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Reply 1
Hi, I'm not too sure as to how i should manage my time in the quantitative reasoning section. Should i take my time and answer 80% of the questions and then guess the remaining 20%. Or should i work quickly through all of them ?

Many thanks
Reply 2
Hello, I wanted to know how could I improve on the new style VR questions, I end up looking at the data many time and loose time. Thank you for all the help
Hi Crazzyyy,
I'll pass your question on to our expert Gerry for further comment - but in the meantime, we're running a free online seminar on Monday that will give hints and tips for how to approach the Verbal Reasoning section of the UKCAT exam. There's a bit more info and a sign up page here - https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/643578430

There are also a couple of VR question walkthroughs here.

Verbal Reasoning is one of the hardest sections to complete in the time given (just under 2 minutes for a set of 4 questions), so it is most likely you won’t have time to return to any questions. This means it is important to make a guess even if you mark it for review, so that if you run out of time the guesses are already in place.

The new type of question assesses critical reasoning skills; drawing conclusions and making inferences
The questions comprise: a passage of text, 8 stems and four response options.
You then select the best or most suitable option.

We think that it's best to concentrate on getting the answers in first and work on your timing later. And trust your instincts.

UKCAT expert Gerry will be along later to give some more hints and tips for the new style VR questions.
Original post by utsav12
Hi, I'm not too sure as to how i should manage my time in the quantitative reasoning section. Should i take my time and answer 80% of the questions and then guess the remaining 20%. Or should i work quickly through all of them ?

Many thanks


Hi Utsav.
A good tip for managing your time in the QR section is to divide the total time into sections so that when you do practice tests you can get a good idea of where you should be up to in the exam.


All marks are awarded equally in this section so if you are unsure of the answer then select the best possible answer, flag the question and return to it. Make sure you're not caught out by rounding errors - sometimes the question asks for a whole number.

Hope this helps and we'll pass your question on to our UKCAT expert Gerry Kitchingman for her comments.
The A2M team along with UKCAT expert Gerry Kitchingman will be on the Student Room for the next two weeks to answer your UKCAT questions!


Isn't this what the rest of us (i.e. the med students and doctors of this forum) have been doing anyway for the past decade?
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Democracy
Isn't this what the rest of us (i.e. the med students and doctors of this forum) have been doing anyway for the past decade?


Sure - feel free to join in on this thread - the more good advice, the better.
Reply 7
What advice would you give regarding the comprehension side of verbal reasoning ? I'm alright with t/f/ct but it's the others which are worrying me.
Original post by Apply2Medicine
Hi Utsav.
A good tip for managing your time in the QR section is to divide the total time into sections so that when you do practice tests you can get a good idea of where you should be up to in the exam.


All marks are awarded equally in this section so if you are unsure of the answer then select the best possible answer, flag the question and return to it. Make sure you're not caught out by rounding errors - sometimes the question asks for a whole number.

Hope this helps and we'll pass your question on to our UKCAT expert Gerry Kitchingman for her comments.


Hi Utsar,
Some people do use the strategy of making sure they get 80% finished (hopefully correct!) and guess the rest. It's a useful technique and it would help you to give quality answers. But which 80%? The QR test will have both easy and hard questions and it takes a great deal of practice to spot the easy ones. If you've done lots of practice tests and feel confident you can spot the easy ones, then this approach may work for you. The risk of guessing the others is self explanatory - you may have lots of errors!

Some people work through all the questions, flagging the harder ones for later, rather than guessing. The problem here is that when you return to your flagged questions, you'll have to refresh yourself on what the question is about before you try and answer it. This takes up precious time (as does flicking between questions). When people have done lots of practice, they do tend to work out a strategy that suits them personally and often the 80/20 approach combined with using time markers (as we suggested earlier) is one that suits many people.

Hope this helps.
Reply 9
I have more than a month for my ukcat and I want to improve at my QR Section.
Right I have downloaded an ebook and working through it, is there any other way I can improve on it other than the online subscription?

Thank you for all the help
Original post by utsav12
What advice would you give regarding the comprehension side of verbal reasoning ? I'm alright with t/f/ct but it's the others which are worrying me.


Hi again Utsav,

You are not alone! See our response to the earlier post by Crazzyyy. If you are able to listen in to the seminar on Monday 4th August, that's great. Just register with A2M and you can listen in live or access the seminar on line later. I'd suggest you hear the seminar first and then come back to us with any further questions.
Reply 11
Original post by Apply2Medicine
Hi Crazzyyy,
I'll pass your question on to our expert Gerry for further comment - but in the meantime, we're running a free online seminar on Monday that will give hints and tips for how to approach the Verbal Reasoning section of the UKCAT exam. There's a bit more info and a sign up page here - https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/643578430

There are also a couple of VR question walkthroughs here.

Verbal Reasoning is one of the hardest sections to complete in the time given (just under 2 minutes for a set of 4 questions), so it is most likely you won’t have time to return to any questions. This means it is important to make a guess even if you mark it for review, so that if you run out of time the guesses are already in place.

The new type of question assesses critical reasoning skills; drawing conclusions and making inferences
The questions comprise: a passage of text, 8 stems and four response options.
You then select the best or most suitable option.

We think that it's best to concentrate on getting the answers in first and work on your timing later. And trust your instincts.

UKCAT expert Gerry will be along later to give some more hints and tips for the new style VR questions.


Thank you so much for the seminar link. Hope it will help a lot.
Original post by Apply2Medicine
Hi Crazzyyy,
I'll pass your question on to our expert Gerry for further comment - but in the meantime, we're running a free online seminar on Monday that will give hints and tips for how to approach the Verbal Reasoning section of the UKCAT exam. There's a bit more info and a sign up page here - https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/643578430

There are also a couple of VR question walkthroughs here.

Verbal Reasoning is one of the hardest sections to complete in the time given (just under 2 minutes for a set of 4 questions), so it is most likely you won’t have time to return to any questions. This means it is important to make a guess even if you mark it for review, so that if you run out of time the guesses are already in place.

The new type of question assesses critical reasoning skills; drawing conclusions and making inferences
The questions comprise: a passage of text, 8 stems and four response options.
You then select the best or most suitable option.

We think that it's best to concentrate on getting the answers in first and work on your timing later. And trust your instincts.

UKCAT expert Gerry will be along later to give some more hints and tips for the new style VR questions.


Hello Crazzyyy,
I would agree with my colleague - concentrate on practice tests before you start to work to time. The strategy for the new style questions is not too dissimilar to the one people often use for the "old type". That is, they do a careful scan of the passage (not necessarily reading word for word) to get the main themes, and then look at the questions. Thye then refer to specific points in the passage to answer the questions. Familiarise yourself on what a conclusion is - it's not the same as factual data from the passage.

I'd suggest you listen in to the seminar next Monday the come back to us if you have any more questions.
Reply 13
Original post by Gerry Kitchingman
Hello Crazzyyy,
I would agree with my colleague - concentrate on practice tests before you start to work to time. The strategy for the new style questions is not too dissimilar to the one people often use for the "old type". That is, they do a careful scan of the passage (not necessarily reading word for word) to get the main themes, and then look at the questions. Thye then refer to specific points in the passage to answer the questions. Familiarise yourself on what a conclusion is - it's not the same as factual data from the passage.

I'd suggest you listen in to the seminar next Monday the come back to us if you have any more questions.


Thank you so much for your advice. I will surely practice a lot and then also attend the seminar.
Original post by Crazzyyy
I have more than a month for my ukcat and I want to improve at my QR Section.
Right I have downloaded an ebook and working through it, is there any other way I can improve on it other than the online subscription?

Thank you for all the help


As well all the other resources out there, I would always recommend checking out the official UKCAT website if you haven't already. They have practice tests you can download (timed or untimed) and there is also the official handbook for 2014.
Reply 15
I need a UKCAT-nap.
Hi I joined the Webinar on 4th August regarding the UKCAT online live discussion unfortunately, the date that was set I am unable to take part as I will be away for the rest of the week. What should I do, is there another date for this discussion.
Hello,


I find it difficult to identify what links the shapes in each set in abstract reasoning and especially difficult to identify any secondary rules that there may be. Any advice?


Thank you very much!
Original post by Elhamm
Hi I joined the Webinar on 4th August regarding the UKCAT online live discussion unfortunately, the date that was set I am unable to take part as I will be away for the rest of the week. What should I do, is there another date for this discussion.


Hi Elhamm,
We will record it - so everyone who registers for the Verbal Reasoning webinar will get access to the recording. This does mean that you won't be able to take part in the Q&A afterwards - but at least you'll get the hints, tips and strategies.
Original post by Muffins20
Hello,


I find it difficult to identify what links the shapes in each set in abstract reasoning and especially difficult to identify any secondary rules that there may be. Any advice?


Thank you very much!


Hi Muffins20,
That's a really good question and I'll pass it on to Gerry our expert - she'll be online at around 7pm tonight.

In the meantime, here's a quick tip to identify Abstract Reasoning rules:

Start by checking for the simplest rules first, then build up towards theories of multiple conditional elements. Sometimes it is just too hard to identify the pattern, in which case you should go with gut feeling. Triangles are often actually used as arrows, so pay attention to the direction they are pointing.

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