UCAT vs UMAT: What are the Differences and is it a Change for the Better?
With the UCAT due to replace the UMAT in Australian and New Zealand universities for 2019 applicants, you can be forgiven for stressing over the change. Read on for our UCAT vs UMAT guide to clear things up.
UCAT VS UMAT – WHY THE CHANGE?
There are a number of reasons why the change was implemented. The UMAT (which stands for Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test) was used for over 20 years as part of the selection process for medicine, dentistry, and clinical science courses at universities in New Zealand and Australia. These universities were part of the UMAT Consortium, and it was this Consortium who made the decision to include the admissions test as a major component in the assessment of potential applicants for entry into medicine degree programmes. The other two components of selection were the performance in interview and a high school academic score.
In charge of administering the Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test were the ACER (the Australian Council for Educational Research), which is a non-profit organisation specialising in the deliverance and administration of many other kinds of admissions tests, including the tests taken by those seeking to apply for a graduate-entry medical degree.
In 2018, the UMAT Consortium made the decision to switch to the UCAT to assess students applying for undergraduate medicine, dentistry, or clinical science courses. UCAT stands for University Clinical Aptitude Test.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
In the UCAT vs UMAT debate, not much can be said about the difference between the two as admissions tests. Essentially, both are testing the skills of potential applicants to identify candidates who will make good doctors or dentists of the future. The main difference between the UCAT and the UMAT is that the latter was a test of higher-level cognitive ability, while the UCAT is more of a test of speed thinking.
Further information for the change and the reasons behind it can be found in an article about why UCAT replaced UMAT.
Logistically, however, there is a slightly bigger difference between UCAT and UMAT. The consortium (which has now become the ANZ Consortium) decided that the move from UMAT, which was a written test paper, to the UCAT, which is taken online, would be beneficial to students as the time spent waiting for results would be drastically reduced. Results for the new UCAT are available immediately after the test has been taken, whereas, with the UMAT, students could face a wait of several months after test completion.
Another difference is test timing – UMAT was a 3-hour long test with ten minutes reading time, whereas UCAT is only 2 hours long.
The third logistical difference is test-date availability. UMAT took place on a single day, normally at the end of July, and if this date wasn’t convenient – tough! The new UCAT offers multiple dates and times to sit it which can be very useful on a student’s busy schedule!
UCAT vs UMAT 1-0…
THE FORMAT
It’s when looking at the test formats and layouts of UCAT and UMAT that things start to get interesting. While both are multiple-choice tests, the sections differ greatly.
UMAT consisted of 3 sections. These were logical reasoning and problem solving, understanding people, and non-verbal reasoning. These example questions, taken from the official UMAT website, show what an applicant could expect in their test paper.
Example UMAT Questions
- Logical Reasoning and Problem Solving
Botanists studied a rainforest in Nicaragua that had been ravaged by Hurricane Joan in 1988. In the next ten years, they found the number of tree species had increased by at least 200%, and up to 300%, in eight storm-affected plots. Other plots which were not affected by the hurricane showed little if any increase.
It can be concluded from this that:
- hurricanes are vital in the long-term survival of tropical rainforests.
- when the dominant trees are destroyed, other species are given a chance to flourish.
- overall life of a tropical rainforest is increased when large areas are levelled to the ground.
- the productivity of a tropical rainforest is maximised if large areas are occasionally levelled to the ground.
- Understanding People
Bob’s wife, Mary, has been in hospital recovering from a stroke. The doctor informs Bob that Mary is well enough to return home.
Bob is glad she can come but notifies the doctor that he’s unsure that he can look after his wife by himself. Especially as he lives alone. The Doctor responds:
Doctor: It’s natural to feel anxious, but it would be best for Mary that she be back in her own environment during this time.
In his response, the doctor has:
- not realised that Bob is concerned about being able to look after Mary
- not really dealt with Bob’s concerns.
- responded to Bob’s concerns effectively and with Bob in mind.
- made Bob feel bad about being concerned.
Following the doctor’s reply, Bob is likely to feel:
- relieved.
- empowered.
- embarrassed.
- apprehensive.
- Non-verbal Reasoning
Arrange the five pictures so that they form a logical sequence. Then select the middle picture of the sequence and mark the corresponding letter (A, B, C, D or E) on the answer sheet.
UCAT Format:
The UCAT consists of five sections: verbal reasoning, decision making, quantitative reasoning, abstract reasoning, and situational judgement.
The first section, verbal reasoning, is not dissimilar to the one in its predecessor. Here is an example question – candidates are presented with some text, and then given questions to answer based on that text.
UCAT Example Questions:
- Verbal Reasoning
An Act of Parliament to treat Wales differently from England was passed in 1881. It required all public houses (‘pubs’) which sold alcoholic drinks to close on Sundays. When this law was repealed in 1961, drinking in Welsh pubs was permitted but local councils had to hold a vote on the issue every 7 years if 500 local residents requested a local referendum. Thus, local residents could vote on whether to ban Sunday opening of the pubs (go ‘dry’) or whether to allow them to open (go ‘wet’).
- Once the law banning drinking was repealed in 1961, most Welsh pubs opened on Sundays.
- True
- False
- Can’t tell
- Decision making
Questions in this section of the UCAT could refer to text, charts, tables, graphs, or diagrams, and you may be given additional information within the question itself. Some of the questions in this section will have 4 options for answers, and some will require you to respond yes or no to statements provided. Again, this is not dissimilar to UMAT section 1.
- Quantitative Reasoning
These are essentially maths problems. You will be given some data, and then asked questions based on that data.
- Abstract Reasoning
This section is the replacement for the UMAT’s Non-Verbal Reasoning section.
- Situational Judgement
This section is again the same kind of question that appeared in the UMAT’s Understanding People section. You will be given a scenario, and asked how appropriate the responses provided are to that scenario.
Practice past papers and mock questions on our Online UCAT Tuition course!
I’VE ALREADY STARTED PREPARING!
The UCAT Consortium has said that the decision to delay the announcement about the change to the admissions tests in September 2018 was to prevent candidates who sat the UMAT in 2018 becoming confused or worried that their exam would no longer count. No need to worry – the UCAT official website advises you that if you sat the UMAT in July 2018, nothing has changed.
And for those of you that have already started preparing for the UMAT that you thought you’d be taking in 2019, don’t worry. The skills you developed in your UMAT practice will still be relevant to the UCAT! So in the UCAT vs UMAT fight, you can still be sure to win.
To help you prepare, UniAdmissions offers a UKCAT tuition course which can help improve your chances of success in the UCAT (as the tests are the same). Your personal tutor will tailor the tuition to your needs, and provide you with lots of materials and resources to practice with.
