What’s Different About the UCAT Test Format?
In this blog post, we cover the format of the UCAT, the University Clinical Aptitude Test, which is replacing the UMAT in Australia and New Zealand. The test is a prerequisite for all applicants looking to study medicine, dentistry and other Clinical Sciences from 2019.
What is the UCAT?
The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT for short) for Australia and New Zealand will be the necessary eligibility test for those interested in studying Medicine, Dentistry and other Clinical Sciences starting in 2019.
The UCAT will replace the University Medicine and Health Sciences Admissions Test (UMAT for short). The UCAT test format is a two-hour computer-based test and is designed to test a range of skills, broken down into five designated sub-sections:
- Verbal Reasoning
- Decision Making
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Abstract Reasoning
- Situational Judgement
Students must take the exam in the order shown above. Each section should be completed within a certain time and the timer will not be paused once the section has started.
It has been stated that it is not expected for candidates to finish the exam. Our advice would be to stay calm and try not to let your worries from one sub-test carry through to the next!
We’ve set out some more detail of these sub-sections below to help understand the UCAT test format more thoroughly.
Learn more about the UCAT test and the resources available at UniAdmissions >>>
The five sub-sections of the UCAT test format
For each sub-section, there is a one-minute instruction time for the standard test and one minute and fifteen seconds instruction for the extended test. The extended test is the same as the UCAT test format but allows extra time for those with learning disabilities or those who require extra support.
1. Verbal Reasoning
The verbal reasoning section contains 44 questions and the standard test is 21 minutes. Those who need extra time or additional support – who are taking the extended version of the UCAT – would have 26 minutes and 15 seconds of test time. This time is given in order to assess eleven passages of text which are associated with four questions.
The Verbal Reasoning section is designed to test students’ ability to read complex written materials and to then analyse them to the extent that they can communicate their thoughts to others. Such a practice will be useful in extracting information from published medical journals and explaining principles to both colleagues and patients.
2. Decision Making
The decision-making section contains 31 minutes of test time for the standard version. This is in order to answer 29 questions. Those taking the extended test will have 38 minutes and 45 seconds instead.
Decision Making, as may be indicated by the title of the sub-section, deals with situations in which a future doctor or clinical practitioner may have to use logic or problem-solving skills and apply this thought process to a complex situation. To test this, the questions may present diagrams, flow-charts, tables, graphs or other prompts and may be multiple choice or yes or no answers.
3. Quantitative Reasoning
The quantitative reasoning section has 36 questions and it is 24 minutes in the standard test; 30 minutes in the extended test.
In this part of the UCAS test format, questions are also associated with such prompts as tables or charts but are designed to assess the candidate’s ability to interpret and analyse data. In practice, this may be useful for dealing with data collected from patients such as their height, weight, age etc.
4. Abstract Reasoning
The abstract reasoning section is made up of 55 questions which require extremely quick responses as there are only 13 minutes of test time. Those doing the extended test will have 16 minutes and 15 seconds of test time.
The questions in this section are what might be familiar to others as “non-verbal reasoning” questions. They involve spotting patterns from shapes which are presented on-screen.
5. Situational Judgement
The situational judgement section has the largest number of questions, at 69 in total, but only 26 minutes in which to complete them, or 32 minutes and 30 seconds if the candidate is sitting the extended version.
This section is sometimes used in other job application processes or assessment centres and is designed to test how the candidate might deal with real-life situations and employ a range of skills including strategy, adaptability, and initiative. Though it also aims to give a reflection of the candidates’ personality and their priorities in the working world.
Get the very best support before your UCAT test with UniAdmissons. Expert tutors are on hand to ensure you have the skills required to walk into that exam room with confidence.
How does the UCAT test format differ from the UMAT?
Having looked at the five sub-sections above, we should point out that in the UCAS test format, the first three are similar to what used to be called the ‘logical reasoning and problem solving’ part of the UMAT.
As before with the UMAT, the UCAT also contains multiple choice questions. However, there are some differences. The five sections as divided and explained above are new and show quite focused targets for each sub-test. The situational judgement sub-section stands out as one which is slightly different from the UMAT questions so perhaps more of such analytical problem-solving is desirable.
Remember – there is also less time to complete the UCAT test format as the UMAT allowed three hours to candidates rather than two hours as we mentioned before.
Finally, there are some procedural differences, as UCAT test results will be released straight away rather than requiring a wait of several months. Furthermore, there are more sittings for the UCAT allowing candidates to choose from several dates in July.
Overall, the UCAT has been introduced by Consortium universities in Australia and New Zealand in co-operation with the equivalent tests in the United Kingdom and the skills targeted by universities there, such as the UKCAT or the BMAT – tests that UniAdmissions have a lot of experience and resources in.
Read the beginner’s guide to the new UCAT regulations here >>>
Such material for these tests are available right here on our website. Discover the books and start preparing for the UCAT test format today.
