Best UCAT Preparation Resources 2019
The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT), is a widely required medical school entrance exam in the UK. This is a time-pressured multiple choice exam that tests a range of abilities, such as numeric skills, reading and comprehension of unfamiliar information and recognising patterns in abstract settings. This exam will be one of the four main components of your portfolio and as such, it is likely that you will spend a big part of the application process preparing for the UCAT. You might be wondering what type of resources there are and what you should use, so we have compiled a list of best resources to aid your studies.
Tests and question banks
The UCAT is not an exam testing your theory or knowledge on particular topics, but rather a measure of cognitive skills, not unlike an IQ test. As such, the best way to get a high score on test day is to keep practicing questions. This way you will get a feel of the types of questions you can be asked and how you should approach the test when it comes. There are multiple commercial organisations offering practice tests and question banks out there, but it is not advisable to break the bank, trying to cover them all. Pick what works for you best and stick to it. You can also seek out free resources and we at the Medical School Application Guide offer a FREE UCAT practice test, accompanied by full explanation on each answer, so make sure you give this a go.
UCAT practice mock exams
The best preparation you can get for the UCAT is to sit a few mock exams by trying to mimic the real exam conditions you will be under on test day as closely as possible and replicate the test experience as best as you can. This means not only switching your phone off, putting a timer on and making sure all distractions are avoided, but also using an official mock exam that closely sticks to the layout and functions of the real exam. There are many test questions out there that make up mock exams, but whether they are on paper or use a platform that doesn’t offer access to a calculator, while this is good practice for actual problem solving, it will not aid in ensuring that you are prepared for the test experience as it is. Luckily, the UCAT Consortium’s website offers four full mock exams as part of their free official practice materials, so make sure you have worked through those.
UCAT courses
If you feel like you require more in-depth understanding of the material covered in the exam and would like to sit through worked out examples, together with learning tricks and strategies for tackling each individual subtest of the UCAT, a UCAT course might be a useful resource for you. This will help you learn the intricacies of the exam in an interactive environment, allowing you to discuss questions with experts in the field, receive personalised advice about your approach to the exam and give you the opportunity to practice from a question bank of 1000 questions! As such, this is by far the most comprehensive preparation for the UCAT out there.
