Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Whens the best time to book/sit the UKCAT?

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i've already booked mine and my date is august 30th which is perfect for me as it gives me a lot of time to study for the ukcat and bmat.

Reply 21

StraightUpG

Original post by TheDannyManCan

In theory, true, but I'd wager that very few people make their four choices in 1 day. Besides, if you sit the UKCAT towards the end of the period in which you can take it and do less well than you'd hoped, you may have to give up that dream Uni i.e. Kings, Bristol and find another within a week, which is often no easy decision when you're deciding on where and how to spend your next 5/6 years.

hmm i see what ur saying but i think i would have a shortlist in my mind of what unis to apply to depending on my score.. as a reapplicant im not that concerned about "dream unis" just getting in! i just wondered what would be the best date to book the test.. if i booked it really late in september.. would i be spacing my revision out over too long a period? or would it be better to cram loads of revision in over a short period (since it is ukcat, not like revising for any other a-level where long term revision is better!)

Sometime in August.

Original post by Vian

If you feel that September would be the best time to take it, do it in September! You can still finish off your entire UCAS form as you don't include the UKCAT score in it.

If it's applying to your strengths that you're thinking about, you can make a list in advance of Uni's you'll apply to if you do well and which one's you'll apply to if you haven't, then finalise your decision once you've got your results. From what I understand, as long as you apply within the deadline it makes little difference whether you apply early or not.

yeh as long as i apply within the deadline it shouldnt make a difference.. but obviously id want to have my application sent off around a week before the deadline as it takes time for it to be sent off etc.. And i defo would not want to send my ucas form off without knowing my UKCAT score! Im just wondering if it would be better to have a longer period of time to revise for it? or if you long it out over 2 months it will get boring in terms of revising for it and wheter it wud be better to cram loads of revision in for it over 4 weeks and get it out of the way? thanks!

Never, if you can...

I did it in July which is relatively early. I felt back then I could have done with a bit more time and I regret not playing it safe and postponing the date, seeing as I didn't do at all well, although I'm not sure my mark would have changed drastically as a result of changing it anyway.

But with the UKCAT it helps to be completely at ease, with no doubts at the back of your mind so you can really concentrate on the task at hand, and I suppose that can be helped by going into the testing room comfortable with the amount of preparation you did.

Reply 26

anon1212

I think the earlier the better, if you can get in the preparation that you need to !

Reply 27

That Bearded Man

Spot on, get it done and out of the way before September, month is a long time to revise though, I did the same thing and it was a good plan.

Reply 28

StraightUpG

Original post by anon1212

I think the earlier the better, if you can get in the preparation that you need to !

how much revision would you recommend.. few hours a day for a month?

Reply 29

composite

Original post by StraightUpG

how much revision would you recommend.. few hours a day for a month?

KAPLAN say 2-3 weeks is fine and what most people do.

Reply 30

anon1212

Original post by StraightUpG

how much revision would you recommend.. few hours a day for a month?

I would think that is the absolute maximum amount of preparation one can do! I think a couple of hours a day for two weeks would be sufficient for most people.

Reply 31

Dreamweaver

Original post by StraightUpG

probz shud have posted this in the OP but i am a re-applicant so i wont have college afterwards. So should i do it like end of september since that way i will have more time to prep? thanks!

In that case whenever you are ready. Prepare for it over the summer and you should be fine :smile:

Reply 32

TheDannyManCan

Original post by composite

And that's why it's not advisable to have a dream university. Bristol don't look at the UKCAT so it doesn't really matter.

Apologies, I meant Sheffield. Among the unis I hear with high UKCAT cutoffs are Kings and Sheffield. Perhaps dream uni was the wrong term, but a lot of attention still needs to be payed to the location/method of teaching and all that. In any case, best of luck :smile:

Reply 33

Zubby77

I took mine on about 10th October, as I wanted more time to prep. It's all down to you, if you can work through summer to get ready then do it then.

Reply 34

TheDannyManCan

Original post by StraightUpG

I would advise you to give yourself a good 1 month to prepare for it. That way you can fit revision for it around college work. September is a perfectly fine time to book it. :smile:

Best of luck!

Before school!

Original post by Sparkzz

Before school!

and if u dont have school? :tongue:

Reply 37

Mangodepo11

Original post by composite

I can type up and sell you all the useful KAPLAN tips for each section for £20 if you want. :smile:

I am intrested, I would pay the money but I would want it in the same format and stuff as the Kaplan book?? Are u still Prepared to do it?

Reply 38

giraffegiraffe

Original post by StraightUpG

Just wondering when is the best time to book the UKCAT? I was thinking end of august giving me around a month to revise for it after my last exams.. But after exams you feel exausted and the last thing you want to do is revise for UKCAT! And its near to results day so you feel anxious! Or i could book it end of september so that would give me a clear whole month revise from sept 1st to 30th sept.. but then i wud have only a few days to sort my whole ucas app off since the deadlines around the begining of oct! Any advice?

I'd suggest taking it in late July / early August - so you have around 3-4 ish weeks after AS exams to get into the zone for it, and 3-4 weeks before college starts again for you to match your application, PS etc to the unis that 'match' your score.
The 600Q book is good for advice and style of questions, but I'd also recommend doing the online practice tests on their website over and over, and keeping calm and alert on the day of the exam. There is some luck involved, definitely, but this doesn't mean you 'can't prepare for it' as a lot of people may tell you!

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 39

giraffegiraffe

Original post by candleflame

im no expert but doing tests over and over, you will just get good at those questions, try and do as many different questions from as many different sources as possible - that's what i'm going to do anyhow!

edit: but i agree you definitely can prepare for it (at least i hope)

yep definitely, it's just that I felt that those online tests were what really helped me get a feel for the format of the screen, types of questions, timing, question styles etc and getting into that mindset was what I thought really helped on the day!

Good luck with it :smile: