UCAT (formerly UKCAT) 2020 entry discussion

Unwavering is right—.75, or 75%, of an hour is 45 minutes. But the error you're making is a step earlier than that: I'm assuming you're typing 13.25 – 7.5 into the calculator? If so, that won't work because hours/minutes and decimals aren't equivalent. In other words, the 25 in 13h 25min represents 25 out of 60 (the number of minutes in a whole hour), not 25 out of 100 as it does in the number 13.25.

The answer given in the book, 5h 35min, is correct, but to get there you need to subtract 7 and 50/60 from 13 and 25/60. This sounds complex, but you can quickly do it in your head by recognising that 7 hours and 50 minutes is 8 hours, minus 10 minutes. 13h 25min minus 8 hours is 5h 25min, plus 10 minutes gives you 5h 35min.

The upshot of this is that you can't really use the calculator for these kinds of questions: you need to practice quickly adding and subtracting numbers of minutes out of 60. (In addition to the method I've worked through above, you could try visualising a clock face and counting forwards or backwards: the questions nearly all stick to multiples of five minutes.)

I haven’t started revising for it yet, however I have heard that people who used medify got a lower score than what they originally thought, how r u finding it?

Hi Guys

Took the UKCAT last year got a score of 705:
VR - 600
DM - 800
QR - 730
AR - 690

Resources Used: 1250 UKCAT Book, Kaplan, Youtube and Medify
Time: 2 Months
Starting Med in September.
Tips:
1. VR is the hardest section by far, this section is all about how you prepare. Practice your techniques and in my opinion only read the question and skim the text for the section and find the answer. DO NOT READ THE ENTIRE PASSAGE.
2. DM I practiced using the 1250 book and medify. I spent the most time preparing on this section and the most important takeaway is understand the differences between some, all, most etc...
3. QR is the most straightforward, simple maths. Only hard part is finishing the section. (Left 2 Qs Blank)
4. AR this section is the one i started with as its about building up a bank of patterns and being able to recognize them once you have seen them before. Used the 1250 book, Kaplan and Medify.
5. Band 2 --> I think the SJT is really luck dependent on if you get band 1 or 2. But enough familiarization with the scenarios should be good enough. Easiest section by far.

Is it too early to revise for it tho? Or are you just doing it now to get an idea of what’s to come?

Was QR easier on the exam like past ucat sitters say? I'm finding the medify questions pretty hard (cause of all the information given that isn't relevant)!

Also, do you have advice for those probability questions in decision making (what would be the best resource to prep for that)?

I aim to apply to medical school this year, but obviously I need to take an admissions test, I've looked at the UKCAT just now and it looks ridiculously hard, I struggle with problem solving and quick thinking. Does anyone have any tips?