The UKCAT is an aptitude test that most, if not all, medicine and dentistry applicants will take. It's something that you can't revise for, but you will have to practice for. It is scored between 300 and 900, with about 600ish being the average mark.
It is currently made up of 5 sections:
Verbal Reasoning - You have a passage and you have questions based on the passage. This could be True/False/Can't tell, or the horrible questions which are more common and ask questions such as 'Which of the following statements can be inferred from the passage' and you are given 4 statements and you have to find the correct answer from the passage.
Decision Making - This was being piloted this year, so I don't really know much about it (even though I've done it
) but it tests your ability to apply logic, evaluate arguments and analyse statistical information
Quantitative Reasoning - loads of GCSE standard maths. A lot of interpreting data under a really horrible time constraint
Abstract Reasoning - Seeing whether you can spot relationships between shapes
Situational Judgement (this is banded from 1 (best) to 4 (worst)) - Tests you on how professional you would be in certain circumstances, so will give you a scenario, and you have to rate given responses from appropriate to inappropriate or how important it is to consider certain things from very important to not important at all.
It's taken on the computer, and it is all multiple choice. It is taken at the same place where you would take your driving theory test, and will only be valid for the year you do it. You can only do it between Late June/July and Early October.
You won't need to even think about it until after exams, but it is important in the application process. Some universities, such as Newcastle, place a large amount of weighting on the UKCAT, so you will need a very good score, others, such as Keele, will just use it in tie-break scenarios.