UKCAT for 2017 Entry to UK

warwick is a good option , they screen on VR scored first IMO if you don't have a 1st or a masters...avoid barts x

what was your VR Technique?? x

Hi there! Just did my UKCAT today! I got an average of 780 and band 2 in sjt.

Here's the breakdown of my scores and take on each section:

VR: 760
Tbh I expected it to be wayyyy harder after reading the posts on here, but for me it was about the same standard as medify and slightly easier than the isc medical 1000 questions. Just keep track of time (for me I made sure i was on the 6th passage by the 10 minute mark) and scan for keywords! Don't bother reading the passage because you'll waste too much time.

QR: 900
SO MUCH EASIER THAN EVERYTHING I'VE EVER DONE. a majority of the questions was just basic addition, answered like 5 from just looking at the data. Don't worry too much about it! But I finished right on the dot so I had no time to check the ones I guessed (about 2 or 3)

AR: 670
this section really threw me off.... it was so much more difficult than any mock I've ever done. (I was used to getting 700s or above) Couldn't figure out like 5 sets and spent too much time on each of them so I didn't have much time left for the easy ones. I'm quite disappointed with my score because AR was the section I spent most time and effort on.

SJT: Band 2
I kind of underestimated this section because everyone was telling me how easy it was to get band 1 here that I neglected it after I got band 1 on a medify mock. Just make sure to read the good medical practice document!

resources used: Kaplan 1000 questions (good for exam tips, qr was closest to the actual), isc medical 1000q (okay-ish for ar and vr, qr is WAY too hard), ukcat ninja (i didn't like it tbh. the design of the site was faulty and kept erasing my data, mock results aren't scaled for you), medify

I think medify was the most useful resource for me, I bought it 12 days before my exam and didn't regretted a single moment! The mocks gave me a rough idea of what i needed to improve on. (I got 633, 677 and 800)

I only started studying seriously a few days before I bought medify (about 3 hours a day), so to the worried last minute crammers, don't worry! you still have some time left

I'm planning to apply to King's, Newcastle, Edinburgh and St Georges/ Bristol for UG med.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask! As for those who are taking their UKCAT soon, good luck!!!

Well done! That's a fantastic score! How similar was VR QR and AR to the official UKCAT mocks? I've just done the first one and I completely screwed up on QR

Thanks so much! I did mock a back in in early august and I got 6/36 for my QR!!! I don't remember much about the other sections but my friends and I all agreed that it's unrealistic and difficult. I think the most accurate one was mock c. mock b's VR was way too difficult.

Hi guys,

I'm taking a gap year and reapplying to medicine for 2017 entry. I got 623.5 in my UKCAT last year which was awful ! I applied to UEA, Imperial, QMUL and Bristol. Even though people say UEA isn't that UKCAT heavy, I still didn't get an interview unfortunately. I also messed up on the BMAT, so Imperial rejected me straight away. QMUL also rejected me and that genuinely was a bad choice and I only found out after I put down QMUL as one of my options. Bristol was the only uni that gave me an interview and it's MMI which some people find difficult, but I didn't think it went too badly, but ended up getting rejected after interview . I'm doing the UKCAT again this year and hopefully I perform better this year. I didn't think of the UKCAT as much last year which was such a bad mistake! If you guys have any questions about applications or Bristol interview advice, I'm here to help!

sorry to hear that! can i ask what your gcse and as and a2 grades were?

Thanks for the advice

For verbal reasoning, at first, I was very daunted by this section. Initially i really struggled for time here before I developed a technique for skim reading!
Try holding your hand in front of the screen with your fingers like the banana here.. and run your hand down the text. While doing so, let your eye follow your first to your second finger along the line of the text and jump from word to word. Do not read full phrases - This should help you fragment the substance of the text, so that when you move to the question, you can immediately jump to the paragraph where you saw the keyword and deduce the most appropriate answer.

I also tended to read the first question before I started skimming the text so that I could give a focused answer for at least one question!

When I saw that I was running out of time or if I found a question particularly difficult I would guess the answer using my knowledge of the content, flag the question and skip.

You may already know this but -

Keyboard shortcuts:
alt + f = flag
alt + n = next
alt + p = previous
alt + c = calculator
backspace = AC on calculator

Regarding QR, it would be really helpful to learn how to use the MR function but I couldnt figure it out!!

Best of luck! x

Thanks! Lol I got 10/36 it's ridiculous, also do you have a strategy when it comes to time management in VR? Do you target the true false questions first and then move to the difficult type 2 ones? I always seem to be in a rush in VR

Thanks for the advice

For verbal reasoning, at first, I was very daunted by this section. Initially i really struggled for time here before I developed a technique for skim reading!
Try holding your hand in front of the screen with your fingers like the banana here.. and run your hand down the text. While doing so, let your eye follow your first to your second finger along the line of the text and jump from word to word. Do not read full phrases - This should help you fragment the substance of the text, so that when you move to the question, you can immediately jump to the paragraph where you saw the keyword and deduce the most appropriate answer.

I also tended to read the first question before I started skimming the text so that I could give a focused answer for at least one question!

When I saw that I was running out of time or if I found a question particularly difficult I would guess the answer using my knowledge of the content, flag the question and skip.

You may already know this but -

Keyboard shortcuts:
alt + f = flag
alt + n = next
alt + p = previous
alt + c = calculator
backspace = AC on calculator

Regarding QR, it would be really helpful to learn how to use the MR function but I couldnt figure it out!!

Best of luck! x

Hey guys!!

I'm a graduate with a 2:1 - I sat my UKCAT for the first time ever last month and these were my results:

VR - 590 (really put me down but the texts were so long!)
QR - 720
AR - 750

Average: 686.7

I found AR and QR way easier than all the mocks that I previously done, couldn't believe it!

Do you think I have a chance if I was to apply to King's, Warwick and Newcastle? Does anyone know anything about cutoff scores?

Good luck to the rest of you!

awesome thanks! do you mean sort of use your fingers to fragment the text and than within each fragment , jump word to word to get a gist of what it is saying? xx

SO helpful. My test is tomorrow - do you suggest it's ok for me to do a mock? What is the MR function for by the way?

Thanks.

SO helpful. My test is tomorrow - do you suggest it's ok for me to do a mock? What is the MR function for by the way?

Thanks.

This isn't relevant to the UKCAT. But just would like to know your backup choices for medicine?
I am thinking of biomedical sciences or pharmacy. Which universities will look at a medicine personal statement? Do I have to email them and ask whether I have to write a separate personal statement?

This isn't relevant to the UKCAT. But just would like to know your backup choices for medicine?
I am thinking of biomedical sciences or pharmacy. Which universities will look at a medicine personal statement? Do I have to email them and ask whether I have to write a separate personal statement?