Hpat ulster 2014

Thank you so much!! that was so helpful where did you find those other questions?? Ps what course did you apply for and did you get in if you don't mind me asking??


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Is it required for biomedical?


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Did it last year. It's long, I think was around 3 hours or so. First section was interpreting information in the form of graphs etc. and answering multiple choice questions based on this, the sample paper they provided was pretty easy but the actual test was a lot harder. I didn't even finish the last 5 questions.

Second section was reading paragraphs of a short story-like passage. You then had to interpret how people were feeling and answer multiple choice questions based on this.

Last section is two essays, the first one I had was based on various data about population sizes. The last essay was more of a creative piece, where you had a number of similarly themed statements like "people are responsible for their own actions" and "should the government protect people from themselves" for example and you had to write an essay based on one or more of these topics.

As for advice... They say you can't prepare for it, and whilst this is somewhat true I think you can prepare for anything. Just getting an idea of what the questions will be like and how you will have to answer them and how long to spend on each question helps. Plus, Ive heard of people's marks going up the second time they resit it, so it seems like it is practicable to an extent. I found the sample paper they gave us pretty useless in the end, the paper on the day was much harder. I also practiced with other versions made by the same people (it's an australian company and they make papers for other educational groups, and while all the stuff they do isn't relevant you can pick out certain questions to use).

Lastly, you get graded on percentiles. This basically means you are graded against everyone else so if it's a hard paper and everyone does crap, it doesn't matter. But it does mean that if there is a small spread (i.e. most people get around 60) then the difference between a few marks on the actual paper means a big difference in your percentile.

Also, different courses require different percentiles. Those courses that are in high demand or have a low amount of clinical placements to offer (as opposed to number of applicants) will require a lot higher percentiles than others. Some people scored in the 80th percentile for Speech and Language for example and got no offer, whilst people in the 20th percentile got offers for Radiography.

Hope this helps, as you can tell I pretty much hated the HPAT ;p

I did the HPAT last year too for Diagnostic Radiography, and felt ill with nerves the night before and the morning of; if there's one bit of advice I can give you its be as calm as possible! Panicking will only lead you to doubting yourself and that's the last thing you need.

At the end of the day, keeping a calm head will allow you to think properly and concentrate. Don't worry about anyone else around you, they're probably dunging themselves too lol and dont worry about the essay bits at the end, even if you think you're waffling if you make key points and develop them you can't go wrong.

The percentile is just a scale of how well you did compared to the mean spread of the results; so say the mean spread was between 60 and 70, people who scored 60/61 would get a low percentile like 10%,and those scoring 69/70 would be near 100%, if that makes sense? lol But these vary so much year on year.

Best of luck! x

Thanks so much, that's so helpful I'm very worried, all I have done is the practice paper and feel so unprepared!
Could I ask if you got in to the course?


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I didn't even do a practice paper lol
Yes I did :-) what are you applying too?

Iv applied to do a "hpat ulster preparation course" which is being held in belfast 2 weeks before the actual hpat to help me prepare, its £125 to do but it may be helpful!

I'm doing it next year for re-entry to Podiatry. I left not aware I had Dyslexia. Was gutted as I had past the HPAT for it and got AAA. I found the second section most difficult probably because thats were my difficulties are because of my Dyslexia. As long as you get an offer the score then wont matter.

Haha funnily enough I did the same

Personally diagnostic appealed more to me because its so varied. I really like the course but it is sooo so intense from the word go, and have just started placement which is really good too. The lecturers are decent as well, some are lovely even :-)

Sure, here's the pdf they sent me with my details cropped out:



I think score is pretty unhelpful, they can vary a lot from year to year and its really just down to how everyone else found it. I thought it was absolutely awful but I guess everyone else did too since my score ended up being decent