UKCAT vs BMAT

People who are at medical school or are reapplicants, which one did you find harder to do or revise for? What one did you prefer?


I'm considering not doing the BMAT, because it might be hard to revise during school time and you only know your score after you apply (providing I get a good score in UKCAT)
I'm finding the UKCAT quite hard because of the timing. Is the timing in the BMAT worse than UKCAT?

So where does MKAT fit into all of this?

Most people say the BMAT is harder, but I found it the other way. The BMAT has harder questions, but you get more time - almost 2 minutes per question in S1 and 1 minute per question in S2. It's also more knowledge and reasoning based, whereas the UKCAT is more cognition.

Overall I'd say (and this is a generalisation) if you are a quick thinker you'd do better in the UKCAT and if you're a deep thinker you'd do well in the BMAT.


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Thanks for the help
Did it take longer to revise for the BMAT because it has more content based revision?
How did you find revising for it during school time?

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I've heard that UKCAT is more down to luck than BMAT
Would you say that's true?


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The content is GCSE level science, which you are already probably familiar with. It's not really too bad to revise for, like the UKCAT, a lot of it comes down to practice. Make sure you practice timings strictly and come up with your own exam technique strategies too!

Possibly, as everyone sits different tests fir the UKCAT, whereas everyone sits the same test for BMAT. So I guess there is a possibility of getting 'awful' questions on the UKCAT. However, remember it is standardised based on how well people doing the same set of questions do.

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Thank you
Which medical school do you go to now?
Will probably decide what to do after I get my score and basically apply to my strengths because all medical schools are quite good


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People who are at medical school or are reapplicants, which one did you find harder to do or revise for? What one did you prefer?


I'm considering not doing the BMAT, because it might be hard to revise during school time and you only know your score after you apply (providing I get a good score in UKCAT)
I'm finding the UKCAT quite hard because of the timing. Is the timing in the BMAT worse than UKCAT?

Section 2 of the BMAT is very time restricted, and what I was taught was just to answer all the easy questions first, rather than spending time on anything which is likely to take more than 1 minute....and thankfully it worked out well.

If I were you, I would spread my wings and apply to at least 1 BMAT university; the last thing you want to do is hedge all your bets on the UKCAT which is notoriously unpredictable and probably harder to revise for imho.

Section 3 (essay) of the BMAT is not really time restricted and although you could do with more time on Section 1, it is not too bad.

I would not say that the UKCAT is a lot harder, just more unpredictable ie. the revision and preparation you put in isn't rewarded as much as for BMAT......although don't let anyone tell you that it is not worth revising for these tests/paying for resources etc..........this is exactly what I was told and with hindsight it is these same competitors who are buying every book and going to every preparation course.

If your budget permits.....1 revision book and 1 prep course for each (preferably not....any of these budget courses which are here one year, and gone the next) + make the most of all the free resources online

For BMAT, I spent a 1-2hrs/day for 3-4 weeks leading up to the test.....and that worked quite well. Pretty similar amount for UKCAT as well

Thank you will bear that in mind.
Which universities did you apply for?
And if you don't mind me asking what did you get in the BMAT and UKCAT?
I've used books mainly for UKCAT, hope it pays off. I find the QR section in it really hard though and the maths in BMAT is supposed to be harder.


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I applied to Imperial, UCL, King's and Barts (quite a few years ago!)

UKCAT - 725
BMAT - 5.7, 6.3 and 10.5 (Scoring used to be out of 15 for section 3, instead of 5)

It definitely isn't easy in the BMAT, but you'll find that the more you practice, the easier it will get.

I got my score 690 which I guess is okay
I've got 4As and will have 3A* predictions and have 9A*s
What would you advice be to do generally? I don't mind where I go really -I think I can adapt to most learning styles
I think I might have enough uni that I can apply to without BMAT but it's hard to judge where I stand a decent chance.



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Most people say the BMAT is harder, but I found it the other way. The BMAT has harder questions, but you get more time - almost 2 minutes per question in S1 and 1 minute per question in S2. It's also more knowledge and reasoning based, whereas the UKCAT is more cognition.

Overall I'd say (and this is a generalisation) if you are a quick thinker you'd do better in the UKCAT and if you're a deep thinker you'd do well in the BMAT.


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