UKCAT Online Course

UKCAT Online Training Course in Dubai Sharjah & Abu Dhabi

UKCAT  Key Test Dates :

The following UKCAT test fees apply in 2019:

Verbal Reasoning

The Verbal Reasoning subtest 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.

Why Verbal Reasoning?

Doctors and dentists need excellent verbal reasoning skills in order to understand complex information and communicate this clearly and simply to patients is essential. Medical practitioners must also be able to interpret findings from published materials and apply this to their own practice. It is essential they are able to critique such materials and draw their own conclusion as to the validity of any findings.

Verbal Reasoning Items

You will be presented with eleven passages of text, each associated with 4 items (questions).  In total you will be presented with 44 test items.

Some items assess critical reasoning skills, requiring candidates to make inferences and draw conclusions from information.  You will need to read the passage of text carefully.  You will then be presented with items which comprise a stem, which might be an incomplete statement or a question, with four response options. The candidate is required to pick the best or most suitable response.  Candidates will only be able to select one response.

For other test items, your task is to read each passage of text carefully and then decide whether the statement provided follows logically.  There are three answer options you can choose from:

True: On the basis of the information in the passage, the statement is true.

False: On the basis of the information in the passage, the statement is false.

Can’t Tell: You cannot tell from the information in the passage whether the statement is true or false.

Decision Making

For candidates sitting the UKCAT in summer 2016, there will be a change to the test.  A new Decision Making subtest will be introduced into the 2016 test to replace Decision Analysis.

This subtest will not be marked and will not contribute to a candidates test score.  At present there are no plans to use this subtest in the 2016 admissions process; Universities will assess candidates based on the remaining four subtests.  Please refer to their websites for further details.

Further information regarding this new subtest, including preparation materials, will be available from spring 2016.  These are some example item types.

Quantitative Reasoning

The information below is subject to change.  Details of the 2019 test programme will be updated in due course.

The Quantitative Reasoning subtest assesses your ability to use numerical skills to solve problems. It assumes familiarity with numbers to the standard of a good pass at GCSE. However items are less to do with numerical facility and more to do with problem solving.

Why Quantitative Reasoning?

Doctors and dentists are constantly required to review data and apply it to their own practice. On a practical level drug calculations based on patient weight, age and other factors have to be correct. At a more advanced level, clinical research requires an ability to interpret, critique and apply results presented in the form of complex statistics. Universities considering applicants need to know they have the aptitude to cope in these situations.

Quantitative Reasoning Items

You are required to solve problems by extracting relevant information from tables and other numerical presentations. For each item, you may be presented with four items that relate to that table, chart or graph. For each item, there are five answer options to choose from. Your task is to choose the best option.

Abstract Reasoning

The information below is subject to change.  Details of the 2019 test programme will be updated in due course.

Abstract Reasoning 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.

Why Abstract Reasoning?

When considering possible diagnoses, medical practitioners may be presented with a set of symptoms and/or results. Some information may be more reliable, more relevant and clearer than other information. Doctors and Dentists need to make judgements about such information, identifying the information which will help them reach conclusions. Carrying out research involving data often involves identifying patterns in results in order to generate further hypotheses.

Abstract Reasoning Items

There are 4 different item types in the UKCAT test. You may see two or three of these item types:

• For type 1, you will be presented with two sets of shapes labelled “Set A” and “Set B”. You will be given a test shape and asked to decide whether the test shape belongs to Set A, Set B, or Neither.
• For type 2, you will be presented with a series of shapes. You will be asked to select the next shape in the series.
• For type 3, you will be presented with a statement, involving a group of shapes. You will be asked to determine which shape completes the statement.
• For type 4, you will be presented with two sets of shapes labelled “Set A” and “Set B”. You will be asked to select which of the four response options belongs to Set A or Set B. 

Situational Judgement

The information below is subject to change.  Details of the 2019 test programme will be updated in due course.

The test measures your capacity to understand real world situations and to identify critical factors and appropriate behaviour in dealing with them.

Why Situational Judgement?

The test assesses integrity, perspective taking and team involvement.  SJTs are used widely in medical selection, including selection of Foundation Doctors, GPs and other medical specialties. 

Situational Judgement Item Types

The test consists of a series of scenarios with possible actions and considerations.  The questions do not require medical or procedural knowledge. This assessment consists of two sets of questions.

For the first set you will be asked to rate the appropriateness of a series of options in response to the scenario. When considering how to respond to the scenario, an option is:

• a very appropriate thing to do if it will address at least one aspect (not necessarily all aspects) of the situation 
• appropriate, but not ideal if it could be done, but is not necessarily a very good thing to do
• inappropriate, but not awful if it should not really be done, but would not be terrible 
• a very inappropriate thing to do if it should definitely not be done and would make the situation worse 

A response should not be judged as if it is the only thing that is done. For example, if the wrong medication is provided to a patient, there are a number of steps that should be taken, including checking the patient is ok and assessing the patient medically. The response ‘ask the patient if they are ok’ should still be judged as appropriate. It should not be judged as if this is the only action that will be taken.

For the second set you will be asked to rate the importance of a series of options in response to the scenario. When considering how to respond to the scenario, an option is:

• very important if this is something that is vital to take into account
• important if this is something that is important but not vital to take into account
• of minor importance if this is something that could be taken into account, but it does not matter if it is considered or not
• not important at all if this is something that should definitely not be taken into account