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UKCAT for 2017 Entry to UK

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Did my UKCAT today and thought I could give some tips:

VR: 720
QR: 890
AR: 680
SJT: Band 2

Average: 763 Total: 2290

Resources- Kaplan 2 day course and online tests, Medify and the ISC 1000 questions book (3 weeks preparation in total)

Overall I thought that Kaplan and Medify were both very useful and they are essentially equal in terms of the difficulty of questions (Kaplan has more practice tests). I personally liked the weekend course, as the class was relatively small and I learnt all my techniques from there and used the online tests to put these into practice. Make sure to do as much on-screen practice as you can to simulate the exam conditions. I did not like the 1000 questions book as the difficulty is too hard to do in timed conditions and would only recommend using this for untimed practice at the start of preparation.

VR- The questions on Medify and Kaplan were the same difficulty as the exam. I had a lot of statement questions with few true/false. My technique was to never read the full text and instead just scan for the information required from the question but I know some people skim read the whole text first. Just make sure to stick with your technique and don’t change between questions.

QR- The questions in the exam were easier than both Kaplan and Medify. I still had to guess some of the obviously harder questions, but the majority were doable in 30 seconds or under each. Make sure to practice with the onscreen calculator and number pad on the keyboard. Don't always go to the calculator straight away, there were answers that could be obtained through smartly rounding numbers in your head to get approximations that were close to the final answer.

AR- The questions on Medify and Kaplan were slightly harder than the exam. I found some of the patterns easily whereas others I just guessed. Rule of thumb for me was is if I didn’t get the pattern in 20 seconds, just guess and move on as I didn't want to lose time on other patterns that I could have identified later on. The only way you can get better at this is to keep practicing and you will get better at identifying distinguishing features of sets.

SJT- Same difficulty as Medify and Kaplan. Similar scenarios come up in preparation so just learn the key principles for the general scenarios.

Hope this helps and good luck!
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Jorjio
Did my UKCAT today and thought I could give some tips:

VR: 720
QR: 890
AR: 680
SJT: Band 2

Average: 763 Total: 2290

Resources- Kaplan 2 day course and online tests, Medify and the ISC 1000 questions book (3 weeks preparation in total)

Overall I thought that Kaplan and Medify were both very useful and they are essentially equal in terms of the difficulty of questions (Kaplan has more practice tests). I personally liked the weekend course, as the class was relatively small and I learnt all my techniques from there and used the online tests to put these into practice. Make sure to do as much on-screen practice as you can to simulate the exam conditions. I did not like the 1000 questions book as the difficulty is too hard to do in timed conditions and would only recommend using this for untimed practice at the start of preparation.

VR- The questions on Medify and Kaplan were the same difficulty as the exam. I had a lot of statement questions with few true/false. My technique was to never read the full text and instead just scan for the information required from the question but I know some people skim read the whole text first. Just make sure to stick with your technique and don’t change between questions.

QR- The questions in the exam were easier than both Kaplan and Medify. I still had to guess some of the obviously harder questions, but the majority were doable in 30 seconds or under each. Make sure to practice with the onscreen calculator and number pad on the keyboard. Don't always go to the calculator straight away, there were answers that could be obtained through smartly rounding numbers in your head to get approximations that were close to the final answer.

AR- The questions on Medify and Kaplan were slightly harder than the exam. I found some of the patterns easily whereas others I just guessed. Rule of thumb for me was is if I didn’t get the pattern in 20 seconds, just guess and move on as I didn't want to lose time on other patterns that I could have identified later on. The only way you can get better at this is to keep practicing and you will get better at identifying distinguishing features of sets.

SJT- Same difficulty as Medify and Kaplan. Similar scenarios come up in preparation so just learn the key principles for the general scenarios.

Hope this helps and good luck!


Firstly well done on your scores! thats what im aiming for :smile: well maybe a little lower. So i went on the kaplan course a few days ago and already their techniques in verbal and abstract have improved my scores a little but as for the maths :frown: i did the first 2 QR quizzes they give u and scored like 40% :frown: really upset, I feel like a lost cause :frown: i re did the quizzes 2 hours later and got 80% but this was after looking at where i went wrong so this does not reflect my abilty (guess it helped me practice my maths tho) did u ever have this problem? obviously not looking at your scores!
Original post by raniafern
Don't worry. Brush up on basic math, and try a few simple sums based on percentages and calculations. What part of QR do you find challenging? Interpreting given info, or just calculation?


Interpreting the info and knowing what to do. I can do the maths I jsut panic and mess up as i dont understand the questions. I re did the mocks after working out where i went wrong and got 80%, so its not the maths its the understanding im struggling on
Original post by clairebear101
Interpreting the info and knowing what to do. I can do the maths I jsut panic and mess up as i dont understand the questions. I re did the mocks after working out where i went wrong and got 80%, so its not the maths its the understanding im struggling on


Good, now that you've identified your 'weakness', try BBC GCSE Bitesize Maths and focus on Data Interpretation. Also, if you're on Medify, go to your past practice sessions, identify the incorrect responses and work the answers out according to the explanation given. Don't set time limits right now. Focus on quality at the moment. As you get the hang of doing it, you'll be able to do more sums, which is when you should start timing yourself. If you have any other questions, feel free to Pm me. :smile:
Original post by clairebear101
Interpreting the info and knowing what to do. I can do the maths I jsut panic and mess up as i dont understand the questions. I re did the mocks after working out where i went wrong and got 80%, so its not the maths its the understanding im struggling on


Could that be because you are trying to do it too early under timed conditions? Unless you have grasped the ability to interpret the question, you should not do it under timed conditions. Best get the technique right before going for it.
Original post by IntegrityFirst
Could that be because you are trying to do it too early under timed conditions? Unless you have grasped the ability to interpret the question, you should not do it under timed conditions. Best get the technique right before going for it.


Okay thanks guys i will try to get the ability down first and then do timed questions when im back from holiday :smile:
Original post by raniafern
Good, now that you've identified your 'weakness', try BBC GCSE Bitesize Maths and focus on Data Interpretation. Also, if you're on Medify, go to your past practice sessions, identify the incorrect responses and work the answers out according to the explanation given. Don't set time limits right now. Focus on quality at the moment. As you get the hang of doing it, you'll be able to do more sums, which is when you should start timing yourself. If you have any other questions, feel free to Pm me. :smile:


I am planning to go onto medify after my 2 week holiday as then i have 2 weeks and few days until my test when i get back, is this enough??? and thank you, yes i shall try getting the hang of data interpretation before i go for timed tests, is it possible to improve quickly on this??
Reply 627
Original post by kosvengali
Posted from TSR Mobile

Anyone have tips for the abstract reasoning??? I'm struggling here


I found practicing doing them untimed helped massively. Spend time trying to work out the patterns, rather than running to the answer. The more practice you do, the quicker you'll get. Just remember, shape, colour, arrangement, number and size.
Original post by Bowie22
I found practicing doing them untimed helped massively. Spend time trying to work out the patterns, rather than running to the answer. The more practice you do, the quicker you'll get. Just remember, shape, colour, arrangement, number and size.


Thank you so much! Xx

Posted from TSR Mobile
Hi guys, what do you think a "good score" is? I'm taking the exam on the 4th of August, i'm studying on the kaplan online tests and on medify. On the last mock test i took on the kaplan website i had 650 on vr, 700 on qr, 670 on ar and band 2 on situational. How much do you think i can get better in these 2 weeks or so i have left?
[QUOTE="thatcooldude2.0;66437700"]
Original post by UKCATmagic


Well I have the 600 question book (iscmedical), the kaplan book (took the course last year) and another 600 q book (but a different one- the title is how to master the ukcat)
Online you can get kaplan practise qs and tests (but it costs), there are free practise questions and tests on their website
Have you done all the questions in the 1000q book, ukcat website and medify? I'm pretty sure that should be enough :smile: I didn't even finish all the medify questions last year and got 665 (think my scores for sections were smth like- 570 670 710 710) - not great but not too bad either I suppose. I'd advise finding your weakest section and working on that the most, as you can see VR brought my average down quite a bit unfortunately. When is your exam?


That sound very good advert for ISC
Hey, anyone who has done the ukcat this year (i know we all dont sit the same exam) did you find the quantitative reasoning easier/better than medify's one. because im going through it and the questions are so time consuming even more so than the isc book imo.
Hi
I'm taking the UKCAT exam this year and I've been using old books to prepare for it but they've added a situational judgement section into our exam.
I've looked in local bookshops and online but I can't find a book with this section in.
Could anyone recommend a book?
Thanks :smile:
Original post by sububzi
Hello :biggrin: I'm currently in year 12 and my UKCAT is exactly 7 weeks time. I was just wondering if any med students who have already done their UKCAT could give me and everyone else who'll be taking it advice? :smile: Like how many hours, what resources (the cheaper the better since I'm broke) and like generally how you actually get down to it? I'm a bit confused about how to start tbh
If possible (and if you remember still lol) could you also say what your average score thing was :biggrin:

Thank youu <3


Hi subuzi

How are you getting on with your UKCAT prep?

There are so many resources available it can be a bit daunting knowing where to start and what to spend your money on!

I think that which resources you choose really depends on what approach you feel suits you best. Do you think you would benefit from something available online where you can control the pace of your study? Or perhaps you learn better in a group environment with a more intense approach? Maybe you feel that a one on one set up would work best for you?Once you have decided on your preferred style of learning it should be easier to choose from there which the right course is for you.

I would also really recommend reading some blogs by people who have experienced the UKCAT themselves. A lot of these are really great for giving tips and advice and of course, reading a blog doesn't cost anything! There is one here that might be of interest to you. Feel free to let me know if you would like me to recommend some more.

I hope that is of some use... do give me a shout if you have any questions... we do know quite a bit about this!

UniAdmissions
Original post by medicapplicant
Hey, anyone who has done the ukcat this year (i know we all dont sit the same exam) did you find the quantitative reasoning easier/better than medify's one. because im going through it and the questions are so time consuming even more so than the isc book imo.


I agree. My UKCAT is not until august 16th, I did the majority of the 1000Q book moved onto medify yesterday. I am really bad at everything it seems :frown: the quantitative seems really difficult, takes me like a minute or more to do some of the questions and still get them wrong. Hoping i am not alone in this looking at the medify average timings. Pretty crappy at verbal too, I take too long on the comprehension ones. Im finding harder than ISC atm. Hopefully in the coming month (and after a course thing) I will improve. anyone got any tips?
Wow and are you studying med at the moment and which uni did u apply for ?
Original post by isabella1999
I agree. My UKCAT is not until august 16th, I did the majority of the 1000Q book moved onto medify yesterday. I am really bad at everything it seems :frown: the quantitative seems really difficult, takes me like a minute or more to do some of the questions and still get them wrong. Hoping i am not alone in this looking at the medify average timings. Pretty crappy at verbal too, I take too long on the comprehension ones. Im finding harder than ISC atm. Hopefully in the coming month (and after a course thing) I will improve. anyone got any tips?


Hi your not alone i feel exact same and have change my exam to September
Original post by isabella1999
I agree. My UKCAT is not until august 16th, I did the majority of the 1000Q book moved onto medify yesterday. I am really bad at everything it seems :frown: the quantitative seems really difficult, takes me like a minute or more to do some of the questions and still get them wrong. Hoping i am not alone in this looking at the medify average timings. Pretty crappy at verbal too, I take too long on the comprehension ones. Im finding harder than ISC atm. Hopefully in the coming month (and after a course thing) I will improve. anyone got any tips?


Mines on the 10th of august, i know i did the kaplan book which was fair tbh i found verbal challenging in that book, moved to isc 1000q abstract reasoning was quite hard in that one and some quantitative reasoning q's now im on medify which has alright abstract reasoning questions but the quantitative questions are so long there are now easy questions where you literally read something of the graph they all require calculations (atleast the ones ive come across) i havent started their verbal reasoning questions yet hope theyre alright.
anyone else's exam around 10th of august how prepared do you feel ?

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