participation
student, eg you receive 16-19 bursary.
Here’s the link to sign up: https://www.medentry.co.uk/widening-access

If you cannot pay, there’s some free resources like:

-> Official UCAT website: https://www.ucat.ac.uk/prepare/practice-tests/
-> Passmedicine: https://www.passmedicine.com/ucat/

You need to be using a laptop/ desktop to practise UCAT questions. No Ipads or phones.
You need to be using a keyboard with a number pad and mouse to practise.
One like this :

Here’s some links to amazon keyboards under £12:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Acco-Kensington-6010715-ValuKeyboard-
Wired/dp/B0001ZN7AO/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?
c=ts&keywords=Keyboards&qid=1688845172&s=computers&sr=1-1-
spons&ts_id=430565031&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trust-Taro-Wired-Keyboard-Spill-Resistant/dp/B08D9PZDGW/ref=sr_1_6?
c=ts&keywords=Keyboards&qid=1688845397&s=computers&sr=1-6&ts_id=430565031
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-Business-Keyboard-Windows-Linux/dp/B003ZY9Z40/ref=sr_1_4?
c=ts&keywords=Keyboards&qid=1688845397&s=computers&sr=1-4&ts_id=430565031

if you cannot get a keyboard or don’t have a laptop. You can go to your local library, since the setup will
be the same as the UCAT testing centre.

 Commonly asked questions:

how long should
we revise for??

Revise for 6-8 weeks to give yourself enough time to ensure you get
the most practice possible. The UCAT is different from revising A
levels you cannot cram for it at all, you NEED to prep as much as
possible.

when should I
book My exam?

Don’t book it too early in July or too late in September.

You should book it during mid/ end of august, before year 13 starts. As it is very difficult
to balance school, UCAT prep, personal statements and BMAT prep too. It’ll be so easy
to feel burnt out

However if you’re on your gap year it’ll be okay to do your test in September as you
won’t have school. However you need to also give yourself time to revise for the BMAT
for 2023 (before BMAT gets scrapped), in case the UCAT does not go well.

Should I use any books

for the UCAT?

You might have seen people talking about the ISC UCAT Book. Don’t
use it as it is a paper resource, the UCAT is a computer exam so you
need to simulate the right conditions. And the book questions are quite
different or more difficult than the real exam.

How should I use the

official UCAT question
banks and mocks?

Don’t use these at the start of your revision, as the questions especially for
DM and QR are more difficult than the real exam. However they are very useful
to practise more questions. Especially the AR and SJT bank. Note down the
common patterns and calculations that come up and make sure you know
how to do those. You should also use the mocks as practice, however they are
very hard compared to the real exam, so don't be disheartened by your
scores on those.

UCAT keyboard shortcuts

Alt + C = Calculator
Alt + N = Next question
Alt + P = Previous question
Alt + F = Flag a question
Num Lock = Activate number
keypad
Using keyboard to pick answers eg
A, B ,C ,D
Alt + V Review all flagged questions
Alt + E End review
Alt + I Review incomplete questions

Using shortcuts should be like second nature

to you. The faster you type the more time
you save!
How I went from 2670 to
3040!
From this...

To this!
 advice from faisal
Seeing my score probably makes you think that I'm a natural at the UCAT and I can do QR questions
in my sleep. And while some people may try to have you believe otherwise, very few people can get
high scores in the UCAT with no practice, and I definitely am not one of those people. I may have
gotten 900 in QR, but exactly a year before, I scored 640, which was actually below average. I
believe this is proof that hard work can actually improve your UCAT massively. I'll share with you my
secrets on how to make your revision as efficient and useful as possible, and how to get a score just
like me!

I would say the biggest mistake I made in my first sitting of the UCAT was just not getting my head
down and doing actual revision. I would procrastinate a lot, watch UCAT videos to feel like I was
being productive when in reality that was quite inefficient. I found it very hard to do 10 minutes
straight of questions, let alone a whole two-hour mock. Suffice to say, this hindered my progress a
lot. I firmly believe now that the most efficient way to get better at the UCAT is by smashing through
loads of questions and reviewing properly. Fast forward 12 months to my second attempt at the UCAT,
I really managed to discipline myself and minimise distractions. I was able to power through
questions for 1-2 hours with no breaks, and not only did this help me improve my raw ability, it
conditioned me to be able to think clearly and not get tired in the real exam environment. As hard as
it may sound, you really need to get into the mentality of forcing yourself to get through these long
sessions of questions without taking breaks.

I alluded to this in my first point, but I can't emphasise enough how important it is to simulate the
real exam conditions. Thankfully, I had some experience with my exam centre because I sat my
driving theory test there, as well as my first attempt at the UCAT. The main things to know are that the
monitors and keyboards are average and definitely not high quality, there will probably be a lot of
background noise, so these are things you need to anticipate in your exam. Personally, simulating
this environment every time I did a mock really helped me have a calm and nonchalant attitude
during my real exam. Feeling nervous on exam day can make your score absolutely plummet. It's
essential you're in a clear state of mind during your exam so you can perform to the best of your
ability. You also need to do loads of mock exams in the last two or three weeks leading up to the real
thing. This will really get you in exam mode, and hopefully when you do your real exam, it’ll feel like
just another mock. I personally made a spreadsheet with all mock score breakdowns so I could
monitor my progress.

Another thing that I would highly recommend you do is to find the section that you are best at and
capitalise on this. What I mean by this is, usually after a week or two, you will notice that you are
naturally performing better in one of your sections than the others. To make the most out of this, I'd
recommend focusing on this section much more than the others. If you look at my score
breakdown, a very big reason why I scored so high is because of my 900 in quantitative reasoning.
This came with lots of dedicated practice solely in QR, as I knew that was where I would make the
most improvement. You need to use your time efficiently, if you find it much easier to improve at QR
or AR, then focus most of your time on those, rather than VR, for example, where it is usually much
harder to make lots of improvement. I'm not saying to completely neglect your worst sections, but
it's all about working as efficiently as possible. Remember, it's the overall score that matters, so don't
get bogged down in the details.

My final and probably most important point is, you really don’t need to get a score in the 3000s. While
my score definitely had its benefits in that I never had to worry about UCAT cut offs when deciding
my uni choices, and I was usually in the first batch to be invited to be interviewed, and I wasn’t in
any anxiety about getting pre-interview rejections, there aren’t really any other benefits to getting
such a high score. Most medical schools will have cutoffs in the 2700s and 2800s, with very few
having higher cutoffs. So it's okay if you aren’t getting super high top percentile scores in your
mocks, or when you look at your results sheet and it's not the 3000 you were hoping for. If you apply
strategically, there are still medical schools with UCAT cutoffs below 2700, and you can always take
the BMAT or other admissions tests to increase your range of choice. I’ll end by saying, don’t despair
over your score and be proud, whatever the outcome!

-Faisal :)

 verbal REASONING
Overview
44 questions in 21 minutes
11 question sets and less than 30 seconds per questions.
There are two types of questions - 'True, False, or Can't Tell' and selecting the suitable conclusion.
Learn to speed read - Medentry has a great VR skill trainer to help you improve this.
Always read the question and answers first before the text, to save time.
After you get an idea of what to look out for, skim the text for any relevant keywords.
Triage questions, sometimes a lot of the shorter texts are towards the end. So guess, flag & skip longer
questions then quickly do the shorter ones.
Don't use any prior knowledge, only use information given in the text.
A lot of the time, some answer options will actually make sense if you have prior knowledge, however
these are often there to catch you out, as they can't be derived from the information given in the text.

How to approach questions:

Look out for the LANGUAGE in these questions.

if the language is more EXTREME like “all/none/definitely” it is more likely to be can’t tell//false rather than
true.
if the language is NEUTRAL like “sometimes/ not all/ most” it is more likely to be true.
For questions like the author's opinions, the relevant information is usually written in the last paragraph.

General Revision Method

I was clueless on VR at first, and was consistently getting around 40% untimed, but over time, I found that these
strategies really helped:

Before trying to skim read, improve your correctness first so you understand how to answer the questions.
Your inference skill is important and comprises of many of the VR questions you will face; making sure you
can infer from information fast and accurately allows you to answer questions faster as well. Medentry's VR
skill trainer is amazing for this!
For timing, you need to learn how to identify the hard stems (like very long paragraphs or 'confusing' topics)

and the hard questions (like author's opinion questions). If they seem like they'd take too much time, guess,
flag, and skip them immediately to make sure you don't run out of time struggling. You can come back to
these if you have time at the end. I also find this strategy useful as it gives me time to do the "true/false/can't
tell" stems, which are usually easier.
Your reading speed is extremely important. Initially I just read the entire stem, but now I don't - I just skim
through it and look at keywords from the question to find the answer. I feel like reading speed is best
developed through timed practice, which definitely helped me get faster over time as over a lot of timed VR
practice, I became adapted to how fast I had to be.

Let's Go through some questions!

 The correct answer is TRUE
if the exchange rates change, the oversea purchaser can buy more pounds for their currency
than previously. So it will be true that exports from the UK will cost less in the country buying them
in currency terms.

The correct answer is A

Explanation:
OPTION A : is correct because the second bullet point states that “polypropene is not as strong as
nylon” and the paragraph preceding the bullet point states that synthetic fibres (such as
polypropylene) are generally far stronger than natural fibres (such as hemp).
OPTION B : is incorrect as the third bullet point states that polyester is “not as stretchy as nylon
OPTION C : is incorrect as the passage does not mention the strength of double braided ropes
against braided ropes
OPTION D : is incorrect as the first bullet point states that nylon loses 25% strength when wet but
there is no mention of the strength of hemp when it is wet.

'At the end of the day, VR is the section most people struggle
with, the fact that it has the lowest mean average score is
proof of this. Don't worry if you are struggling much more
with VR than the other sections, this is normal! Try to spend
most of your time on the sections where you see the most
growth, so that you can maximise your overall score!'
-Advice from the team
 Decision making
Overview
In the DM section of the UCAT, time is of the essence. With 29 questions to
answer in 31 minutes, every second counts. While you have roughly a minute
per question, it's important to remember that time allocation is flexible.
Some questions may require more attention than others, so prioritise
based on your strengths. Through practice and reflection, you'll learn to
optimise your time and excel in this section. Get ready to embrace the
challenge, apply our knowledge, and conquer the DM section!

Certain questions such as Yes and No, take a much longer time to do than
multiple-choice questions so in your UCAT practice, get comfortable in
flagging and skipping questions. This will help you save time and focus on
the questions you’re strong on. Of course, you have to go back to your
flagged questions and try to do them at the end. Experiment with questions
to see which you find easier and continue to develop them making them
your weapon in the DM section.

Types of questions
Syllogisms
Interpreting information
Drawing conclusions
Logical puzzles
Venn Diagrams
Probability and Statistic reasoning

1. Syllogism

ATTEMPT THE QUESTION BELOW AND ANSWERS WILL BE AT THE END OF THIS SECTION
 You have to understand the text given to you and interpret its parameters to be able to
answer these questions. One key thing is to understand what all, some, and most, this
means in terms of the UCAT exam.

This will help you to deduce conclusions about a statement from the text. If you get
stuck, always read the text again to see if you have missed anything. For an event that
is a maybe that can happen, look out for the keywords in question. For example, All

dogs are cats. Some cats are rabbits. Some rabbits are dogs. The statement could be,
“All rabbits are cats”. Sure, some of the rabbits could be cats and dogs from the text but
we can’t say for sure all of them are cats. So the answer will be No to that.

I know that’s confusing your head right now. Let’s look at another example: All dogs are
cats so is the reverse true? Can all cats be dogs? This is where you have to be careful!
Just because all dogs are cats, it doesn’t mean all cats are dogs. Cats could be
elephants, tigers or just cats by themselves. The statement doesn’t talk about what cats
can be at all so we can’t assume the reverse of that statement is true. So the answer will
be No.

Experiment with ways for you to understand the text, some use Venn diagrams, some
read the question multiple times and some like to remember it in their head. A good
method is to also assign terms to letters. For example, Dogs are A and cats are B. All of A
is B. This can make it easier for you to spot the answer and understand the text.

Keep practising syllogisms in your UCAT practice questions as they are worth 2 marks
rather than 1 for the normal DM questions. Even if you get 4 out of 5 correct in the
question, you will still get 1 mark. However, if you score less than 4 on the question, you
will get zero marks. If you find syllogisms particularly hard, arrange a 1-1 consultation
with us where we will go through anything you want in UCAT to give you the best
preparation available in the market! We always help you in your journey to medicine
once you join us!

Answer to the starter activity:

YES YES NO NO NO

1. DOES follow because “all students must study at least two foreign languages”
2. DOES follow because the school is mixed gender and “all students must study at least 2 foreign languages”
3. DOESN’T follow because there is no information in the statement to support this
4. DOESN’T follow because we cannot conclude if there are any girls studying all three foreign languages
5. DOESN’T follow because there is no information in this statement to support this
2. Interpreting information
ATTEMPT THE QUESTION BELOW AND ANSWERS WILL BE AT THE END OF THIS SECTION

This is very similar to syllogisms for the same type of answers required. However, it can be more
complicated to read through all of the information and derive conclusions from it. Our tips are
to skim-read the passage first, identifying keywords in the passage. Read the conclusions in
the question and go back to the passage to interpret if it’s a valid conclusion. Always be on
guard for tricks in sentences with words like “most”, “some” etc. There might be more than 1
sentence that you would have to read to deduce the answer. Always feel free to flag and skip,
it’s one of the most important things I did in my UCAT exam which helped my score to be
boosted massively and preserved my stamina in the long run.

Answers for the activity:

YES - because the first sentence states that cloud platforms can open up new possibilities
only for “ a business where a time lag of a few milliseconds is not critical to its operations”.
YES - because cloud platforms “ do not require capital expenses like investments in servers
and software” IT expenditure could be reduced.
NO - because although the passage states that companies that use the cloud “resolve
recovery issues nearly four times faster” there is not enough information to conclude that
all companies who resolve issues faster use the cloud.
NO - because although the passage suggests that IT expenditure could be reduced there is
no information that proves companies who use the cloud spend less on IT.
NO - because the passage says that, on average companies that do not use the cloud
spend 8 hours on average recovering data, whereas using the cloud could make this four
times faster. It, therefore, takes less than 4 hours, on average, to restore data saved to the
cloud.
 3. Drawing conclusions

ATTEMPT THE QUESTION BELOW AND ANSWERS WILL BE AT THE END OF THIS SECTION

Now, this is our favourite type of question because you can eliminate the wrong answers quite
easily, from just looking. The most obvious thing to look out for is when they back up their points
using personal opinions which include bias and sometimes even flat-out discrimination. This
immediately tells you that it isn’t the strongest argument.

Another obvious point that comes up often is when the argument doesn’t mention the problem
they are looking at or focuses on just one part of the question and ignores the rest. A good
method to spot these is to look for direct mention of the key parts in the question inside the
arguments. This method can save you lots of time and allow you to spend it on other questions
which are harder. Often, this leaves you with two options left and the harder versions of these
questions would require you to carefully read each argument and choose which argument has
none of the errors we mentioned earlier.

Think about it logically, does this argument directly link to the question and answer it, perhaps by
suggesting a solution too? Once again, with enough practice, it will be second nature for you to
instantly eliminate the obvious wrong answers and start assessing the arguments. Questions like
these are the ones where you can save time and catch up. Reflect on each of your incorrect
answers and see what was weak about the argument so you can store it in your brain. The brain
will automatically start adjusting to these questions and you will be a machine at the end of your
practice.

Answers for the activity:

correct answer - B :

A is incorrect because it does not describe the outcome of rehabilitation

B is correct because it is the strongest argument that deals with the outcome of rehabilitation
C is incorrect because it does not give a reason why “ a crime is still a crime” requires punishment
D is incorrect because it does not explain why “justice” could not take the form of rehabilitation
4. Logical puzzles

QUESTION BELOW AND ANSWERS WILL BE AT THE END OF THIS SECTION
ATTEMPT THE

This is where it becomes a necessity to use that whiteboard they give you. If you try to keep
track of all that information in your mind, you’re bound to make mistakes. Writing down what
information is acquired line by line on the whiteboard gives you a clearer picture. Some ways
could be making a table with crosses to note down the categories they fill out. Other ways
could be drawing the puzzle with your own imagination to let you understand it best. For
example, it may be a question about 7 doors with different colours positioned in a circle.
They might give information about a few doors such as blue is next to red or yellow is
opposite purple. It’s best to assign letters to the different categories and draw them out in
the way you understand them best.

Personally, we recommend using your tunnel vision to find answers quickly. Read the
question and notice any names/categories being repeated the most, note down all the
information you can figure out about them and then go to the next most repeated
name/category. This will help you save time and in the process, it will actually reveal
information about other categories eventually leading you to the answer.

DM is all about figuring out the most clues about certain categories and then trickling it
down to eliminating the options. For example, if Jacob could have gone to the store on
Monday/Friday and Alice had to have gone to the store on the same day as Jacob, these two
statements have revealed Alice had to be in the store on Monday/Friday.

Then another statement such as Alice only goes to the store if she is with Jasmine when it’s
also been revealed that Jasmine goes to the store on only Mondays and Thursdays, results in
us making a conclusion that Alice was in the store on Monday and so Jacob had to be in the
store on Monday too.
Just by figuring out clues by following the most repeated name, Alice, we got so much more
information getting us to the answer.

Now, not every question will be as simple as this and some may require more complicated
deductions to get to the answer. But we assure you, time is your biggest enemy, if everyone
was given unlimited time to do these questions then everyone would be getting 3000+. As
long as you’re calm and following the process methodically, it’s a win. However, if you think
you’re getting nowhere, feel free to flag and skip the question! There are so many more
questions where you can get your marks from!

Answers for the activity:

C: from the information given we can deduce the following: Rex has his morning walk with
another dog but this cannot be Barker or Dainty as they have to walk alone, it cannot be
Boxer as he goes for an afternoon walk. So there must be one other dog that is
accompanying Rex. Hence it has to be C.
 5. Venn Diagrams
ATTEMPT THE QUESTION BELOW AND ANSWERS WILL BE AT THE END OF THIS SECTION

If you’re not familiar with Venn Diagrams all the way back from GCSE maths, there are plenty of videos
available on youtube where you can learn from scratch how to draw a Venn diagram to represent any number
of groups.

Now that you have a better understanding of the basics, you would be given a few variations in Venn Diagram
questions such as having to draw your own ones to figure out the answer or to look at the question’s Venn
Diagram to see which data they are asking for. Both of them can get complex and take a long amount of time
to finish which is why we recommend being ready to flag and skip some of the harder ones.

For having to draw your own Venn Diagram, there are things you need to be careful about certain words such
as “only” which determine your Venn Diagram. For example, if the question said Only Vipers are part of snakes
and some snakes are also warm-blooded with Anaconda and Cobra being other groups. This would result in 5
groups so we need 5 circles to be drawn. The Viper circle needs to be inside the Snakes circle as all Vipers are
snakes but there shouldn’t be any other circles touching the Snakes circle such as Anaconda and Cobra
because the statement clearly says, “Only Vipers are part of snakes”. The circle for warm-blooded should share
with both snakes and vipers as we are not told if vipers can be warm-blooded or not so for this example, we
would have to make it shared with vipers too unless explicitly said not to.

For interpreting Venn Diagrams, you have to first identify what group are they looking for. For example, are they
looking at only group A or do they want multiple groups like A, B and C? It’s not uncommon in these questions
where you have more circles than you have ever seen in your life! But don’t fret because it’s really not as hard
as you are thinking of it. The trick is again tunnel vision quickly interpreting what the question is asking for and
looking for that group. With enough practice and looking at video guides for Venn Diagrams as we mentioned
above, you will know that part at the least. The way how they make it time-consuming is by asking if group A, C
and D has a higher value than group A, E and F which requires you to figure out the values for both groups and
decide which one’s bigger. This makes it much more complicated and confusing as you can easily miss values
inside the Venn Diagram or get overwhelmed just looking at it. However, when you take that deep breath and
say you got it all under control, you will see the bigger picture and be able to finish that question. As always, be
comfortable with flagging and skipping if this isn’t your forte.

If you are still struggling to keep up with Venn Diagrams and you feel that it's dragging down your scores,
contact us and we’ll set up something special for you to improve your scores!

Answers for the activity:

Correct Answer : C
A is incorrect: because 42 appears inside the rectangle that represents “inside the UK”
B is incorrect: because 61 appears inside the double-sided arrow that represents company Y
C is correct: because 102 is shown outside the rectangle that represents “inside UK” and inside the rhombus that
represents company Y
D is incorrect: because 163 is the total number of 2 BHK flats built outside the UK (102+61) but it is only the number
that appears in the rhombus representing company x (102) that is relevant
6. Probability and Statistic reasoning
ATTEMPT THE QUESTION BELOW AND ANSWERS WILL BE AT THE END OF THIS SECTION

Now, we acknowledge probability can be a tricky topic for some to get their head around
with. We recommend refreshing your knowledge of probability on youtube through video
guides. Make sure you understand the formulas that can be used for this section such as
P(A) X P(B). Understand how percentages and fractions can be represented as probabilities.
For example, ¼ equals 25% which is a probability of 0.25. There’s a simple way to improve on
these questions - More probability knowledge = Better performance.

Aim for accuracy in these questions during your practice first to have a strong foundation
in calculating probability values for different events before we start to focus on speed. Tree
Diagrams are a must for you to know to simplify the information and calculate probabilities
faster.
Most of these questions will ask for probability values to be compared. For example, the
question will ask Is event A 30% more likely to occur than event B? It’s key to understand
that probability is just a way of predicting things and you should never guarantee an
outcome from a probability value. Look out for keywords like “Event A will happen 90% of the
time” rather than “Event A has a 90% chance of taking place”. These two are very distinct
statements, the second one being the correct way of saying it.
You also have to look out for what groups are mentioned and not generalise a conclusion
from a sample of small numbers. The bigger the sample, the more accurate the
probabilities are but never accurate enough to be a guaranteed outcome.

Learn about how to calculate probabilities for two distinct events happening on Youtube to
improve your knowledge. For example, the probability of picking red and blue is 0.4 and 0.6
respectively. The probability of spinning a 4 and 6 on a number wheel is 0.3 and 0.7
respectively. What is the probability of picking red and also spinning a 6? Now, we multiply
0.4 and 0.7 to get our final answer. There may be situations where you have to add up the
probabilities as well when there are multiple ways for the same result to occur. These
should be covered in your time spent watching GCSE probability videos on Youtube.

The hardest part is getting comfortable with the style of questioning as for these types, it’s
always pretty much the same approach so you’ll be able to ease into it quickly. Focus on
getting faster and faster for this question type by utilising your calculator, mental maths
and whiteboard effectively. This should be a question type where you aim to save time by
quickly scoring full marks and spending longer on the syllogisms and logical puzzle
questions.

Answers for the activity:

Correct response : D
A: is incorrect because it does not address Alice’s statement
B: is incorrect because it is a comment about the source of the data, not its validity
C: is incorrect because as a properly taken sample, the answer would be a ‘yes’
D: is incorrect because the 90% comes from a selection effect as non-English speakers
would be much less keen to speak English
 QUANTITATIVE REASONING
Overview

36 questions in 24 minutes
9 question sets and 40 seconds per question.
→
Learn to use the calculator quickly Use your number pad on the keyboard. Medentry has a skill trainer to increase your
speed with the calculator.
Use your whiteboard and pen to write things down to reduce the risk of forgetting things.
Triage questions, sometimes a lot of the easier questions are towards the end like adding, subtraction, % change. So
flag & skip longer questions then quickly do the shorter ones.
A lot of the time, some answer options are common wrong answers. So double check your answer. Just because it's an
option doesn’t mean it is correct.

How to approach questions:

Always read the question first, then the passage
Elimination: You can eliminate questions which you know won't be the right answer
Eyeball data: so if a question asks you to add up: 15,000 + 16,000 + 18,000. just do 15+16+18. It’ll be much faster.

Estimation: A lot of the answers are very close or not close. So look at the answers first to estimating
Always read the question carefully, check for units or conversions
Always use the calculator
Sometimes if the answers are like 34, 34000, 340. That means you may need to convert units.
Sometimes it helps to approach the question ‘backwards’ – look at the answer options and eliminate answers that
don't seem correct
Check out our QR Cheat Sheet for all the important formulae and other tips! https://payhip.com/MedwayUK

How to use the UCAT calculator?

ALT + C to bring up the calculator
Click 'MRC': Recalls a stored value
Click 'MRC' twice: clears the memory
Click 'M+' or type 'P' on the keyboard: Adds a value to the memory
Click 'M-' or type 'M' on the keyboard: Subtracts a value from memory

Videos to watch to learn how to use calculator, if you're still unsure:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_-lLb0CmHM&ab_channel=TanzeelAhmed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXab9uqFpzU&ab_channel=KharmaMedic

Ways to practice using number pad and calculator to improve accuracy

Practise using the number pad with the Medentry skills trainer section
http://10keytest.com/

Use your dominant typing hand to type on the numpad and your other hand to use the mouse.

Example of questions using memory functions:

Question 1: Calculate 18 to the power of 5

1. Type 18
2. Press M+
3. Click x then MRC then x then MRC then x then MRC then x then MRC

Question 2: M&M's cost £3 each. Skittles cost 50p each. What is the price of buying 14 M&M's and 20
Skittles?

1. Calculate 3 x 14 = 42
2. Click M+
3. Calculate 0.5 x 20 = 10
4. Press + and then M+
Common topics
Tax brackets
→
Basic geometry Area + Perimeter + Volume of shapes
Percentage change
Data interpretation
Proportions and Ratio
Mean, median and mode
Fractions/ decimals
Time difference
Currency unit conversions

Useful Equations
Percentage change = change/original value * 100 •
If 50% of x = 100, then x = 100/0.50 (Reverse Percentages)
1km = 1000m
1 m = 100cm
1km = 100 000cm
1m = 1000mm
1km2 = 1 000 000m
1m2 = 10 000cm2
X% of Y = Y% of X

Fractions and decimals

1/10 = 0.1 = 10%
1/9 = 0.11 = 11%
1/8 = 0.125 = 12.5%
1/7 = 0.14 = 14%
1/6 = 0.17 = 17%
1/5 = 0.2 = 20%
1/4 = 0.25 = 25%
1/3 = 0.33 = 33%
1/2 = 0.5 = 50%

Areas and volumes

Area of a rectangle (length x width)

Area of a triangle (1/2 x base x height)
Area of a right-angled triangle (1/2 x base x height)
Area of a circle (πr²)
Area of a trapezium (1/2 (total length of both parallel sides) x height)
Volume of a cylinder (πr²h)
Volume of a sphere (4/3 πr²)
Circumference of a circle (2πr)
Pythagoras’ theorem (a² + b² = c²)
Speed, distance and time
Speed = distance/time
Acceleration = change in velocity/time

Speed, distance and time

Speed = distance/time
Acceleration = change in velocity/time
Hours, Minutes, Time
Minutes to hours- divide by 60.
Hours to minutes- multiply by 60
40 mins= ⅔ of an hr
30 mins = 1/2 of an hr
20 min= ⅓ of an hr
15 min= ¼ hr

If Pi is in the calculation, keep pi as pi until you get to the end of the calculation and use 3.14 as pi.

QUESTION EXAMPLE:

correct answer : D

Explanation :
% of copper present in coin A = 100 - 25 = 75%
mass of copper present in coin A weighing 6.5g = 6.5 x (75/100) = 4.875g
% of copper present in coin B weighing 5g = 5x (84/100) = 4.2g
Therefore difference in the mass of copper present in coin A and coin B is
4.875-4.2 = 0.675g
 Still struggling + Want more?

If you want more targeted question practice:

https://pastebin.com/PHZU6zZw This website has a bunch of questions for different
subtopics for QR.
If you need to brush up on your maths:
→
https://www.youtube.com/@theMSAG/about Great playlist to use to learn how to do some
of the math topics, but don’t spend too much time on this.
→
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-sl6J1HAGRGN5ElFB0lbE9iOvXPa5oyE Good UCAT
course.
For practising mental maths:
Mathstrainer.com
Other good links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JDeJAQjKeM&ab_channel=DentalShiv
https://youtu.be/wILpcNFEBAY -> Watch this video of someone doing a QR mock, you might
learn faster ways to do things

 Abstract reasoning
Overview Step by step method for
50 questions in 12 minutes
doing questions
14 seconds per question
1. Identify the type of question it could be
10 sets, 5 questions per set
2. Filter the possible patterns and make a list
There are 4 types of questions of the common things to go through in
1. is it in set A, set B or neither your head
2. complete the set 3. If you cannot find the pattern or even the
3. complete the series slightest hint in 20-30 seconds, GUESS,
4. matching to either set A or set B FLAG, SKIP, MOVE ON
In this section of the UCAT using the flag button is key, if you cannot figure out the set in 20-30
seconds then flag the ENTIRE SET this way you will have time to come back to it at the end. Never leave
a question blank. With AR a lot of the time you can guess which one is the correct answer, just by
looking at the options. As you get used to doing more practice and more exposure to patterns. All you
need is to figure out at least one pattern and you can still get 3 or 4 of the questions right for that set.
If you find it difficult to figure out the second pattern in the same set, just use the one you already
figured out for the answers.

In the short break you get before the AR subsection starts, on your whiteboard or laminated sheet,
write down some of the patterns.

Every time you do AR practice, write down the patterns you get right and wrong and sort them into
categories. This really made a difference to my score as over time I was noticing how there’s only a
set theme of patterns they can give.

I made a document like this, with a picture of the question and the pattern, and looked through it
often to refresh my memory. Check out our AR cheat sheet! https://payhip.com/MedwayUK

This may seem messy, but all you

need is a document with main
headings, which different shapes
fall under. For example, "Shapes"
and "Lines". Then, add in common
examples that you see, as well as
actual examples of questions you
frequently get wrong or ones
which pop up frequently.

With AR, the only way to get better is to just do more questions. At first
you might not get any questions right, but that's okay because you
need to be exposed to more and more patterns before you can
improve your pattern recognition.
How to reflect after doing questions
Think about why you got the question wrong - was it the timing, did you not know any of
the patterns, were you not focused?
Make a list of the patterns you got wrong and try to group them into similar sections eg
SHAPE, OVERLAPPS, ENCLOSED SPACES.

To help you get started with AR, we have grouped some types of
patterns and things to look out for!

Question type 1: Lines

Are the lines overlapping?
Question example
Odd vs even number of lines
Straight vs curved
How many intersections
Dotted lines
Sometimes lines will
correspond to sides of shape in
shapes.
Horizontal vs vertical lines

Another example

Question type 2: Overlaps Question example

What shape do lines overlap
with
Number of overlapping
shapes
Overlaps corresponding to
colour
Another example
Question type 3: Arrows
Direction of arrows, North,
South, West, East, are they in the
same direction? are only 2
arrows pointing up, but the rest
are down?
Number of arrows
Arrows pointing inwards vs
outwards
Question example
Set A: at least 2 arrows parallel and
one pointing to the star
Set B: at least 2 arrows parallel and
pointing away from the star
Another example
SET A: arrows pointing to the triangle if
its present, pointing to nothing if not
present.
Set B: arrows pointing to CIRCLE, if
present and pointing to nothing if not
present
Question type 4: Letters and numbers
TIP: Treat everything as shapes, don't think
of them as being letters or numbers
Look out for:
Number of right angles
Curved vs straight lines
Number of letters/numbers
Number of strokes (this means if
you were drawing the letters and
numbers with a pen how many
strokes would it need. Eg number 1
has 1 stroke, L has 1 stroke)
Number of enclosed spaces
Look out for symmetry
‘Number of’ could be:
The same number
Prime number
Multiple number
Even or odd
Question example
Set A: more curved than straight.
Set B: more straight than curved
Question type 5: Everything looks Question type 6: Irregular shapes
the same Look out for:
Every box has the same exact shape so what do you irregular lines
you? no identifiable shapes
swirls
look at the arrangement of the shape every box can look similar
look at the positioning of the shape in the box -> are
some of them in the same position, is one shape always
So what could the pattern be?
in the corner, is one shape above another shape?
any lines of symmetry number of intersection
Does one shape correspond to another? clockwise vs counterclockwise
especially for swirls
Question example convex vs concave shapes
straight vs curved lines
number of enclosed spaces
positioning of the shape relative to the
box

Question example

Set A: number of circles = triangles

Set B: circles = triangles + 1

Question type 7: Miscellaneous

No distinct patterns, no question type Set A: The line on the outermost

curve= is clockwise.
really fits it and sometimes there are
Set A: The line on outermost curve =
shapes you have never seen before. anticlockwise.

Best to skip or try at the end when you

have time to spare.

Question example

correct answer : B
Set A : the lower images are the mirror reflection of the upper images,
so the line of symmetry is horizontal.
Set B: the images on the right are the mirror reflection of the images on
the left, so the line of symmetry is vertical.
Complete the set (this to that)

Correct answer : C
Rule : the outermost shape of the answer image has the TOTAL number of sides as the second
shape in the first row and the first shape of the second row of the image to the left. The
overlapping regions are shaded.
C is correct because the shape of the answer has 7 sides which is equal to the total number
of sides as the second shape (4 sided square) and the first image on the second row (3 sided
triangle) which equal 7. The overlapping region is also shaded.

Match set to A

Correct answer : A

Set A : each blank triangle equals a curvy line that has a small circle at the end touching the
large oval or circle.

Each white triangle equals a straight line that has a small circle at the end away from the
large oval or circle.

Set B : each black triangle equals a straight line that has a small circle at the end away from
the large oval or circle. Each white triangle equals a curvy line that has a small circle on the
end away from the large oval or circle.

A is correct because there are 3 white triangles which equal a straight line that has a small
circle at the end away from the large oval and circle, follows rules for set A.
 Other little tips :P
If there are triangles, look for right angles
Looking for symmetry -> vertical/ horizontal/ diagonal
Lines being a distractor
Looking at tangents
Touching sides
Touching straight vs curved lines

Number of sides

Shape and size:

S: Shape is there any particular shape?
C: colour Does the shape have odd/number of
sides
A: arrangment
Colour:
N: number is a particular shape always shaded
S: size
Angle + arrangement:
C: conditional do 2 shapes always appear next to
each other
A: area
R: right angles Number:
is there a certain number of shapes
T: touching
Symmetry:
S: symmetry can you spot any lines of symmetry
 SITUATIONAL JUDGEMENT:
Overview
69 questions in 26 minutes which sounds intense but trust us, this is the most time-relaxed section.
this is a bit different to the other sections of the UCAT as it is scored from Band 1 being the best and
Band 4 being the worst
to be on the safe side aim for either band 1/2, band 3 is riskier and band 4 can cost you altogether so
try and avoid it if possible
Keep an eye on our store for when we release our SJT cheat sheet summarising all the important
information you need!
The SJT tests:
Your honesty and integrity Question Types:
Patient care 1. Ability to judge importance
Teamwork + communication 2. Appropriateness
Safety risk 3. Most to least appropriate
medical ethics based on the situations given
Emotional intelligence
Empathy

Essentially this section is to test your ability to think in scenarios that you could be faced with when
you go to med school because you are going to get in :)!

Definitions
Question type 1: Importance
Very important: Essential to consider. If the
action is vital and not taking into account =
bad consequences
Important: Important but not as vital
Of Minor importance: Could be considered
significance is questionable Question type 3: Most + least
Not important at all: Do not even consider it, important:
irrelevant Most important: Vital to
consider, can be the cause of
something.
Question type 2: Appropriateness
Least important: Irrelevant.
Very appropriate: Helpful action that will
address at least the problem in the scenario
Appropriate: Action can be done, not ideal
though but compromise.
Inappropriate but not awful: Not ideal but not
detrimental, not significant negative impacts
Very inappropriate: Will make the situation
worse, there are negative consequences to
this

Method + marking
You can actually score 1/2 marks here if you are on the correct side of the
appropriate/importance scale e.g if the answer to the statement is ‘very appropriate’
and you selected ‘appropriate’ then you would still be awarded that 1/2 mark because
these scenarios can be interpreted differently by everyone so in order to have some
leniency to this section of the exam you can get those 1/2 marks which can make a big
difference to your score so always aim to be on the correct side of the argument.
How to actually go about this section : have fun with it! it's the final section of this very
demanding exam and most people score very highly is you have revised correctly and it
is very doable to get band 1
If you are stuck between 2 out of the 4 options then go with gut instincts as well making
you always abide by the GMC so it is very important you are very familiar with it.
 The four pillar of medical ethics

Autonomy
The right of the patient to choose their
treatment. This involves informed consent
– where the patient is given sufficient
information to make a decision about
whether to consent to their treatment.
Justice
Distributing resources fairly – this includes
providing equal treatment for an equal
clinical need, and considering both what
is good for the individual patient and what
is fair to all patients.

Non-Maleficence Beneficence
Doing no harm. Where possible, it is Doing good for the patient. Essentially,
important to prevent patients from coming the medical treatment should help the
to any harm. patient.

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND AT ALL TIMES

• The duty of a doctor to protect patients never stops, even if they’re on a break.
• Non-clinical tasks for doctors and nurses are important too.
• You can’t disclose information about a patient to a relative without the patient’s permission.
• Confidentiality can be broken if it prevents someone from coming to harm.
• All team members should be treated with equal respect regardless of their skills.
• Whether inside the hospital or not, you are representing the NHS, so must maintain a
professional image.
• If you can’t directly contact a colleague at the hospital, you can call the ‘switchboard’ at the
hospital, who will put you through to the colleague.
• Medical students are allowed to do clinical work even if they’re not fully qualified yet.
However, their lack of experience and the importance of the procedure must be considered.
• Medical students aren’t meant to assign clinical work to one another, as any work that they
do should be under supervision of a qualified doctor.

HOW TO REFLECT

Any question that you find difficult or find that you need to remember the theme then it goes
on a REFLECTION DOCUMENT:
What is the topic?
What have you learnt from it from re reading the question and knowing the answer.

Thematic patterns:
What students can and cannot do
Teamwork
Patient safety
Drug misuse
Coping with pressure
Professionalism
Cheating in an exam
Leading a team
 THEMES FROM SJT AND WHAT YOU
SHOULD LEARN FROM IT:

when leaving someone out and possibly confronting them deems as

inappropriate but not awful as they may not be leaving them out on
purpose and could be unintentional.
if more than one person realises that something is wrong with the
doctor then the most appropriate thing to do would be to speak with
the appropriate senior authority.
medical students are expected to be professional and present
reliability, therefore not show punctuality.
when discussing behavioural changes with another student discuss
first directly with them and then faculty because it will escalate
situations more.
When being recommended to take vaccinations it's not important at
all to take into consideration that the student has had the virus
before. This is because it is important to protect the patients at all
times.
when doing a handover with another doctor of your patient it is
important that it is done so correctly because patient care is very
vital and missing out on any info can make an impact on how care is
received.
all medical students are obliged to help out in emergency situations
regardless if they will be late to anything. Patient welfare is extremely
important.
Question examples

Correct answer : A
Mia’s degree of competence is very important as all doctors must recognise and work within their
limits of this. If Mia is not trained to assist in the delivery even if she is supersized by trained and
experienced midwives Mia must voice her concerns as the safety of the patient can be at risk here.
Hence it is VERY IMPORTANT

Correct answer : B
This is an appropriate but not ideal response. It is a very open and honest approach. Discussing
it after is mature and allows Aoife to explain fully as to why she is upset. However, it is likely that
she would not feel comfortable approaching Dr Webster again so hence is it APPROPRIATE BUT
NOT IDEAL.

Answers
MOST APPROPRIATE : confirm with senior doctor which medication she wants to prescribe during the
ward round. By standing up and asking the doctor what she had intended to prescribe you are
therefore opening up a conversation so if a mistake has been made it can be corrected
accordingly to avoid patient harm (so you are putting patient priority first here)
LEAST APPROPRIATE: after the ward round ask one of the other doctors which medication he would
prescribe to the patient
This could easily lead to error in prescription and therefore patient safety is at risk here. Waiting until
after the ward round means it could be forgotten and could lead into confusion and possible
conflict with the first initial doctor by essentially ‘going behind their back’. It is therefore a lot better
to converse with the doctor instead of going to others.
 university requirments

We got you covered here at Medway :) we have searched far

and wide for EVERY SINGLE university requirement out there so
you guys do not have to worry about it. We just want to
emphasise that once you have done your UCAT you must
apply tactically. For example if you know you have NOT hit the
UCAT cut off for a certain university, even though you really
want to go there, your chances will not be good for an
interview;

At the end of the day a medicine degree is a medicine degree

:) no matter you get it from so as long as you get in then you
should be SO proud of yourself.

We have also listed any widening participation criteria that

could be used to maybe give you a higher UCAT score or a
guaranteed interview.

FINALLY our team want to make sure you tactically apply so

we have made a google form that you can put down every
single statistic like GCSEs, A Levels and of course your UCAT
score so we can give you a list of 5 universities that we would
recommend you should apply to; from safest option to most
aspirational but could still give it a try :)

This is linked on our link tree in our instagram bio and is free
for anyone who has purchased this E Book :)
 UCAT CUT OFF (the
most up to date as
UNIVERSITY
of 2022) + any
other requirements
2440 lowest score
for SCOT/EU
students.
ABERDEEN  SJT not scored.  UCAT score is within
2580 for RUK.
2570 for
international.  UCAT uplift to ONLY
2590 band 3 was the
ANGLIA minimum score (no
RUSKIN  official cut off) as of
22/23 entry.
Not an official cut off but
in the past minimum
score has been around
2200.
UCAT score is converted
ASTON into a score from 0-12,
based on the following
principle: 3600-3500 = 12
points, 3500-3400 = 11.5
points, 3300-3400 = 11
points and so on.
Minimum score
BARTS  invited was 2360
(for 22/23 entry).
SJT BAND? ANY WP DATA 
Scottish domiciled
are guaranteed
interview if they have
achieved the
minimum academic
requirements and
75% of all scores that
have applied 10%
SIMD20 and/or CARE
EXPERIENCED
SCHOOL LEAVERS 
WAMS (widening to
access to medicine
scheme). Visit the
website for
Band 3 lowest
requirements:https:/
invited to interview. /www.aru.ac.uk/stud
y/undergraduate/m
edicine/how-to-
apply#question1 
Visit website for more
info:
https://www.aston.ac.
uk/undergraduate/c
ontextual-offer-
Band 4 not
aston-
accepted.  ready#:~:text=To%20q
ualify%20for%20a%20
contextual,lower%20
Aston%20Ready%20c
ontextual%20offer
Visit website for
SJT info not requirements https://
www.qmul.ac.uk/und
given Band 1/2 to be ergraduate/apply/en
on the safe side.  try/contextualised-
admissions/ 
BRIGHTON AND
BMAT UNI - -
SUSSEX 

You’re guaranteed
an interview for
medicine/ dentistry if
you: have completed
a university of bristol
outreach
programme,
You are applying
with an Access to HE
SJT band is not course
Your UCAT won’t be
UCAT CUT OFF
considered for
taken into
2022: 2870 Bristol, but check consideration if you
2023: 2910 their website for have a guaranteed
Historically Bristol has always
BRISTOL been a high UCAT university.
2024 entry interview.
With 100% emphasis on UCAT to incase. Make Bristol will only look
select applicants for interviews. at your interview
sure to have
Cut offs are always rising. performance to
band 1,2,3 to be
select applicants. But
on the safe side. also make sure you
have the predicted/
achieved grades +
meet any other entry
requirements https://
www.bristol.ac.uk/stu
dy/undergraduate/e
ntry-requirements-
qualifications/guara
nteed-offers/ 

CAMBRIDGE  BMAT UNI - -

Info on SJT not

Average score invited to No WP
given so Band 1/2
CARDIFF  interview in 2023 entry: consideration. 
to be on the safe
2733.
side. 

Look at their
website (as there is
Minimum score 2090.  Not used in
a whole list of
Different requirements application but
requirements) http
for Scot students and could be used in
DUNDEE  s://www.dundee.ac
RUK (2022). interview Band 1/2
.uk/corporate-
40% application is UCAT to be on the safe
information/conte
weighted.  side. 
xtual-admissions-
policy 
 Applicants who are
eligible for widening
access will be
considered with any
Cut off for 2023
UCAT total score and
entry:
Band 4 not will be awarded a 10%
2470 FOR SCOTS
EDINBURGH considered (even for uplift in their original
WP students). UCAT total score.
around 2800 FOR
Applicants with a Band
RUK
4 in the Situational
Judgement Test will not
be considered for
entry. 

Check eligibility using

their checker:
In previous years is
SJT info not given Band 1/2 https://www.edgehill.ac.uk
EDGE HILL said to be around
to be on the safe side.  /departments/academic/
2600+.
medicalschool/widening-
participation

Average score in 2022:

2571.
They have a point
system. Applicants are
generally invited to
Check eligibility using
interview if they are in
their checker:
the 9th decile. 
SJT info not given Band 1/2 https://www.exeter.ac.uk/s
EXETER  to be on the safe side.  tudy/undergraduate/entr
Check their website for
yrequirements/contextual
how they score points.
/ 
https://www.exeter.ac.u
k/media/universityofex
eter/recruitmentsites/d
ocs/BMBS_FAQ_2023en
try.pdf

Check eligibility Will have

2470 cut off in 2023.  reduced offers if you
2790 was average complete certain summer
Band 4 is an automatic
GLASGOW  score for scot students.
rejection.
schools as
2940 was average for well. https://www.gla.ac.uk
RUK students. /study/wp/adjustedoffers/
 

They use a point

system out of 100 using
Band 4 not accepted. Check
the UCAT score (40), SJT
SJT is heavily weighed. eligibility: https://www.edg
(15), GCSE results (30)
HULL YORK and contextual data
Band 1: 15 points ehill.ac.uk/departments/a
Band 2: 10 points cademic/medicalschool/
(15). The cut off for this
Band 3: 5 points widening-participation/ 
system was in 2023 was
around: 55.33/100.
 IMPERIAL BMAT UNI - -

check elgibilty (must be

part of the UKMED
summer programme)
For 2023 entry cut off https://www.keele.ac.uk/
KEELE was: 2280
Band 4 rejected
study/undergraduate/u
ndergraduatecourses/
medicine/medicinewide
ningparticipation/

Check
requirements: https://km
KENT AND MEDWAY 2023 cut off: 2500+  Band 4 rejected
ms.ac.uk/entry-
requirements-2024/ 

Check
website:https://www.kcl.
ac.uk/study/undergrad
2020 average UCAT uate/how-to-
SJT info not given Band
score: 2806 apply/contextualised-
KINGS  2021 average UCAT
1/2 to be on the safe
admissions#:~:text=Cont
side 
score: 2930 extual%20offers%20are
%20made%20to,found%
20on%20the%20course
%20pages. 

They have now become a

UCAT uni for 23/24 entry Check website for
LEEDS  so there is no info for cut
-
requirements 
offs 

Academic score (32)

combined with UCAT (32) Contextual offer if you
score out of 64 Minimum meet
score to be guaranteed criteria https://le.ac.uk/po
LEICESTER interview in 2022 was:
Band 4 rejected
licies/admissions/after-
58.5/64  applying/undergraduate
Average UCAT score: s/your-offer/contextual 
2750 

LANCASTER  BMAT uni - -

No additional application
help but do have a
bursary :
Point system of the UCAT
LINCOLN  sub sections and GCSEs 
Band 4 rejected  https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/
studywithus/scholarships
andbursaries/medicineb
ursary/

Check criteria:
https://www.liverpool.ac.u
Cut off in 2022: Around
LIVERPOOL 2620
Band 4 rejected k/medicine/study-with-
us/widening-
participation/

Check criteria:
https://www.bmh.manche
Cut off  in 2023: Around
MANCHESTER  2750
Band 4 rejected  ster.ac.uk/study/medicin
e/apply/widening-
access/
 Newcastle partners application
opens in September, UCAT
2020: 2730 threshold will be lowered to
2021: 2820 around the high 2700- low 2800
NEWCASTLE  2022: 2850 
Band 4 rejected
Contextual grade to BBB

https://www.ncl.ac.uk/partners/h
elp-and-support/

2020: Average score https://www.uea.ac.uk/about

NORWICH 2718 /university-
SJT not scored
2021: Average score information/widening-
(uni of East Anglia)
2700  participation

Uses a points system

for the UCAT
Check their website:
https://www.nottingha
m.ac.uk/medicine/stud
y-with-
us/undergraduate/und
ergraduate-
medicine/undergradu Again use the point
ate-selection- system to double
Check criteria:
process.aspx#:~:text=A check but to be on the
https://www.nottingham.ac.u
NOTTINGHAM %20maximum%20of%2 safe side they prefer
k/medicine/study-with-
060%20points,to%20be Band 1/2
us/outreach/index.aspx
%20selected%20for%2

0interview.&text=If%20y

ou%20achieve%20Ban
d%204,be%20consider
ed%20for%20an%20int
erview.&text=With%20th
e%20following%20resul
ts%20you,79%20points
%20out%20of%20120.

Oxford BMAT uni - -

2020 Minimum score:

2340
Average score: 2580 Check criteria:
Bands 1-3 safer, but https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/
PLYMOUTH 2021 Minimum score: not considered study/outreach/widening-
2400 participation
Average score: 2581

Check this doc for this years

entry:
UCAT scored using Bands 1-3 safer. But not
QUEENS BELFAST points system really considered
https://www.qub.ac.uk/about
/Filestore/Filetoupload,12607
01,en.pdf

Discover Medicine, Discover

Sheffield and RO applicants
are required to meet the
same UCAT threshold of
2021: 2660
2440/3600 as all other
2022: 2780
SHEFFIELD 2023: 2850
Bands 1-3 is fine applicant
Check their website
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/
medicine/undergraduate/wi
dening-access
 2021: 2680
Lower UCAT cut off for
SOUTHAMPTON 2022: 2750 Band 1-3 is fine.
widening participation.
(Standard applicants)

They rank the UCAT 10% UCAT score uplift to

score and only the top
500 get an interview
ST ANDREW’S they do not use a cut
off but the lowest
invited has been
around 2500 (for scots)
HOME FOR FEES STATUS, so
SJT info not given only for scot students NOT
Band 1/2 to be on the RUK
safe side (you can email to confirm
what fees you will be
charged).

2020: 2300
2021: 2280 minimum
score
If you attend Sunderland's
Usually low UCAT uni,
summer school, you get a
puts more emphasis on
guaranteed interview,
their roles and
subject to meeting the
responsibility form.
Do not accept band 4 GCSE, A level and UCAT
SUNDERLAND  Great to apply here if
at all. requirements. WP
you have at least 4
applicants will still be
paid or voluntary roles.
required to complete the
Need to score within
Roles and Responsibilities
the top 8 deciles of the
form.
UCAT (top 80%) So
ranging from 2270-
2300

2021: 2620
2022: 2710 Check criteria (mainly
Your SJT score
2023: 2530 attending summer schools)
contributes to your
https://www.sgul.ac.uk/ https://www.sgul.ac.uk/stud
ST GEORGE’S study/undergraduate-
interview score. It is
y/widening-
marked as if it was
study/how-to- participation/widening-
another mmi station.
apply/admissions- participation-activities
statistics.

UCL BMAT UNI - -

Does not require BMAT

or UCAT. UK applicants
for 2022 must live in the
North West of England,
eligible counties
include; Lancashire,
More weighting will be
Cumbria, Cheshire,
SJT not scored, since given to widening
Merseyside and
UCLAN  Greater Manchester. Or
they don’t require BMAT participation students who
OR UCAT. apply for UK places on the
you are an
course.
international applicant.
They have limited
spaces for applicants
who aren’t
international or living in
the North West.

KEY: (some unis have mixed use of UCAT)

RED for high UCAT
ORANGE for average UCAT
GREEN for low UCAT or no emphasis
WHAT TO DO BEFORE UCAT
We know it can be scary the night before the UCAT but honestly do not worry at all. No matter what
happens on the day just give it your 100% and you will be more than fine! You have done your prep
and you have put the work in, now all that is left to do is absolutely smash the UCAT.

The day before we suggest just glancing over some notes you took (even better read the ebook
again:)) and have a day of rest, do something relaxing and just try and put your mind at ease. Do not
do any hardcore revision before tonight as it could just burn your energy for the next day. Make sure
you try and have a good dinner and get an early nights sleep (even if your exam is in the afternoon)!
DM us on instagram for any advice you want! Or even if you just want to chat to us to destress :)

If your exam is in the morning; Have a good breakfast! Take a deep breath and remind yourself of any
shortcuts or little tips you want to remember.

If your exam is in the afternoon; rest as much as you can and try not stress out too much. An hour or
so before your exam just relax a bit, go outside, watch something, you decide! Remind yourself of any
tips you would want to remember.

WHAT TO DO AFTER THE UCAT

Congrats!! You did it! Firstly, whatever score you did you should be so proud of yourself. It is a hard
exam and even if you had doubted yourself you should be very happy you completed it. Enjoy the rest
of your summer break before year 13 starts as you 100% deserve it. We suggest you fill out the tactical
application form for us and we will get back to you on which university you should apply to judging by
the score you get. Remember, apply smartly and not just to universities you like (as thats the main trap
people fall under).

UPSET ABOUT YOUR SCORE?

“If I don’t get 3000+ on my UCAT I have no chance in getting in” lies. People have gotten interviews
with the lowest of low scores and that is all due to tactically applying! Even if you think your score is
bad, that is not an impression of your amazing abilities and you should not be disheartened at all! The
UCAT exam has no bearing on whether you will be a good clinician or not! There are many ways to get
into medicine with any UCAT score you just need to research, or even better, contact us :) we will help
you find the universities with the requirements that fit YOU. Just remember to fill out the tactical
application form in our instagram bio and we will get back to you with a personalised plan on what to
do now.

Don't worry! And again do not be disheartened, if there is a will, there is a way :)

FINAL MESSAGES
We really hope that this ebook has helped you in any way that it could, whether you were completely
new to the UCAT, or you just needed that extra advice for a specific section, we put a lot of time and
effort into this so we really hope it has helped everyone who purchased it! It really means a lot to us
here at Medway. We were all once in your position so we understand how scary and stressful it is to
even apply to medicine but just know, if you are even attempting the UCAT you are already warriors in
our eyes and we hope you power through the rest of the journey to get into medicine!

Our help does not stop here! Once the interview season starts we will be organising interview
workshops, MMI mocks and more to make sure you firm those medicine offers come May 2024.

We appreciate all the support from you guys and hope you will show us more by giving us reviews and
following us on tiktok and instagram if you are not already doing so.

Thank you so much and we wish you all the very best of luck!

The Medway team :

Dania
Issy
Faisal
Aathif