BMAT Thread 2010

BMAT 3rd November 2010

Many Medical Applicants will be taking this test this year! (03/11/2010) So this thread is to ask questions, gather information about the test, practise material and discuss any concerns, etc. last year's thread can be found here

(Credit goes vas876 for his original thread)
My Advice

vas876

I took this test last year and scored 5.6, 3.8, 7.5, which is just above average, but below average in Section 2.

I myself scored 6.5, 5.1 and 7.5, which is above average in Sections 1 and 2, but average for Section 3.

vas876

Do not go to the COMA BMAT course it is rubbish, and some of their questions are posted in this thread further down.

Also, I don't recommend going overboard on buying BMAT books. There's a list of books which I would personally recommend below.

About the Test

The BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT) is a 2 hour pen and paper test consisting of 3 separate sections. The BMAT does not require a great amount of extra study as it relies on skills and knowledge that candidates should already have.

Test Format

Cambridge Assessment is responsible for producing and marking the BMAT. The test consists of the following three sections:

Section 1: Aptitude and Skills
Section 2: Scientific Knowledge and Application
Section 3: Writing Task
Separate answer sheets will be provided for each section.

Calculators may not be used in the BMAT.

Each section is designed to measure a specific construct as detailed below, although more detailed information can be found in the BMAT Specification. Click Here

Section 2 Scientific Knowledge Specification

Download Here

BMAT Dates 2010

30th September 2010 - Standard entry closing date
15th October 2010 - Last date for BMAT Entries
1st December 2010 - BMAT results released to centres. Candidates receive paper copies on the second.

BMAT Practice Material

BMAT PAPER 2009 will be uploaded shortly.
User Generated Section 3 Essay Questions

The idea here is that as the weeks progress TSR users will generate essay questions, and any one can do the essay and post up their answer to receive feedback from other users, and discuss ideas.

Week 2: "Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition."

Write a unified essay addressing the following:

What do you think the statement means?
Advance an argument against the statement.
Disscuss, giving examples, times when enthusiasm and superstition are seen as "poison".

Week 1:
Week 0:

2008 BMAT Physics Formulae

BMAT FAQ

3 2008 BMAT Section Questions from Passing the UKCAT and Edition

Books which are worth buying
Firstly, there is the official BMAT book written by Cambridge Assessment. It costs roughly a tenner and is worth the price.

Secondly, there is the Kaplan BMAT book. It's not in print anymore and they are really damn hard to find. It was only by pure chance I managed to get mine of a member of TSR. This book normally goes for upwards of 40 quid on Ebay, so I recommend you look around some forums such as TSR and New Media Medicine for any 2009 BMAT entrants who are selling there copies on. It's quite a hefty book, upward of around 500 pages I think.

(Before you ask- mines already been reserved by a TSR member, so no, you cannot buy mine! Unless you're offering upwards of 300 quid....in which case I'll think about it.)

For candidates who have not sat either Physics, Biology, Chemistry or Maths at AS/A2-
If you're not doing Physics at AS/A2- don't worry. You may have covered some material in M1 if you're doing Maths.
If you've not covered anything, I recommend buying a cheapish GCSE Physics book for the pre-2000 spec as they seem to be more comprehensive than the newer ones. I didn't do Physics and I used this textbook.

If you're not doing Biology at AS/A2- worry. Worry alot. Both Imperial and UCL require Biology to AS if not beyond, and I assume Cambridge and Oxford wouldn't be too keen on applicants with no Biology at AS/A2.

If you're not doing Chemistry at AS/A2- you're an idiot.

If you're not doing Maths at AS/A2- a simple GCSE revision guide should suffice. BBC bitesize and other online resource sites such as MEI OR SAM learning may make for good prep.

All other books are generally unknown and I cannot recommend them.

Again, credit goes to Vas876, which this thread is based upon! I will continue to make adjustments and upload the 2009 paper when I have the time.

Good luck!

Reply 1

Narik

13

*joins* Great idea. :borat:

Reply 2

gildartz

14

i'm not taking AS physics - am I screwed?
(just to start things off simply XD)

Reply 3

Hippysnake

OP

19

gildartz

i'm not taking AS physics - am I screwed?
(just to start things off simply XD)

No. Although, that's a point I'm now going to cover in my original post.

Reply 4

najeezy

12

Hippysnake

Spoiler

nice1.

dont you already have a medical offer? :tongue:

Reply 5

lola1993

11

*join* too... thanks for making the thread. :smile:

Reply 6

Going_To_California

12

This is great thank you :smile:

I'm really worried about section 2 though.

Reply 7

Woody.

12

Isn't this exam in November??

Reply 8

crazy_smurf

10

Nice thread :yy:

Does anyone know if section 3 will have the same essay format because i think the scoring of that section is changing...

Reply 9

Hippysnake

OP

19

Woody.

Isn't this exam in November??

Yaah, just thought I would try and minimise the avalanche of threads that will no doubt be coming in the next few months.

Reply 10

Hippysnake

OP

19

najeezy

nice1.

dont you already have a medical offer? :tongue:

Indeed I do, see post above...

Reply 11

specialone16

WOW I didnt revise for the bmat until 3 weeks before the test.
I have an offer from Imperial college London x

Reply 12

Woody.

12

Hippysnake

Yaah, just thought I would try and minimise the avalanche of threads that will no doubt be coming in the next few months.

I suppose...but this is pretty crazily early. The 2009 BMAT thread was made on the 27th August.

And also, God knows how many simple applicant questions there are floating around this forum - they still seem to miss the thread about it! But I'm sure this will help curb them a bit.

Reply 13

carcinoma

17

Wayyyyyy Toooo Earlyyyy!!!!!!

Reply 14

Iheartnerds

14

A BMAT thread now?! Christ, I haven't even started revising for my ASs, and they're in a MONTH :/

Reply 15

Scrubby

11

This thread has sent me into panic mode. A UKCAT thread I would have expected but a BMAT thread??? It makes me worry that I should be revising for it now. Irrational I know, but still. Anyway that's useful info in any case. And a good idea to confine any BMAT questions to this thread rather than the millions which would have popped up as threads later on. Also the Physics on the BMAT questions I've looked at seem pretty high level and beyond anything I did at GCSE, though I did do Double Science only. Those who did Triple Science will probably have covered that stuff. Wouldn't hurt to have a brief flick through some AS stuff though it is of greater detail than required I believe.

Reply 16

Noble.

17

Scrubby

This thread has sent me into panic mode. A UKCAT thread I would have expected but a BMAT thread??? It makes me worry that I should be revising for it now. Irrational I know, but still. Anyway that's useful info in any case. And a good idea to confine any BMAT questions to this thread rather than the millions which would have popped up as threads later on. Also the Physics on the BMAT questions I've looked at seem pretty high level and beyond anything I did at GCSE, though I did do Double Science only. Those who did Triple Science will probably have covered that stuff. Wouldn't hurt to have a brief flick through some AS stuff though it is of greater detail than required I believe.

On the current curriculum there's little difference between double and triple science, there's just a lot more Biology. ~~Also, the syllabus they use for the BMAT isn't the one that you will have been examined on, they use the curriculum from before 2006.~~

EDIT: Just read on the BMAT website that they're now using the national curriculum taught after 2006. So the specification posted may not be completely accurate, although I have no idea of the changes that were made to science.

Reply 17

PercyChatsworth

10

Scrubby

This thread has sent me into panic mode. A UKCAT thread I would have expected but a BMAT thread??? It makes me worry that I should be revising for it now.

There's no need to even be thinking about the BMAT yet. Far better to focus on AS exams. This thread is the TSR equivalent of premature ejaculation.

Reply 18

Abdulla

PercyChatsworth

There's no need to even be thinking about the BMAT yet. Far better to focus on AS exams. This thread is the TSR equivalent of premature ejaculation.

...my favourite kind of ejaculation.

It can't be too bad to start looking at the bmat now, but ASs should be more important, especially for the unis that ask for bmat.