UKCAT for 2017 Entry to UK

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UKCAT customer services have just reassured me that a keyboard is available at every centre, but sometimes they are placed behind the monitor as the test centre can be used for other tests, eg, the driving theory test, which don't require keyboards.

Reply 1261

Whoknowswhy

Original post by Gogregg

Remember, official UKCAT surveys have found that those who did 21-30 hours of prep tend to do the best.

VR tells me that this does not mean that 21-30 hours is sufficient. It could be that those who are naturally strong need that amount and no more.

Bottom line is, more practice can't harm.

Reply 1262

rekhagm

Original post by UKCATrocks

Just done mine and scored
750QR
710VR
690AR (was never really good at it so I guess that's okay)
SJT Band 2

Not perfect but quite good I suppose.
Maths were okay. Some very easy (like you just add up two numbers) and some questions that were actually pretty hard because there were lots tables and information to read.

For VR I panicked a bit for the very wordy questions because I felt it took me quite a bit to read the whole bloody thing. So I ended up just reading the text quickly and then trying to find which paragraph applied to which question. Some questions use info from several paragraphs but not that many.

AR; Forget it. Some really easy, like you see it in 2 seconds. And some I am still wondering what kind of human being designed those shapes!

SJT okay.

Congratulations on your awesome score! Which resource best mirrors the UKCAT test in your opinion?- ISC 1000 (book)
- Medify
- Kaplan (book)
- Kaplan online
- UKCAT website

Reply 1263

Gogregg

Original post by Whoknowswhy

VR tells me that this does not mean that 21-30 hours is sufficient. It could be that those who are naturally strong need that amount and no more.

Bottom line is, more practice can't harm.

I never said it was :wink:

I just used that statistic to back up my point about not having to do a massive amount of practise.
Sorry that my intention wasn't more clear :colondollar:

Reply 1264

amphitrite.

anyone have any tips for quantitative? struggling to get the correct answer in the right time frame

Reply 1265

UKCATrocks

Original post by rekhagm

Congratulations on your awesome score! Which resource best mirrors the UKCAT test in your opinion?- ISC 1000 (book)
- Medify
- Kaplan (book)
- Kaplan online
- UKCAT website

Depends which section you look at.

1 - You would expect the official UKCAT website to accurately reflect the difficulty of the exam. Unsurprisingly it is not far off, though perhaps slightly harder. However This is the case when you look at the average difficulty of questions. Some questions at the exam are much easier and others are much harder.

I can't comment on Kaplan because I haven't used them, but here is my verdict on the two that I have used: ISC 1000Q and Medify.

Verbal reasoning
Quite hard at the exam, a tad harder than the official site. I found ISC 1000Q was the closest to the exam. Medify was easier in many ways.

Abstract reasoning
The 1000Q book is harder than the exam but good prep as it helps you think about the various combinations. Medify in line with the exam, but it does not have the two new types of questions if my memory serves me well.

Quantitative reasoning
In the 1000q book, the first half of the questions are in line with the standard exam difficulty, the second half in line with the harder/longer questions asked at the exam. I would suggest you set yourself a time limit of 50 seconds for those. But once you've done them you will find the exam a piece of cake. Medify questions slightly more on the easier side of the exam.

SJT
Both ISC1000 and Medify pretty much in line with the exam.

I think overall it is probably good to use the ISC book for technique and Medify for practice closer to the exam.

Reply 1266

ronnydandam

Original post by UKCATrocks

what made the actual exam harder than medify for VR?

Reply 1267

UKCATrocks

Original post by ronnydandam

what made the actual exam harder than medify for VR?

At the exam, I found that some of the info needed to answer questions had to be cross-referenced between different passages. And also sometimes, some of the options given were not that distant from each other at the exam, so when you had to find the best fit it needed you to rack your brain a bit more to decide between two possible options.

Reply 1268

GWHB63

Has anyone done Medify Mock 2 (without DA)? Been revising for a month, felt confident with it - mock was not great and quite hard.
VR - 625(worrying - applying for GEM and they seem to love people having insane VR scores and missed out 7 questions with time limits)
QR - 680 (This is the most surprising since I've always found this rel. straightforward - scored 890 in Mock on Medify for just this section)
AR - 760 (happy with that)
SJT - Band 2 (Meh. - I'm not sure if anyone uses this)

Basically struggling with VR in Time limits hugely, QR I have no idea what happened as I thought it was OK apart from 1 question where the data was just unfathomable.

Exam is in 3 weeks, never sat it before so have no idea what to expect and gerneally just not feeling confident at all since GEM like people to have scores close to 700. Any suggestions on techniques with timings at all?

Cheers

Reply 1269

ronnydandam

Original post by UKCATrocks

damn, thanks, did you finish all the QR in time?

Reply 1270

Evankie

Just got my UKCAT over and done with! Just need some advice guys because I don't really understand my scores:
Got a 660 in VR, 670 in AR and 770 in QR, so an average of 700 and a total of 2100.
Is that good or bad and does anyone know what kind of scores unis like Barts are looking for this year?
Thanks! 😊

Reply 1271

ronnydandam

Original post by Evankie

thats good, depends on your tariff, how did you find it compared to practise material?

Reply 1272

usycool1

Original post by Evankie

It's good, yes, but no one will know what kind of scores people are looking for specifically this year. 700 is excellent, however.

Reply 1273

studentsixth

Original post by Gogregg

Everyone, please stop panicking so much!

You DO NOT have to do 4+ weeks of practice
You DO NOT have to do 4+ hours per day
You CAN do well without going on courses, etc.

The techniques that work for some people, still not necessarily work for you, too. That's something you have to find for yourself!

Also, don't start your practice by doing mocks, that's absolutely pointless! You would do past papers before you know the content of the subject, so why do this?
Leave the mocks to the last week/couple of days of practice, and use the results to improve, NOT to panick, NOT to become relaxed, TO IMPROVE!

You will see people who do a massive amount of practice who do well, but you'll also see some who do atrociously. The amount of practice isn't indicative of how you'll do. The effectiveness of it is.

Remember, official UKCAT surveys have found that those who did 21-30 hours of prep tend to do the best.

Please stop comparing yourself to people on here. TSR has some amazing students who do amazingly well, but it just isn't representative, so please stop believing it is!

I see your point but I don't really agree (other than there's no need for courses). Everyone is different, for some it takes like two seconds to get the hang of each section, for others it takes much longer. The UKCAT has a difficulty level that is unique to each individual. If someone is struggling to get the hang of it, I don't see why an extra week or two is not going to help. As you said, the effectiveness is the most important factor but without understanding it's hard to progress onto that stage. I started six weeks in advance (doing a little practice here and there) and I can tell you that without those extra weeks I wouldn't be in the position I am now

Reply 1274

Evankie

Thanks! Found the QR much easier than the practice questions, but found the abstract reasoning quite tricky. The decision one was a bit of a mental break though and I was able to kinda relax a bit during it!