Graduate Entry Medicine: 2016 Entry
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I noticed a couple of people asked about the UKcat so I thought I'd post my advice for it (did it 2 weeks ago, average 777.5). Some of it might be a bit late, but I'll include it anyway.
Preparation
I used the Kaplan book and Medify. I bought the 600Q book too, but much preferred Kaplan. It's got excellent advice about how to approach each section. I read their advice and then worked through the questions in the time frame given. I had two weeks of Medify and would just have a play with it in between doing other things - basically, if I was at the computer and had five minutes free, I'd do some questions.
What I practised most on Medify was my pacing and scanning for key words. Pacing is fairly self-explanatory. I still ran out of time in VR (my weakest section, 670), but I found the exam to be a lot more comprehension that true/false/can't tell questions. I had to kick myself into moving on to the next question if I couldn't find the answer. Be ruthless with this: pick a choice, flag, move on. Know your timings. The final 3 sets of questions might be easy but if you've spent half the time on the first few, you're not going to get a chance to get to them. Same goes for QR. if I felt that the maths were going to take me too long, I flagged and moved on. I got 890 in this, so clearly, this worked for me. By the end, I had plenty of time to get through the questions I'd flagged.
AR baffles me. I got 830 on it, but I can't tell you how. I saw about 40% of the patterns in the exam and went with my gut feeling on the rest. Again, this was a timing thing. It's about a minute for each set, so I'd spend 40 seconds looking at the pattern, if I found it great, not guess. The same thing as above applies - don't miss the 20 questions because you spend your time on 5.
DA my approach was the basic. Write down the code and then, if none of the options jumped to me, exclude. One option might have the plural in the wrong place, one might miss something. Eliminate as much as possible and then choose. In practice, I got about 90% on medify, so I was expecting to be better than 720, but them's the breaks.
If you get Medifiy (and I can't recommend it enough), save the mock tests for the days before the exam. Four days before, at about the same time you've got the exam, sit down and do them with as few distractions as possible. This isn't always possible (work and stuff), but try to get your brain used to having to do a lot of work in one go. I've been out of uni for a while, so it was good practice.
Exam Day
Double check the pens and keep your writing as tidy as possible. Getting a new notepad is time you don't get back.
Take the whole minute between sections. You should know them by the time you get to the exam, so spend it stretching and relaxing. I thought of songs to clear my head. I was convinced I'd botched AR and knew I didn't do marvellously on VR (or not as well as I wanted to anyway), and I psych myself out easily. But every section is different, and if 3 play to your strengths, you can balance out a mediocre fourth.
Eat food and drink some water, but nothing too close to the exam. Again, bathroom breaks cost time.
None of that is very original, but it's a summary of my experience with it, anyway. I'll answer any questions you've got about it or the Gamsat (sat it last year, got 68 overall - 69,66,69).
Preparation
I used the Kaplan book and Medify. I bought the 600Q book too, but much preferred Kaplan. It's got excellent advice about how to approach each section. I read their advice and then worked through the questions in the time frame given. I had two weeks of Medify and would just have a play with it in between doing other things - basically, if I was at the computer and had five minutes free, I'd do some questions.
What I practised most on Medify was my pacing and scanning for key words. Pacing is fairly self-explanatory. I still ran out of time in VR (my weakest section, 670), but I found the exam to be a lot more comprehension that true/false/can't tell questions. I had to kick myself into moving on to the next question if I couldn't find the answer. Be ruthless with this: pick a choice, flag, move on. Know your timings. The final 3 sets of questions might be easy but if you've spent half the time on the first few, you're not going to get a chance to get to them. Same goes for QR. if I felt that the maths were going to take me too long, I flagged and moved on. I got 890 in this, so clearly, this worked for me. By the end, I had plenty of time to get through the questions I'd flagged.
AR baffles me. I got 830 on it, but I can't tell you how. I saw about 40% of the patterns in the exam and went with my gut feeling on the rest. Again, this was a timing thing. It's about a minute for each set, so I'd spend 40 seconds looking at the pattern, if I found it great, not guess. The same thing as above applies - don't miss the 20 questions because you spend your time on 5.
DA my approach was the basic. Write down the code and then, if none of the options jumped to me, exclude. One option might have the plural in the wrong place, one might miss something. Eliminate as much as possible and then choose. In practice, I got about 90% on medify, so I was expecting to be better than 720, but them's the breaks.
If you get Medifiy (and I can't recommend it enough), save the mock tests for the days before the exam. Four days before, at about the same time you've got the exam, sit down and do them with as few distractions as possible. This isn't always possible (work and stuff), but try to get your brain used to having to do a lot of work in one go. I've been out of uni for a while, so it was good practice.
Exam Day
Double check the pens and keep your writing as tidy as possible. Getting a new notepad is time you don't get back.
Take the whole minute between sections. You should know them by the time you get to the exam, so spend it stretching and relaxing. I thought of songs to clear my head. I was convinced I'd botched AR and knew I didn't do marvellously on VR (or not as well as I wanted to anyway), and I psych myself out easily. But every section is different, and if 3 play to your strengths, you can balance out a mediocre fourth.
Eat food and drink some water, but nothing too close to the exam. Again, bathroom breaks cost time.
None of that is very original, but it's a summary of my experience with it, anyway. I'll answer any questions you've got about it or the Gamsat (sat it last year, got 68 overall - 69,66,69).
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Wanderlust&Tea
I noticed a couple of people asked about the UKcat so I thought I'd post my advice for it (did it 2 weeks ago, average 777.5). Some of it might be a bit late, but I'll include it anyway.
Preparation
I used the Kaplan book and Medify. I bought the 600Q book too, but much preferred Kaplan. It's got excellent advice about how to approach each section. I read their advice and then worked through the questions in the time frame given. I had two weeks of Medify and would just have a play with it in between doing other things - basically, if I was at the computer and had five minutes free, I'd do some questions.
What I practised most on Medify was my pacing and scanning for key words. Pacing is fairly self-explanatory. I still ran out of time in VR (my weakest section, 670), but I found the exam to be a lot more comprehension that true/false/can't tell questions. I had to kick myself into moving on to the next question if I couldn't find the answer. Be ruthless with this: pick a choice, flag, move on. Know your timings. The final 3 sets of questions might be easy but if you've spent half the time on the first few, you're not going to get a chance to get to them. Same goes for QR. if I felt that the maths were going to take me too long, I flagged and moved on. I got 890 in this, so clearly, this worked for me. By the end, I had plenty of time to get through the questions I'd flagged.
AR baffles me. I got 830 on it, but I can't tell you how. I saw about 40% of the patterns in the exam and went with my gut feeling on the rest. Again, this was a timing thing. It's about a minute for each set, so I'd spend 40 seconds looking at the pattern, if I found it great, not guess. The same thing as above applies - don't miss the 20 questions because you spend your time on 5.
DA my approach was the basic. Write down the code and then, if none of the options jumped to me, exclude. One option might have the plural in the wrong place, one might miss something. Eliminate as much as possible and then choose. In practice, I got about 90% on medify, so I was expecting to be better than 720, but them's the breaks.
If you get Medifiy (and I can't recommend it enough), save the mock tests for the days before the exam. Four days before, at about the same time you've got the exam, sit down and do them with as few distractions as possible. This isn't always possible (work and stuff), but try to get your brain used to having to do a lot of work in one go. I've been out of uni for a while, so it was good practice.
Exam Day
Double check the pens and keep your writing as tidy as possible. Getting a new notepad is time you don't get back.
Take the whole minute between sections. You should know them by the time you get to the exam, so spend it stretching and relaxing. I thought of songs to clear my head. I was convinced I'd botched AR and knew I didn't do marvellously on VR (or not as well as I wanted to anyway), and I psych myself out easily. But every section is different, and if 3 play to your strengths, you can balance out a mediocre fourth.
Eat food and drink some water, but nothing too close to the exam. Again, bathroom breaks cost time.
None of that is very original, but it's a summary of my experience with it, anyway. I'll answer any questions you've got about it or the Gamsat (sat it last year, got 68 overall - 69,66,69).
Preparation
I used the Kaplan book and Medify. I bought the 600Q book too, but much preferred Kaplan. It's got excellent advice about how to approach each section. I read their advice and then worked through the questions in the time frame given. I had two weeks of Medify and would just have a play with it in between doing other things - basically, if I was at the computer and had five minutes free, I'd do some questions.
What I practised most on Medify was my pacing and scanning for key words. Pacing is fairly self-explanatory. I still ran out of time in VR (my weakest section, 670), but I found the exam to be a lot more comprehension that true/false/can't tell questions. I had to kick myself into moving on to the next question if I couldn't find the answer. Be ruthless with this: pick a choice, flag, move on. Know your timings. The final 3 sets of questions might be easy but if you've spent half the time on the first few, you're not going to get a chance to get to them. Same goes for QR. if I felt that the maths were going to take me too long, I flagged and moved on. I got 890 in this, so clearly, this worked for me. By the end, I had plenty of time to get through the questions I'd flagged.
AR baffles me. I got 830 on it, but I can't tell you how. I saw about 40% of the patterns in the exam and went with my gut feeling on the rest. Again, this was a timing thing. It's about a minute for each set, so I'd spend 40 seconds looking at the pattern, if I found it great, not guess. The same thing as above applies - don't miss the 20 questions because you spend your time on 5.
DA my approach was the basic. Write down the code and then, if none of the options jumped to me, exclude. One option might have the plural in the wrong place, one might miss something. Eliminate as much as possible and then choose. In practice, I got about 90% on medify, so I was expecting to be better than 720, but them's the breaks.
If you get Medifiy (and I can't recommend it enough), save the mock tests for the days before the exam. Four days before, at about the same time you've got the exam, sit down and do them with as few distractions as possible. This isn't always possible (work and stuff), but try to get your brain used to having to do a lot of work in one go. I've been out of uni for a while, so it was good practice.
Exam Day
Double check the pens and keep your writing as tidy as possible. Getting a new notepad is time you don't get back.
Take the whole minute between sections. You should know them by the time you get to the exam, so spend it stretching and relaxing. I thought of songs to clear my head. I was convinced I'd botched AR and knew I didn't do marvellously on VR (or not as well as I wanted to anyway), and I psych myself out easily. But every section is different, and if 3 play to your strengths, you can balance out a mediocre fourth.
Eat food and drink some water, but nothing too close to the exam. Again, bathroom breaks cost time.
None of that is very original, but it's a summary of my experience with it, anyway. I'll answer any questions you've got about it or the Gamsat (sat it last year, got 68 overall - 69,66,69).
GAMSAT - How were you doing 3 weeks before the exam, how did you study the science section?
Original post by ali.s1002
GAMSAT - How were you doing 3 weeks before the exam, how did you study the science section?
Three weeks before the exam, I was probably freaking out of my mind. I like to make sure I don't miss any chances to panic. I spent quite a bit of time before the exam (this helps with the ukcat too) practising speed reading. There's a lot of little programmes online for this, as well as good old fashioned reading of books and magazines. About 3 weeks is when I got started really putting the real work in. I think it was on a Wednesday last year, so I spent the two previous Wednesdays doing the paper exams, on paper, in as close to exam conditions as possible (I saved the purple paper and didn't look at it for a month before so I wouldn't remember much). You want to know what to expect, and you want to know how tired you're going to be. You should have some experience with this from uni - whatever you used to boost your energy levels when studying, have on hand for exam day and have it at lunch (obviously, nothing illegal here. But if red bull works better than coffee, have some in your bag. if coffee's your thing, have money to buy some or a small thermos).
So, back to the point. About three weeks before I was doing various reading comprehension tests (from the official practice material, whatever I could find online, including ukcat and mcat stuff). I also picked up a copy of The Meaning of Things, which you'll see mentioned often. Each chapter starts with a quote - I'd take the quotes from two chapters, write essays with the basic intro-point 1-point 2-counterpoint-conclusion in an hour, timed, and then read the essays themselves to see what points the writer had made and how it compared to mine. I could have been more imaginative with my essays, but it helped to have my brain wired that way in the exam. That was my second sitting and the first time I scored 54 because I tried to write a something good, not something on point. Try not to go overboard with this, one essay writing session a day is enough.
Now's really the time to get your essay strategy down. In addition to writing essays, spend another half hour or so looking at quotes online (there's a myriad of apps for this too) and writing a summary. Quote, 5 minutes to figure what you're going to say. I did a few sessions a day - while waiting for dinner to cook, ad breaks.
Recap: two essays a day, all the reading comprehension you can get your hands on. Now for the science part. Keep in mind that I have a science background (undergrad in Chemistry, and a lot of science in high school), so this might not be super relevant.
I had a study group with two other people were we'd choose a topic, study it separately and then look through the official papers and do all the relevant questions. There's this series of videos (the Gold Standard Gamsat on youtube) where a guy works through the answers and how he got to them, so every time one of us couldn't do it, we'd watch those. He goes into quite a bit of background. Know why, not what the answer is. If you get a question right, check the back of the books or the videos anyway. There might be some more detail there that you hadn't thought of.
My general science advice is to get the Griffiths guide and look at their list of things you should know. It's very general, but I found it comprehensive. I don't know how the exam is going to be this year, but last year's was very little knowledge based and a lot more reasoning (I think I used one formula in the entire science section). Still, have a few on hand: laws of motion, lenses, maybe currents. Anything else is probably not worth looking into, assuming the structure hasn't changed and it's still about 20% physics. You don't want to screw yourself out of all of that 20%, but keep it in perspective. I had an A level book I bought on ebay and I worked through the relevant sections.
Biology was all reasoning, and it usually is (other than genetics, you don't need to know much.). Practice this though. You need to know how to get to an answer with the information given to you. How to read a chart accurately. How to interpret a graph. This is very big. We had a trick question in the exam that a lot of people missed because they misread the questions or the graph.
Chemistry is again, about half reasoning and about half things you need to know. If you're going to practice something, it should be spinning molecules in your head and a lot of reaction kinetics. If you see something that pops up time and time again in the practice tests, it's probably going to be on the test itself in one form or another, so know it. A level books and online resources are super useful for this.
Man, I'm wordy at 2am. Hope this helps.
Original post by LuceeeeeT
Hi all. I am applying for Warwick, Newcastle, Notts and SGUL (the last two are a long shot as my GAMSAT revision has gone awry). My UKCAT is 750 and I have a 2:1 in Italian and a Masters by research in Modern Languages.
I notice that a lot of people on here are HCAs- is that quite standard? I work full-time for a children's charity (focusing on education) and do healthcare related volunteering (hospice, hospital and have shadowed a surgeon) as well as mentoring young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. I am worried that this is simply not enough when others have full-time jobs dedicated to building relevant work experience. Does anyone have any idea or know of people who have got interviews without HCA experience?
Thank you
I notice that a lot of people on here are HCAs- is that quite standard? I work full-time for a children's charity (focusing on education) and do healthcare related volunteering (hospice, hospital and have shadowed a surgeon) as well as mentoring young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. I am worried that this is simply not enough when others have full-time jobs dedicated to building relevant work experience. Does anyone have any idea or know of people who have got interviews without HCA experience?
Thank you
(Nearly!) 1st year Warwick student here! Most people i know in med had some kind of hca experience but by no means all. At my durham interview i didnt even mention my hca stuff. Long as you have alternate healthcare related experience which is hands on i.e. not just shadowing, then shouldnt be an issue. Its about what insight you have and what you gained from the experience, not how long you've done it (within reason) or whether it was a job or voluntary. I was an hca but didnt use my experience in this much at any interview. First aiding, voluntary work in hospitals, first responder schemes, volunteering for health/disability charities e.g. with disabled kids can all count as alternatives to being an hca as they all involve health and care issues (these are illustrative, its not a closed list). You already have some of these.
With your ukcat score youll def get a few interviews, maybe 4, so best of luck!
Original post by Wanderlust&Tea
Three weeks before the exam, I was probably freaking out of my mind. I like to make sure I don't miss any chances to panic. I spent quite a bit of time before the exam (this helps with the ukcat too) practising speed reading. There's a lot of little programmes online for this, as well as good old fashioned reading of books and magazines. About 3 weeks is when I got started really putting the real work in. I think it was on a Wednesday last year, so I spent the two previous Wednesdays doing the paper exams, on paper, in as close to exam conditions as possible (I saved the purple paper and didn't look at it for a month before so I wouldn't remember much). You want to know what to expect, and you want to know how tired you're going to be. You should have some experience with this from uni - whatever you used to boost your energy levels when studying, have on hand for exam day and have it at lunch (obviously, nothing illegal here. But if red bull works better than coffee, have some in your bag. if coffee's your thing, have money to buy some or a small thermos).
So, back to the point. About three weeks before I was doing various reading comprehension tests (from the official practice material, whatever I could find online, including ukcat and mcat stuff). I also picked up a copy of The Meaning of Things, which you'll see mentioned often. Each chapter starts with a quote - I'd take the quotes from two chapters, write essays with the basic intro-point 1-point 2-counterpoint-conclusion in an hour, timed, and then read the essays themselves to see what points the writer had made and how it compared to mine. I could have been more imaginative with my essays, but it helped to have my brain wired that way in the exam. That was my second sitting and the first time I scored 54 because I tried to write a something good, not something on point. Try not to go overboard with this, one essay writing session a day is enough.
Now's really the time to get your essay strategy down. In addition to writing essays, spend another half hour or so looking at quotes online (there's a myriad of apps for this too) and writing a summary. Quote, 5 minutes to figure what you're going to say. I did a few sessions a day - while waiting for dinner to cook, ad breaks.
Recap: two essays a day, all the reading comprehension you can get your hands on. Now for the science part. Keep in mind that I have a science background (undergrad in Chemistry, and a lot of science in high school), so this might not be super relevant.
I had a study group with two other people were we'd choose a topic, study it separately and then look through the official papers and do all the relevant questions. There's this series of videos (the Gold Standard Gamsat on youtube) where a guy works through the answers and how he got to them, so every time one of us couldn't do it, we'd watch those. He goes into quite a bit of background. Know why, not what the answer is. If you get a question right, check the back of the books or the videos anyway. There might be some more detail there that you hadn't thought of.
My general science advice is to get the Griffiths guide and look at their list of things you should know. It's very general, but I found it comprehensive. I don't know how the exam is going to be this year, but last year's was very little knowledge based and a lot more reasoning (I think I used one formula in the entire science section). Still, have a few on hand: laws of motion, lenses, maybe currents. Anything else is probably not worth looking into, assuming the structure hasn't changed and it's still about 20% physics. You don't want to screw yourself out of all of that 20%, but keep it in perspective. I had an A level book I bought on ebay and I worked through the relevant sections.
Biology was all reasoning, and it usually is (other than genetics, you don't need to know much.). Practice this though. You need to know how to get to an answer with the information given to you. How to read a chart accurately. How to interpret a graph. This is very big. We had a trick question in the exam that a lot of people missed because they misread the questions or the graph.
Chemistry is again, about half reasoning and about half things you need to know. If you're going to practice something, it should be spinning molecules in your head and a lot of reaction kinetics. If you see something that pops up time and time again in the practice tests, it's probably going to be on the test itself in one form or another, so know it. A level books and online resources are super useful for this.
Man, I'm wordy at 2am. Hope this helps.
So, back to the point. About three weeks before I was doing various reading comprehension tests (from the official practice material, whatever I could find online, including ukcat and mcat stuff). I also picked up a copy of The Meaning of Things, which you'll see mentioned often. Each chapter starts with a quote - I'd take the quotes from two chapters, write essays with the basic intro-point 1-point 2-counterpoint-conclusion in an hour, timed, and then read the essays themselves to see what points the writer had made and how it compared to mine. I could have been more imaginative with my essays, but it helped to have my brain wired that way in the exam. That was my second sitting and the first time I scored 54 because I tried to write a something good, not something on point. Try not to go overboard with this, one essay writing session a day is enough.
Now's really the time to get your essay strategy down. In addition to writing essays, spend another half hour or so looking at quotes online (there's a myriad of apps for this too) and writing a summary. Quote, 5 minutes to figure what you're going to say. I did a few sessions a day - while waiting for dinner to cook, ad breaks.
Recap: two essays a day, all the reading comprehension you can get your hands on. Now for the science part. Keep in mind that I have a science background (undergrad in Chemistry, and a lot of science in high school), so this might not be super relevant.
I had a study group with two other people were we'd choose a topic, study it separately and then look through the official papers and do all the relevant questions. There's this series of videos (the Gold Standard Gamsat on youtube) where a guy works through the answers and how he got to them, so every time one of us couldn't do it, we'd watch those. He goes into quite a bit of background. Know why, not what the answer is. If you get a question right, check the back of the books or the videos anyway. There might be some more detail there that you hadn't thought of.
My general science advice is to get the Griffiths guide and look at their list of things you should know. It's very general, but I found it comprehensive. I don't know how the exam is going to be this year, but last year's was very little knowledge based and a lot more reasoning (I think I used one formula in the entire science section). Still, have a few on hand: laws of motion, lenses, maybe currents. Anything else is probably not worth looking into, assuming the structure hasn't changed and it's still about 20% physics. You don't want to screw yourself out of all of that 20%, but keep it in perspective. I had an A level book I bought on ebay and I worked through the relevant sections.
Biology was all reasoning, and it usually is (other than genetics, you don't need to know much.). Practice this though. You need to know how to get to an answer with the information given to you. How to read a chart accurately. How to interpret a graph. This is very big. We had a trick question in the exam that a lot of people missed because they misread the questions or the graph.
Chemistry is again, about half reasoning and about half things you need to know. If you're going to practice something, it should be spinning molecules in your head and a lot of reaction kinetics. If you see something that pops up time and time again in the practice tests, it's probably going to be on the test itself in one form or another, so know it. A level books and online resources are super useful for this.
Man, I'm wordy at 2am. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the info! I have a science background too, studying biochemistry and have done chemistry modules throughout - but I think you're right in the sense that it's a lot of reasoning, which is so hard to figure out and it's frustrating when they throw you oddball questions that are more to do with interpretation of the information than knowledge of that field!! I'm still on the edge of the 50% mark in practice questions for the science though and it's really frustrating, albeit I have hardly looked at any physics revision.
Man it's gonna be a long three weeks...
Hi guys,
sorry if this has already been asked, but I cant find it in the form.
I just sat my first mock on the UKCAT website. A lot harder when on the screen and under pressure!
Just wondering does anyone have any way of translating the marks into scores as it only gives the number of incorrect responses.
Plus, I only scored 52% on QR and 40% on VR! is this normal?
Cheers.
sorry if this has already been asked, but I cant find it in the form.
I just sat my first mock on the UKCAT website. A lot harder when on the screen and under pressure!
Just wondering does anyone have any way of translating the marks into scores as it only gives the number of incorrect responses.
Plus, I only scored 52% on QR and 40% on VR! is this normal?
Cheers.
Original post by JDarlo91
Hi guys,
sorry if this has already been asked, but I cant find it in the form.
I just sat my first mock on the UKCAT website. A lot harder when on the screen and under pressure!
Just wondering does anyone have any way of translating the marks into scores as it only gives the number of incorrect responses.
Plus, I only scored 52% on QR and 40% on VR! is this normal?
Cheers.
sorry if this has already been asked, but I cant find it in the form.
I just sat my first mock on the UKCAT website. A lot harder when on the screen and under pressure!
Just wondering does anyone have any way of translating the marks into scores as it only gives the number of incorrect responses.
Plus, I only scored 52% on QR and 40% on VR! is this normal?
Cheers.
Perfectly fine as long as you know where you went wrong! I was averaging 20% on QR for the first 2 mocks and addressed my timing issues and got a good mark in the test
Original post by ali.s1002
Perfectly fine as long as you know where you went wrong! I was averaging 20% on QR for the first 2 mocks and addressed my timing issues and got a good mark in the test
Thanks, that is good to know. It is the tables and all the information present. Bit overwhelming as the clock ticks away and to be honest last 10 or so were a complete guess. didn't even get a chance to read the question.
Original post by JDarlo91
Thanks, that is good to know. It is the tables and all the information present. Bit overwhelming as the clock ticks away and to be honest last 10 or so were a complete guess. didn't even get a chance to read the question.
The best thing to do with QR (for me it was anyway, I got 810 in this section) was to not look at any of the information given first and read the question, figure out exactly what it's asking for then find the answer in the information given.
Just wondering if anyone knows where I can find a compiled list of the entry requirements for each University and how many places they have?
Original post by ali.s1002
Just wondering if anyone knows where I can find a compiled list of the entry requirements for each University and how many places they have?
This should be relatively up to date
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Graduate_Entry_Medicine_-_a_guide
Original post by Danny129
750 is amazing please could you tell me what you used to prepare and how you found each individual section in the actual test. I'm really struggling with the preparation and could really use the advice. And lots of people have got into GEM without being a HCA its just a quick way of getting the 70 hours that unis like Warwick require. The only reason I'm a HCA currently is because I'm training to be a nurse and I just needed the extra cash but your UKCAT will help your application a lot especially for UKCAT.
Hi Danny, Thank you. It didn't come easily to me. I did the 600Q book which was really helpful to get me used to the type of questions and get an idea of what they were looking for. I then used Medify for the two weeks before the exam- I would really recommend it as it improves speed (use thew timed versions) and got me used to using the computer for it. I failed the easy simulate test badly. Really badly, but was ok on the medium and hard ones. My best mark ended up as the AR section which is because I think I practised it relentlessly. I had to guess a lot of the questions in the QR at the end because I got stuck so I reckon I got lucky (it was my worst mark but still 660).
The other piece of advise is to use that minute or so in between sections to breathe and refocus- I knew what the instructions were so just skimmed them to make sure it was ok and then waited.
I though of the exam as 1.5 hours as no university I am applying to is looking at SJ so I used my energy accordingly and just guessed that section as I wanted to leave asap.
Best of luck with your exam
Original post by LuceeeeeT
Hi Danny, Thank you. It didn't come easily to me. I did the 600Q book which was really helpful to get me used to the type of questions and get an idea of what they were looking for. I then used Medify for the two weeks before the exam- I would really recommend it as it improves speed (use thew timed versions) and got me used to using the computer for it. I failed the easy simulate test badly. Really badly, but was ok on the medium and hard ones. My best mark ended up as the AR section which is because I think I practised it relentlessly. I had to guess a lot of the questions in the QR at the end because I got stuck so I reckon I got lucky (it was my worst mark but still 660).
The other piece of advise is to use that minute or so in between sections to breathe and refocus- I knew what the instructions were so just skimmed them to make sure it was ok and then waited.
I though of the exam as 1.5 hours as no university I am applying to is looking at SJ so I used my energy accordingly and just guessed that section as I wanted to leave asap.
Best of luck with your exam
The other piece of advise is to use that minute or so in between sections to breathe and refocus- I knew what the instructions were so just skimmed them to make sure it was ok and then waited.
I though of the exam as 1.5 hours as no university I am applying to is looking at SJ so I used my energy accordingly and just guessed that section as I wanted to leave asap.
Best of luck with your exam
Hi well done on the score! can i ask, for VR - did you read the whole passge to answer the questions? I find it very difficult to do so without reading it, but then its so time consuming... hassles.
Original post by JDarlo91
Hi well done on the score! can i ask, for VR - did you read the whole passge to answer the questions? I find it very difficult to do so without reading it, but then its so time consuming... hassles.
Myself and others who have taken the test found the easiest way is to read the question first, and then skim read the text to locate the answers.
Reading the full passage takes a lot of time. It is personal preference though of course.
just sat the UKCAT 
VR 600
QR 710
AR 690
DA 610
Band 2
So my chances of getting into a GEM that uses UKCAT are low. I am taking the UKCAT in november for Imperial (fingers crossed now)
VR 600
QR 710
AR 690
DA 610
Band 2
So my chances of getting into a GEM that uses UKCAT are low. I am taking the UKCAT in november for Imperial (fingers crossed now)
I've finally gotten the The Meaning of Things (you can get it as a free audiobook on audible during the free trial period) and I can understand why lots of people have recommended it.
It provides a lot of good analysis on a broad range of topics and it's a good source of relevant quotes for each idea. I think if you use it right it would definitely help with Section 2 practice!
It provides a lot of good analysis on a broad range of topics and it's a good source of relevant quotes for each idea. I think if you use it right it would definitely help with Section 2 practice!
Hey guys, in need of some advice
Did my UKCAT today:
VR 580
QR 770
AR 670
DA 710
Band 2
Average is 682.5
Does anyone know if this is good enough for any GEP or UG uni's?
Did my UKCAT today:
VR 580
QR 770
AR 670
DA 710
Band 2
Average is 682.5
Does anyone know if this is good enough for any GEP or UG uni's?
Original post by kuroudo93
Hey guys, in need of some advice
Did my UKCAT today:
VR 580
QR 770
AR 670
DA 710
Band 2
Average is 682.5
Does anyone know if this is good enough for any GEP or UG uni's?
Did my UKCAT today:
VR 580
QR 770
AR 670
DA 710
Band 2
Average is 682.5
Does anyone know if this is good enough for any GEP or UG uni's?
It will be good enough for many UG unis. Not as strong for GEP but you may be in with a shout at Warwick.
Have a look into non-UKCAT unis such as Bristol and Cambridge as well
Original post by sampowell92
It will be good enough for many UG unis. Not as strong for GEP but you may be in with a shout at Warwick.
Have a look into non-UKCAT unis such as Bristol and Cambridge as well
Have a look into non-UKCAT unis such as Bristol and Cambridge as well
Wahhhhh i live in coventry so really dont wanna stay for warwick
do you have any suggestions for the better UG unis for my ukcat?Original post by kuroudo93
Wahhhhh i live in coventry so really dont wanna stay for warwick do you have any suggestions for the better UG unis for my ukcat?
do you have any suggestions for the better UG unis for my ukcat?I haven't looked into any UG requirements as it's just not an option for me. Sorry!
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