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Original post by fijones2
I need a UKCAT-nap.


A while ago, we asked for pics of UKCATs over Twitter and in our office - so just for you...

Reply 21
What advice can you give me for the Quantitative and Abstract sections? Test tomorrow and i really can't do these!!!!!!!! Please help
Reply 22
Although I do A level maths I am really struggling with QR!! I'm not the fastest at these questions so do you have any advice on what knowledge we need about percentages and speed time distance and things like that?

Also is it possible to see approximately how well I'm doing at the practice papers? I've seen on some forums that you should take your percentage of correct answers, multiply by 6 and then add 300?

Thanks!!
Hi Kaylou and DMBP - Gerry will be along later (7ish) to provide an expert answer to your questions.

In the meantime, here are a couple of tips for moving quickly through the QR section:

The QR section of the exam is the subtest that most relies upon your existing knowledge - whilst you'll be able to work out any of the questions rationally, using logic and common sense, your speed will be in part dependent on simple knowledge.

In particular, you should practice quickly:

calculating percentages
converting currencies
working out volumes and areas
working out the relationships between velocity, time and distance

With 5 choices available for each question this is the section that random guessing will be least profitable. Therefore if you are running behind schedule make sure you are not tied up on a hard question, just move on because you will better spend your time on other questions. Imagine wasting too much time on a hard question and never getting round to answer one of the last questions which may have been much easier for you!

Without wishing to frighten you too much...
I'd also add:

Before you attempt to answer any Quantitative Reasoning questions it is important that you refresh your basic knowledge of the following topics:

Addition
Subtraction
Multiplication
Division
Percentages
Ratio
Mean, median and mode
Fractions
Decimal numbers

Also, you need to be able to interpret:

Pie charts
Line Graphs
Bar graphs
Tables

Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses in this test, If you just can’t get on with currency conversion then don’t fret, have a quick go and then move on, your time will be better spent on an area that you are stronger at.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Apply2Medicine
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.


Hello Muffins20,
You've probably seen that some abstract rules are really obvious yet other seem to be unfathomable! Getting as much practice as possible will help you to recognise a big range of possible rules. Also, we will shortly be making our Abstract Reasoning Seminar available to people who register on the A2M site. We ran this seminar on the 7th of July and it provides some useful tips on handling the abstract questions. Can I suggest you take a look at this? You'll need to access the practical guide when you register. Here's the link:

http://www.apply2medicine.co.uk/practical-guide/

If it doesn't work, just copy and paste it into your browser. If you still have questions afterwards, then by all means please get in touch again. Best of luck!
Original post by DMBP
Although I do A level maths I am really struggling with QR!! I'm not the fastest at these questions so do you have any advice on what knowledge we need about percentages and speed time distance and things like that?

Also is it possible to see approximately how well I'm doing at the practice papers? I've seen on some forums that you should take your percentage of correct answers, multiply by 6 and then add 300?

Thanks!!

Hi Kaylou and DMBP,

In addition to my colleague's comment, here's a response we gave to similar questions on QR yesterday.

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.
Also:
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.
Original post by Kaylou
What advice can you give me for the Quantitative and Abstract sections? Test tomorrow and i really can't do these!!!!!!!! Please help


Hello Kaylou,

I hope our QR and AR suggestions above will help you.

If you are genuinely concerned that you are going to struggle with the UKCAT, should you consider rescheduling so that you give yourself more time to do practice tests? And remember that this year there are new types of questions in the VR too. (Unless of course you are having a last minute panic? It's quite normal you know!).

At this late stage, unfortunately you will have to pay the fee again as you need to have one clear day before your scheduled test date to avoid any charges. I know it's a lot of money (£65 before 31st August and £80 from 1st September) but you only have one chance this year to sit the exam. Why not have a chat about it with your parents and/or close friends tonight?
Original post by DMBP
Although I do A level maths I am really struggling with QR!! I'm not the fastest at these questions so do you have any advice on what knowledge we need about percentages and speed time distance and things like that?

Also is it possible to see approximately how well I'm doing at the practice papers? I've seen on some forums that you should take your percentage of correct answers, multiply by 6 and then add 300?

Thanks!!


Sorry DMBP, I didn't answer the second part of your question. You can really only get an approximate idea of how well you are doing. The formula used by UKCAT to convert raw scores to scale scores is not available for the public. Perhaps the formula you quoted will work. The QR test has 36 questions, so if for example, you only attempt 80% of the questions (roughly 29 questions) and you answer these correctly, you know you have above average marks. Hope this helps.
Reply 28
Ok thanks for the QR help as well, I was just worried at first as I thought about 80% would be average and that seemed very difficult so thank you.
Reply 29
Original post by Gerry Kitchingman
Hello Muffins20,
You've probably seen that some abstract rules are really obvious yet other seem to be unfathomable! Getting as much practice as possible will help you to recognise a big range of possible rules. Also, we will shortly be making our Abstract Reasoning Seminar available to people who register on the A2M site. We ran this seminar on the 7th of July and it provides some useful tips on handling the abstract questions. Can I suggest you take a look at this? You'll need to access the practical guide when you register. Here's the link:

http://www.apply2medicine.co.uk/practical-guide/

If it doesn't work, just copy and paste it into your browser. If you still have questions afterwards, then by all means please get in touch again. Best of luck!


I went to above mentioned link but I could not access the practical guide. Please help
Reply 30
Original post by Gerry Kitchingman
Hello Kaylou,

I hope our QR and AR suggestions above will help you.

If you are genuinely concerned that you are going to struggle with the UKCAT, should you consider rescheduling so that you give yourself more time to do practice tests? And remember that this year there are new types of questions in the VR too. (Unless of course you are having a last minute panic? It's quite normal you know!).

At this late stage, unfortunately you will have to pay the fee again as you need to have one clear day before your scheduled test date to avoid any charges. I know it's a lot of money (£65 before 31st August and £80 from 1st September) but you only have one chance this year to sit the exam. Why not have a chat about it with your parents and/or close friends tonight?


I think it was just last minute nerves! Thanks a lot!:smile:
How long does it realistically take to prepare for UKCAT would you say from experience. I did UKCAT last year but only got 725, I need 750+ for Edinburgh this year.
Reply 32
Hi,

I'm just wondering what has changed this year in the styling of questions. I've heard there's something new in VR but I'm not quite sure. Is there any other changes to DA,QR,AR,SJT this year?

Also some of the codes in the UKCAT mock test which is provided by themselves online has some huge DA codes, is this usual in the proper exam?

Any ways to get better at AR?

And is it better to read the whole extract in VR then answer the questions or skim and select?

Sorry for so many questions.
Reply 33
Original post by Jatyization
I have tried to get and answer from many people but to no luck so i was wandering if you could help. If i am getting 60% in each topic what UKCAT score would this equate to? Is it good or bad? What percentage will be around the 700 mark?

I am only looking for an estimation. Nothing precise.

Thank you! :wink:


What've you been using so far?

Some people do 0.6*900 to get the score, others do 60*6+300.
Reply 34
Original post by Jatyization
According to second method im getting 660 which isent too bad but i do want higher but with the first method im getting 540!!!!! :colone::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry:

Please help... which one is more accurate?


I've no idea, I've tried to find the answer myself but it seems that there isn't a lot of information available on the way UKCAT marks things. Maybe someone else can provide info.

Which sources have you been using to practise? I currently use emedica.
Reply 35
Is apply2medicine a course like Kaplan? Or questions like medify?
Original post by fijones2
Is apply2medicine a course like Kaplan? Or questions like medify?


Apply2Medicine is a course and a question bank.

There's a free demo featuring 50 free test questions and a sample tutorial on Verbal Reasoning on this page - http://www.apply2medicine.co.uk/#demonstration

The full version has a full mock exam... plus 90 tutorial modules to take you through every step of the test and over 1600 practice questions.

We're adding a further 120 Situational Judgement questions and there's a section where we're archiving our expert webinars - there's one on Abstract Reasoning and we'll add this Monday's Verbal Reasoning seminar (and Q+A) as soon as possible.
Apart from the Verbal Reasoning webinar, is there more webinars available for the rest of the sections or is it just for Verbal Reasoning?
Reply 38
Original post by Jatyization
I have completed the 600Q book by ISC, except for the mocks, I am saving those... I am now currently using medify. I think the second method is more accurate simply bescause the first method is a far too low score and i have seen some people on here calling 60% and anything over a good mark.

How are you finding it? What are you percentages like for each subsection?


I've been getting around 80-90% on DA in emedica but the mock test has huge codes compared to emedica.

I think I might save the 600q last, I hate that book, it's too hard and I keep looking at the back
How long does it realistically take to prepare for UKCAT would you say from experience. I did UKCAT last year but only got 725, I need 750+ for Edinburgh this year.

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