UCAT for medicine admission-still relevant ?

Although the UCAT is a valuable standardised assessment, it should not be the sole determinant in medical admissions. The testdoes not capture attributes such as communication, resilience, or vocational commitment, which are critical for success inmedicine. A holistic process combining academic achievement, personal statement, references, and interviews provides a fairerand more reliable selection of candidates.-why are the prestigious universities like Oxford still relying on this mediocre selection tool to eliminate several capable students from achieving their dream!

Oxford has so many applicants that they need the UCAT as a differentiating factor. GCSEs are an indicator of your academics, but most have 8s and 9s applying and doesn’t narrow the pool. They do read the statement (although don’t score it pre interview), however everyone applying tends to have a good statement so they can’t filter many applicants out, and they’re aware that students from different backgrounds have different access/support when writing these and so it can’t be taken as a total representation of their suitability. Same goes for references. If you aren’t predicted A*AA or above you’ll unlikely be shortlisted. Now you’re right they need to test communication, but the only way they can do that is by interview. However they logistically can’t interview everyone applying to them so they have to narrow it down. How do they do that if every applicant has similar GCSEs and predicteds, good references and good statements? They need some number or measure which differs widely between applicants. This is why they use the UCAT.
If the UCAT is the most effective test to measure a students aptitude for Medicine is another question.

Oxford has so many applicants that they need the UCAT as a differentiating factor. GCSEs are an indicator of your academics, but most have 8s and 9s applying and doesn’t narrow the pool. They do read the statement (although don’t score it pre interview), however everyone applying tends to have a good statement so they can’t filter many applicants out, and they’re aware that students from different backgrounds have different access/support when writing these and so it can’t be taken as a total representation of their suitability. Same goes for references. If you aren’t predicted A*AA or above you’ll unlikely be shortlisted. Now you’re right they need to test communication, but the only way they can do that is by interview. However they logistically can’t interview everyone applying to them so they have to narrow it down. How do they do that if every applicant has similar GCSEs and predicteds, good references and good statements? They need some number or measure which differs widely between applicants. This is why they use the UCAT.
If the UCAT is the most effective test to measure a students aptitude for Medicine is another question.

i was also complaining about why so many med schools score applicants via ucat but your explanation makes a lot of sense.

But I don't think anyone is questioning having an admission test itself, of course they have to narrow it down and it makes complete sense to add something else to differentiate.
But the issue is exactly that the UCAT seems wrong for this. I have had literal consultants tell me that it's completely irrelevant to med aptidude, even the SJT section. They used to use the BMAT which actually tested academics and problem solving and that seemed like a more effective, more useful thing for them to use.
Anyways, there is not much use to us talking about it because we have no control and all we can do is try our best.
I had a quite mid ucat and I still got into Cambridge so it's not the end of the world and it is holistic as another person said.

That is true, I wonder what some Unis such as Bristol see in the UCAT considering they rank it and only consider the minimum required GCSEs, something that I’d have thought showed more about your academic capabilities for the course than the UCAT does for your capabilities as a Doctor.
Yes I agree that I don’t think the UCAT is the best representation to predict your success/aptitude to be a Doctor. I heard that the BMAT was considered to be more difficult prior to it being discontinued, perhaps they are planning to create a new test and for the meantime wanted everyone to use UCAT for an equal playing field? As you said, no way to really tell or change their plans ourselves. I do hope that Med Schools across the UK find a new way to assess students as the UCAT unfortunately limits a lot of applicants applying every year, when I’d argue a part of it is down to luck on the day.