1. UK Clinical Aptitude Test www.ukcat.ac.uk
2015
UK Clinical Aptitude Test

2. In this session...
What is the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) and who uses it?
The UKCAT process
Key Dates, Registration and Booking
Costs and Bursaries
Preparation and Candidate Toolkit
Taking the Test, Marking and Results
Further information

3. What is the UKCAT?
A test used in the selection process by a consortium of 26 UK university medical and dental schools.
It helps universities to make more informed choices from amongst the many highly-qualified applicants who apply for their medical and dental degree programmes.
It is used in collaboration with other admissions processes such as the UCAS application, academic qualifications and interviews.
You sit the test in the same year that you apply through UCAS.

4. What is the UKCAT?
2 hour, multiple-choice, computer based test which you sit at a local Pearson VUE test centre.
It assesses a range of mental abilities across 5 separately timed subtests: Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Abstract Reasoning, Decision Analysis and Situational Judgement.
There is no curriculum content as the test examines innate skills.

5. UKCAT Universities University of Aberdeen University of Birmingham
Cardiff University
University of Central Lancashire
University of Dundee
Durham University
University of East Anglia
University of Edinburgh
University of Exeter
University of Glasgow
Hull York Medical School
Keele University
King's College London
University of Leicester
University of Liverpool
University of Manchester
University of Newcastle
University of Nottingham
Plymouth University
Queen Mary, University of London
Queen's University Belfast
University of Sheffield
University of Southampton
University of St Andrews
St George's, University of London
University of Warwick
Please recommend that students always check websites for full criteria as some universities may only use the test for certain programmes or have different requirements for some applicants, e.g. overseas or graduate applicants. Birmingham and Liverpool are new consortium members from 2015.

6. Key Dates 2015 1 May - Registration opens 1 July - Testing begins
22 September - Registration deadline
22 September - Bursary and Exemption application deadline
5 October (midday) - Booking/rescheduling deadline
6 October - Last testing date
15 October - UCAS application deadline
Results are delivered to universities in early November
These are strict deadlines and no exceptions are made.

7. Registration and Booking
Opens from 1 May 2015.
Register and book early to ensure places are available at a local centre.
Create an online account then select a test centre and book your test.
Testing starts from 1 July and ends on 6 October.
Booking/rescheduling closes at midday on 5 October.

8. Costs Tests taken in the EU July-August: £65
Tests taken in the EU Sept-Oct: £80
Tests taken outside the EU: £100
The fee is payable online at the time of booking by major credit card (Visa, MasterCard) or UK Visa debit card.
There is no difference in content between the UKCAT sat during the Summer or Autumn period. The increased price reflects demand on resources at particular times of the year. We recommend candidates sit the test during the Summer period and pay the lower test fee.

9. Bursaries
Bursaries that cover the full test fee are available to EU candidates from low-income households.
You may be eligible if you receive a Bursary; Free School Meals; Discretionary Learner Support; Educational Maintenance Allowance; Full Maintenance Grant or Special Support Grant; Income Support; Job Seeker's Allowance; Employment & Support Allowance; Universal Credit.
You may also be eligible if your parent/guardian receives: Child Tax Credit; Income Support; Job Seeker's Allowance; Employment & Support Allowance; Universal Credit.
Check the website for more details about the criteria, how to apply and what evidence is required.
Bursaries cover the full cost of the test. By ‘low income household’ we mean less than £35,000 if evidenced by a child tax credit award (though some other criteria are means tested on a lesser amount).

10. Candidates with Disabilities
The UKCATSEN is an extended version of the test (2 hours 30 mins) which can be booked if you are entitled to additional time for public examinations based upon a medical diagnosis or report from a specialist teacher.
Likely to relate to dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, dysorthographia, attention deficit disorder or working memory deficit but may apply to a range of other medical conditions. See the website for details.
If they book the UKCATSEN their university choices will ask them to send evidence of their medical condition later in the admissions cycle. Their UKCAT result may be declared void if they do not present adequate supporting evidence. They can check with UKCAT whether their evidence would be acceptable.

11. Exemptions from the Test
Exemptions from the test are only offered on exceptional grounds and the vast majority of applicants are expected to sit the UKCAT during the test window.
Further details about exemptions are available from the website.

12. What is in the Test?
Verbal reasoning - assesses ability to critically evaluate information that is presented in a written form.
Quantitative reasoning - assesses ability to critically evaluate information presented in a numerical form.
Abstract reasoning - assesses the use of convergent and divergent thinking to infer relationships from information.
Decision analysis - assesses the ability to make sound decisions and judgements using complex information.
Situational judgement - measures capacity to understand real world situations and to identify critical factors and appropriate behaviour in dealing with them.

13. Test Format Section Items UKCAT Standard Test (includes 1 minute
per subtest
for instruction)
UKCAT Extended Test
(includes 2 minutes
Verbal Reasoning 44
22 minutes
28 minutes
Quantitative Reasoning 36
25 minutes
31.5 minutes
Abstract Reasoning 55
14 minutes
17.5 minutes
Decision Analysis 28
32 minutes
39 minutes
Situational Judgement 68
27 minutes
34 minutes
Total time
120 minutes
150 minutes

14. Verbal Reasoning
The test assesses your ability to read and think carefully about information presented in passages and to determine whether specific conclusions can be drawn from information presented.  You are not expected to use prior knowledge to answer the questions.
21 minutes to answer 44 items, associated with 11 passages.
Some items assess critical reasoning skills, requiring candidates to make inferences and draw conclusions from information. 
For other items you decide whether the statement provided follows logically from the information in the passage.

15. Verbal Reasoning

16. Verbal Reasoning Answer: C
Rationale: This is supported by the information presented in the whole passage. Since rodents are a food source for foxes, it is common sense that when there are more rodents, there will be more foxes as their reproduction is dependent on food availability.

17. Quantitative Reasoning
The test assesses your ability to use numerical skills to solve problems.
24 minutes to answer 36 items associated with tables, charts, and/or graphs.
It assumes familiarity with numbers to the standard of a good pass at GCSE but focuses on problem solving.
A basic calculator is available for use in this section.

18. Quantitative Reasoning

19. Quantitative Reasoning
Answer: B Rationale: Deposit for Type D motorboat on Sundays = × 95/100 = = £99.75.
Total cost of renting a Type D motorboat for 6 hours on a Sunday = Deposit + Cost per hour × number of hours = £ £100 × 6 = £ £600 = £

20. Abstract Reasoning
The test assesses your ability to identify patterns amongst abstract shapes where irrelevant and distracting material may lead to incorrect conclusions.
The test therefore measures your ability to change track, critically evaluate and generate hypotheses and requires you to query judgements as you go along.
There are 4 different item types in this test and you may see one or two of them.
13 minutes to answer 55 items associated with sets of shapes.

21. Abstract Reasoning

22. Abstract Reasoning Answer: A – Set A
Set A Rule: Regardless of the nature of the shapes themselves there must be an equal number of black and shaded shapes but the combined total is always at least one more than the total number of white shapes
Set B Rule: Regardless of the nature of the shapes themselves there must be an equal number of black and white shapes but the combined total is always at least one fewer than the total number of shaded shapes.
Answer: A – Set A
Rationale: 3 black and 3 white but only 3 shaded so cannot satisfy rules for set B. 3 shaded and 3 black (= 6 shapes) which is more than the total number of white shapes so must be A.

23. Decision Analysis
The test assesses the ability to make decisions in situations of uncertainty, where information may be incomplete, complex and ambiguous.
Using a deciphering scenario, the test requires a move from logical reasoning to decisions requiring increasing degrees of judgement.
The associated confidence rating measures your awareness of your own decision making.
31 minutes to answer 28 items associated with one scenario, each with a related confidence rating.

24. Decision Analysis

25. Decision Analysis Answer: E - Today I am moving house Rationale:
A) Today I feel personally moved (does not refer to dwelling) B) Today it is hard for me to move house (introduces hard) C) I don’t want to dwell on today (introduces a negative) D) Today is the day to move on (does not refer to dwelling) E) Today I am moving house (correct)

26. Situational Judgement
The test measures your capacity to understand real world situations and to identify critical factors and appropriate behaviour in dealing with them.
It assesses the key traits of integrity, perspective taking and team involvement. 
SJTs are used widely in medical selection, including selection of Foundation Doctors, GPs and other medical specialties. 
26 minutes to answer 68 items associated with 19 scenarios (consisting of between 2 and 5 response items).

27. Situational Judgement

28. Situational Judgement
Answer: B - Appropriate, but not ideal
Rationale: The General Medical Council requires students to work “…within the limits of their competence, training and status as medical students.” A medical student is not qualified to discuss the possible outcomes of the patient’s blood test nor what the future may hold for the patient. However, it is correct for a student to explain his role to the patient, so that the patient understands the student’s position. In this situation, where a patient is concerned or worried about their health, the medical student should acknowledge the patient’s concerns and advise the patient to address their concerns with a more appropriate member of staff.

29. Candidate Preparation Toolkit
Freely available from the UKCAT website
Includes 3 fully timed Practice Tests and an additional questions from each subtest
UKCAT Official Guide containing over 100 practice items
Free UKCAT Practice App for iPhone / Android
Official UKCAT YouTube Channel with videos to support your preparation
Lots more hints, tips and advice
There are many companies offering UKCAT preparation material; be careful as they may not necessarily be of a high standard and may not be up to date enough to mirror the actual test.

30. Preparation for the UKCAT
Familiarise yourself with the requirements and question styles in each subtest. It is important to understand the time limitations in each section and to develop strategies to approach each subtest with this in mind.
Make full use of the free preparation material on the website, including the fully timed practice tests.
Go to where there is advice available from current/past candidates.  This includes links to free practice resources which can be found on the internet.
Spend around hours in preparation for the UKCAT.  This is the amount of preparation done by the highest scoring respondents to our recent survey.

31. Hints and Tips Candidates who take the test early do better!
If you have not studied maths beyond GCSE level (or recently), revisit and practice these skills as this will impact on the Quantitative Reasoning section in particular.
If you are not well, reschedule your test to a later date – even if you lose your test fee. In presenting yourself for testing, you are declaring yourself fit. UKCAT do not consider health issues as extenuating circumstances.
Try and answer all the questions. Practise the test timings and remember that no points are deducted for wrong answers so if you’re stuck use your best guess.

32. Taking the Test
Arrive at the Test Centre at least 15 minutes before you are due to start. If you are late you may not be allowed to test and will have to pay again!
Very important! Make sure you take the right ID or you will not be allowed to sit the test. 
Make sure they give you a booklet and pen (test it!)
Other people will be testing in the same room as you so ask for ear plugs or headphones to limit disturbance.
Each year a significant number of candidates are turned away because of incorrect ID so they need to check the requirements on the website to make sure they take the right documents. If they are turned away with incorrect ID they will need to pay for another test!

33. Marking
For each of the cognitive subtests (Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Abstract Reasoning and Decision Analysis) you get a score of between
Total mean average score in 2014 was 2505
In 2014 mean average scores for each cognitive subtest were: Verbal Reasoning 571, Quantitative Reasoning 684, Abstract Reasoning 636, Decision Analysis 614
For the Situational Judgement test you are given one of 4 bands (band 1 the highest)
Subtest 5 – Situational Judgement test bands
Those in Band 1 demonstrated an excellent level of performance, showing similar judgement in most cases to the panel of experts.
Those in Band 2 demonstrated a good, solid level of performance, showing appropriate judgement frequently, with many responses matching model answers.
Those in Band 3 demonstrated a modest level of performance, with appropriate judgement shown for some questions and substantial differences from ideal responses for others.
The performance of those in Band 4 was low, with judgement tending to differ substantially from ideal responses in many cases.

34. Results
You get a copy of your test result when you leave the test centre.
Before you submit your UCAS application check how universities use the test or you might be wasting an application.
Once you have submitted your UCAS application in September, you need to tell us your UCAS PID and course choices that require the UKCAT.  We will use this information to help deliver your results to your chosen Universities. You need to do this by 16 October Look out for an reminder in September.
UKCAT passes your results to your university choices directly in early November and they will use it alongside a number of factors which could include academic performance, UCAS personal statement, references etc.

35. Further information
Your main source of information should be the UKCAT website
has lots of information dedicated to entry into medicine or dentistry.
See also:
General Medical Council gmc-uk.org
British Medical Association bma.org.uk
NHS Medical Careers medicalcareers.nhs.uk
Get into Medicine getintomedicine.co.uk

36. For the latest UKCAT news
Facebook /UKClinicalAptitudeTest