UCAT PREPARATION

UCAT 2024 - Complete Guide

WRITTEN BY
Medistudents Team
Jan 23, 2024

Maximise your UCAT score using the power of artificial intelligence.

The Medibuddy AI-powered UCAT question bank is the only one on the market that uses AI algorithms to deeply analyse your ability levels and create a personalised learning journey specifically tailored to boost your UCAT score.

"The question bank really mirrored the real UCAT exam style. It was very comprehensive and helpful. I have used many other ones where they used almost the same questions but your question bank was completely unique"

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Our UCAT QUESTION BANK IS POWERED BY

Does any of this sound like you?

  • I keep answering UCAT questions but don’t seem to be improving.
  • I need to score well in the UCAT but don’t have time to answer thousands of questions.
  • I don’t know which areas of the UCAT to focus on.

What if you could...

  • Have questions hand-picked for you based on your individual strengths and weaknesses.
  • Save countless hours by not wasting time on topics that won’t improve your exam score.
  • See a sophisticated analysis of your skill level for each area of the UCAT.

The Medibuddy AI-powered UCAT question bank provides this and more.

Introducing

The free state-of-the-art, Medibuddy AI-Powered adaptive UCAT question bank

Desktop and mobile screenshot of the adaptive UCAT question bank

“The new [Medibuddy] adaptive UCAT question bank made my revision much more efficient and it helped me get better and quicker at answering questions”

“I used the Abstract Reasoning section as I found the website the night before my test and I was pretty bad at AR. In my official exam my AR was my 2nd best section at 860! Overall, I thought the website was a very useful resource from what I saw and I liked the algorithm that showed skill in particular question types.”

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Why use the Medibuddy adaptive UCAT question bank?

Did you know that if you spend an average of 2 minutes answering and absorbing the explanation of each question in a question bank, it will take you 333 hours to get through 10k questions!?

No wonder the vast majority of people don’t answer anywhere near 10k questions before their exam!

We surveyed 100s of medical students and asked them what their biggest issue was when preparing for the UCAT.

Over 90% said that because the UCAT wasn’t a knowledge-based exam, they could answer thousands of questions but never feel like they were getting anywhere.

The trouble with standard question banks is that everyone is given the same questions to prepare with, with no consideration of what skills or topics each person is actually struggling with.

However, everyone has a different baseline ability. You might struggle with quantitative reasoning, whereas your friend might be a maths wizard. With a standard question bank, you’ll both answer the same QR questions, in the same order, meaning you’ll be left struggling while your friend doesn’t feel stretched.

No wonder so many people can find preparing for the UCAT frustrating!

The Medibuddy adaptive UCAT question bank is here to change all that.

We recognise that the vast majority of students don’t complete all 10,000 questions in a question bank.

It’s therefore vitally important that the questions you do answer are relevant to your skill and ability level.

We’ll ensure that in the areas you’re struggling, you’ll master the basics first. Whereas in your stronger areas, you’ll be immediately pushed.

This will mean that every minute of your revision is turbo charged to maximise your UCAT score.

More than a just question bank that tells you the correct answers

As you progress through the question bank, you’ll be able to see a sophisticated estimate of your current skill level for each subsection of the UCAT. When other question banks give you a performance review, they are simply telling you how many questions you’ve got right or wrong. 

We do things differently.

Our algorithm will tell you exactly what your ability level is for each area of the UCAT. We calculate this based on the actual difficulty of the questions you are answering and it’s done in real time, so you can be sure that the work you’re putting in is actually translating into real gains in your UCAT score.

The Medibuddy UCAT question bank is the only one available which shows you if you’re actually getting better at answering harder questions.

The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) is used by the majority of UK medical schools as part of their application process. Our UCAT complete guide will provide you with all the information you need for registering, preparing and completing the UCAT exam in 2024, for 2025 entry.

What is the UCAT?

The UCAT (formerly the UKCAT) is a 2-hour multiple-choice exam. It’s used by universities to help fairly select applicants for medicine and dentistry, with approximately 37,000 students sitting the exam each year as part of their application.

What does UCAT test for?

The UCAT is used to assess an applicant’s mental ability, characteristics, attitudes and professional behaviours as part of the programme’s selection process.

How is the UCAT structured?

The exam consists of five individually timed subtests: Verbal Reasoning; Decision Making; Quantitative Reasoning; Abstract Reasoning; and Situational Judgement.

UCAT Subtest Number of Questions UCAT Timings What is tested?
Verbal Reasoning 44 21 minutes Your ability to interpret passages of text and draw specific conclusions from the information presented
Decision Making 29 31 minutes Your ability to analyse complex information to make sound, logical decisions
Quantitative Reasoning 36 25 minutes Your ability to apply mathematical skills in order to solve problems
Abstract Reasoning 50 12 minutes Your ability to identify patterns and relationships between shapes
Situational Judgement 69 26 minutes Your capacity to understand real world situations and respond appropriately

You can find more information about each subtest in our UCAT Practice Test blog.

What universities need UCAT?

Over 30 UK universities include the UCAT as a compulsory entry requirement when applying to study medicine. You can find a full list of these universities, and how they use the UCAT in their selection process, in our UCAT universities blog.

Where can I take the UCAT?

The UCAT is delivered in Pearson VUE test centres throughout the UK and internationally; you can find your closest test centre here.

UCAT dates 2024

It’s important that you’re aware of the deadlines for registering, booking and completing the UCAT exam, which are all before the UCAS application deadline date of 15 October 2024.

Opens Closes
UCAT Account Creation (registration) 14 May 2024
(9:30am BST)
Bursary Scheme Applications 14 May 2024
(9:30am BST)
27 September 2024
(4pm BST)
Access Arrangements Applications* 14 May 2024
(9:30am BST)
15 September 2024
(12 noon BST)
Booking 18 June 2024
(6am BST)
Final deadline: 19 September 2024
(12 noon BST)
UCAT Exam Period 08 July 2024 27 September 2024

*If you’re entitled to extra exam time due to a documented medical condition or disability, you will need to submit an access arrangements application during the window given. You can find more information about Access Arrangements on the Official UCAT website.

UCAT results will be sent to your chosen universities in early November, following the UCAS deadline date, but you will find out your results on the day of the test. Your test result will only be valid for the current UCAT admissions cycle, which includes 2024 entry or a deferred 2025 entry.

How much does the UCAT cost?

A bursary to cover the exam fee is available if you meet the eligibility criteria, otherwise the UCAT test fees for 2024 are as follows:

Location of test centre Cost
UCATs taken within the UK £70
UCATs taken outside the UK £115

If you intend to apply for the bursary scheme, remember to check the application deadline above.

How to prepare for the UCAT

You’ll find lots of useful advice on how to prepare for the UCAT and a Step-By-Step Guide on our website.

The following are some simple tips to get you started:

  1. Create a plan. Book your exam early and plan enough time to revision fully for it. Remember you can only take the exam once per year!
  2. Make yourself familiar with the test so you know what’s required in each subtest and the types of questions you’ll receive; that way you can develop strategies for answering them.
  3. Target any areas which you need to improve. The free, adaptive, Medibuddy question bank can help you. Using artificial intelligence to identify your strengths and weaknesses, it’ll reveal the areas which you need to spend more time on, to help you improve your UCAT score.
  4. Practice, practice, practice answering UCAT questions, but make sure these are at the right level and tailored to the areas you need to target. A UCAT question bank which adapts to your strengths and weaknesses is ideal, as your learning will focused on the areas which you need to improve to have the biggest impact on your UCAT result.

How is the UCAT scored?

For Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning and Abstract Reasoning – the ‘cognitive subtests’ – raw scores are converted into scale scores. Each section is equally weighted so they have a common range of 300 – 900.

For Situational Judgement your raw score is expressed as a band, graded 1–4.

Your UCAT score is not the only deciding factor of whether you get a place in medical school, so be sure to read Whatuni's blog outlining the full entry requirements to study medicine.

For more information about UCAT scoring, including a breakdown of the cognitive subtests’ scaled scores, the Situational Judgement bands and average UCAT scores, see our UCAT Score blog.

Contents

Thousands of questions and comprehensive answers written specifically for UCAT preparation, with more getting added.

The Medibuddy platform has been designed to replicate the actual exam, so you won’t get any surprises on the day.

Each question and explanation you receive will be chosen by our AI algorithm, specifically for you.

The only question bank available that tells you if you’re actually getting better and not just how many questions you’ve answered correctly.

We don’t just pick the questions for our mock exams at random, we follow a similar process to the actual exam board by calibrating every question for difficulty, based on the abilities of 100s of medical students. This means your score will be a much more accurate reflection of the real thing.

COMING SOON

You can access our platform anywhere and it works on desktops, tablets and phones. This means you can revise at home or on the go.

When the Medibuddy team were preparing for the UCAT, working out where to start was quite overwhelming. The online resources offered thousands of practice questions and lots of generic advice. However, the only way of getting help that was specifically targeted at you was by paying for expensive tutoring.

This didn’t seem right to us. The personalised learning you get with a tutor has been shown to improve exam results across all fields of education. So why when it came to the UCAT, an exam that is vital for medical school, should it only be available to those who could afford a tutor?

The good news is artificial intelligence has changed everything! Super smart algorithms can now identify exactly where your strengths and weaknesses lie, ensuring that every minute of your revision is focused on areas that will have the biggest impact on your exam score.

Here at Medibuddy we’ve used the latest educational technology and combined it with our deep understanding of the UCAT, to produce the first ever AI-powered, adaptive UCAT question bank.

Our sophisticated question bank platform will adapt seamlessly with every question you answer. As you improve, the type and difficulty of the questions you receive will change with you, ensuring that at all times, you only receive the most relevant questions.

A resource you can trust

The Medibuddy team has been creating educational resources for medical students and doctors for years. We’ve helped thousands of students pass their exams and we’ve put all of that experience into our UCAT question bank.

We stay up to date on all the latest educational science, so you can be sure that the techniques we use are state of the art.

How is our UCAT Question Bank free?

We know how expensive applying to medicine can be, so we do our bit by keeping our UCAT question bank FREE.

We’re able to do this by charging a little more on our educational courses and question banks for qualified doctors. We strongly believe that no one should be priced out of medicine. Our doctors agree and are happy to subsidise our educational resources for students.

AI-POWERED, ADAPTIvE

UCAT Question Bank

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More Information

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the algorithm work out what my ability level is?

As you progress through the question bank, our algorithm will be performing complicated statistical analyses of the way you answer questions. All of our questions have been tested on hundreds of 1st year medical students so the algorithm knows exactly how difficult each question is.

The algorithm looks at how you answer questions across a range of different difficulties to work out what your current ability level is.

How does the algorithm know what questions to give me?

Every question in our database has been tagged based on the skills required to answer it and its difficulty level. Once the algorithm has worked out what your ability level is and the areas you need to target, it ensures that the questions you receive focus on these areas. As you get better, the algorithm adapts with you, moving you onto new areas based on your needs.

How similar to the UCAT are the Medibuddy questions and explanations?

Every single question in our question bank is written specifically for UCAT preparation and is reviewed by our editorial team to ensure it is as close a match as possible to the UCAT standard. We don’t borrow questions that have been written to prepare for other exams. In addition to this, all of our questions are calibrated by 100s of first year medical students who have recently taken the UCAT, which allows us to remove any outliers and ensure consistency.