How to prepare for the UCAT Exam

The 2020 UCAT is just a few months away, now is the perfect time to start preparing

Despite the UCAT exam being an aptitude test, this doesn’t mean you still can’t study before taking it. Preparing for the UCAT is like preparing for any other exam you’ll take in your lifetime: Driver Knowledge Test, HSC and others. You will understand how to best answer the question, and start thinking more logically which will help later on in your chosen degree.

Practice questions

When it comes to the UCAT Exam, practice makes perfect. From those who have sat the UCAT before, the best piece of advice would be to practice with as many questions as possible. Often begin with the most difficult section of the UCAT (for me, this was Abstract Reasoning), which will make it easier for you to master answering the question.

Many parts of of the UCAT will ask for the best possible answer, which means your answer doesn’t need to be 100% spot on. It just needs to be the most logical answer – which is often difficult since some of the answers are just so similar. The more practice questions you complete in the lead-up to the UCAT, the more confident you will feel about answering the question.

Time yourself

Studying with UCAT practice questions under exam situations is another great way to get yourself used to answering questions in a designated time frame. Even though all questions are multiple choice, you will still need to spend the right amount of time answering them in order to finish the text.

One question I’m often asked is ‘Do you need to finish the UCAT exam?’ Short answer: No.

You’ll find that many students don’t end up finishing all sections of the UCAT exam, and that’s because there are so many questions! However, we do encourage that you finish as many questions as you can so you can receive the highest amount of marks possible.

To put it simply: Unanswered questions = wasted marks.

RELATED: 5 Reasons To Start Your UCAT Preparation Now

Understand each section

As a reference, the 2019 UCAT was split into 5 different sections in multiple choice format which included:

Verbal Reasoning – 44 questions

Assess the ability to critically evaluate information presented in a written form.

Decision Making (20 questions)

Assess the ability to make sound decisions and judgements using complex information.

Quantitative Reasoning – 36 questions

Assess the ability to critically evaluate information presented in a numerical form.

Abstract Reasoning – 55 questions

Assess the ability to identify patterns amongst abstract shapes.

Situational Judgement – 69 questions

Understand real world situations and to identify critical factors and appropriate behaviour in dealing with them.

Each part of the UCAT Exam is designed to prepare you for your chosen degree, and get you into the right state of mind for your future profession.

Do you need some extra help when it comes to the UCAT? Why not try our Free Mini Mock Exam when you join our Discussion Group on Facebook. Click here to answer over 50 questions across 5 subtests of the UCAT today.

If you’re looking for some personalised UCAT Tuition, check out our Masterclass taught by 100th percentile UCAT teachers taking place in Burwood (NSW) in February and March. Click here to find out more about our Masterclass courses.