With any exam there are always certain precautions and prepping tactics you have to take in mind to help you pass the exam you have. So, when it comes to having a medical exam like UCAT or BMAT which are crucial to getting a medical degree. Most medical applicants prefer at least one of these two exams, mostly UCAT but some people do prefer to just take the BMAT exam. You rarely get any decent prepping guides when it comes to these exams – so, here’s a prepping guide for any going through these two exams.

As you most likely know the UCAT is broken down into 5 sections which are:

• Verbal Reasoning
• Quantitative Reasoning
• Abstract Reasoning
• Decision
• Situational Judgement

Verbal reasoning has a format that requires you to read around 200-300-word passage of text, you will then answer 44 related questions in 21 minutes, so it can be extremely time sensitive, especially the timeframe they give you to answer more than 40 questions – it can be tough. The tips here would be to read with a keen eye as this will test your ability to read and interpret a short passage accurately.

Quantitative reasoning will give you 24 minutes to answer 36 multiple choice questions and 9 scenarios each with 4 questions. With Quantitative reasoning a large part of the exam will be involving problem-solving, so revising on how to have different types of strategies and tactics for problem-solving, as its crucial. Tips for this section would be to practice your maths, as the test will quiz your mathematical ability with percentages and such.

Abstract reasoning, slightly different to the previous two – this section is separated into 4 types. Each type you are presented with shapes, type 1; you’re presented with two sets of shapes; Set A and Set B, after that it’s five test shapes – you must determine if the test shape fits with Set A and Set B, or it could be neither. Types 2 to 4 are variations of shapes, some alternating from one box to the next. The best tips for these is reviewing all types 1 to 4 and familiarising yourself with certain shapes, and asking the questions like; how many shapes are there in each box, with Abstract reasoning it really is the more you practice the better your chances are to passing your exam

Decision Making when becoming a person of medicine, the key factor of your work will end up being clear decision making and making sure you’re making the right decision. This exam will determine your look towards logic and evaluation to different outcomes to a complex situation. The essential is familiarising yourself with graphs and maths papers from other types of exams to get used to interpreting the information or format the questions are said in.

Situational Judgement is where the exam will test your overall type of person you are, it will test your non-academic ability with ethics, empathy and the biggest being communication. There are no formal tips but how you approach different types of situations making sure you’re showing great care and are empathic to your patient as going into medical career showing empathy and integrity is the essential part to accessing someone’s problems, whether it be mentally or physical.

Good luck!