UCAT Prep Guide: Verbal Reasoning, DM & QR Strategies

Verbal Reasoning
Decision Making
Quantitative Reasoning
SJT
Mental State & On-the-Day Tips
Breaks & Day Before
General Remarks & Community Feedback
Testimonial Highlights
Appendix: Quick Reference Facts

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Verbal Reasoning

This is generally the hardest subtest in the UCAT due to the immense time pressure and comprehension, along with it being the first subtest you sit. Improvement in VR is very different to improvement in other subtests. In other subtests, spamming questions can generally get you high marks however this is NOT the case for VR. Mindlessly spamming questions will not improve your score. VR requires highly focused practice on specific skills, coupled with very thorough reviews. There are two main strategies for VR. Full read and key word scan. I personally didn’t use the medentry or medify VR trainers (just read random wiki articles instead) but if this works for you, go for it.

1. Full read

This is the strategy that both me and BetterHlo used. However this does NOT mean it will work for you and you should not switch techniques if you are already comfortable with keyword scanning. Full reading means that at the very start of the question you immediately read the whole text (this should take you around 40-45 seconds) and then you should aim to solve the questions in 10-15 seconds by looking back as infrequently as possible. However for questions such as ‘which of these are true’ or ‘which of these are false’ this will be very hard to do, in such cases try and read all 4 and out of those 4 use initial reading to try pick 2 that has quantifiers such as will/all/none etc and look at those last, then out of the 2 left find the proof needed and prove/disprove them.

NOTE: Overtime you should aim to ALWAYS get the 2 options that you initially choose right as going through all 4 will waste time you cannot spare. If you somehow happen to have some extra time, take a look at T/F/CT, as these are the sections where people tend to make small mistakes most often.

While full reading summarizes each “chunk” of text with its own mental label, have comprehension and be able to refer back to the mental labels when answering q’s. You should almost never need to scan the passage for where certain things are and should always know where everything is. For full reading a lot of retention is needed. How I improved this was by reading random wikipedia articles (about things I was interested in) and then writing down what I remembered. Overtime I would go from writing things like ‘2nd para talked about how barca is the best team in the world’ to ‘barca is the best team in the world BECAUSE of its largest social media followings in the world among sports teams and a record of six FIFA World Player of the Year awards’. Again, this doesn’t work for everyone so take this with a grain of salt. With longer passages that cannot be easily full read within 40-45 seconds it is advised to skip over certain words such as dates/names/titles, for example if a sentence said “Napoleon Bonaparte 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French general during the French Revolution” all I would remember is “someone was a French general”. When doing T/F/CT even with full read you should ALWAYS keyword scan as keyword scanning is much faster for T/F/CT and will save you time. Aim to finish all T/F/CT within 90 seconds per set (around 20 seconds a question). Full reading requires you to have a fast reading speed. There aren't many ways to improve this other than practice. Some people tell you to read books but I personally think this is redundant unless you are reading with the purpose of reading faster. Full reading takes a long time to get used to (for reference it took me weeks to get good at it but for you it might take less/more) but once this strategy becomes solidified getting consistent 800s becomes doable.

2. Keyword Scanning

Pretty much in the name, just find the key word in the question and look through the paragraphs vertically or horizontally until you find the key word. After you find the keyword read the sentence before AND after to get a better understanding. While doing this its beneficial to also look for synonyms as key words aren’t always there for example if the stimulus said that “There are no more zebras living in the world” and you decide to look for the word zebras it might not show up, instead the paragraph might contain “there are no more animals living in the world”. When not finding keywords you start getting nervous and panic. When this happens do NOT keep searching as it's possible that the paragraph contains nothing about it and you're just wasting your time. Instead choose can’t tell and move on while keeping this in the back of your mind just in case you did somehow miss it. For an author's opinion keyword scan can be a bit tricky as there is nothing to scan for, in these cases it is important to read the first and last paragraphs as these normally give a very good idea of the authors opinion/perspective.

3. Time Management + Flagging + Guessing

Given unlimited time everyone should be able to get 44/44 or damn close. The immense time pressure is what makes this subtest hard. Aim 2 minutes per set (RC) and 1 minute 30 for TFCT. Make sure you have checkpoints as these helped me make sure I was on track. My timestamps were, 10 questions done = 17 minutes remaining, 20q=12min, 30q=7min and 40q=2min. Again, these are very personal and you can have more/less than what I used. Do NOT be afraid to flag questions in VR as some questions are just generally harder and will still result in the same amount of marks as an easier question. If you are ahead of time and everything is going your way I would still recommend flagging questions you are unsure about just so you can come back at the end if you have the time. If you are behind time and need to make up for it do NOT blindly guess as there is a 25% chance of you getting 1 right. Instead spend at least 5 seconds to make an educated guess. What I mean by this is to look at the answer options and automatically rule out any which have quantifiers such as all/never/impossible as these are almost never true, instead select answer options which have quantifiers such as may/can/could as they are more likely to be true. With these extra 5 seconds spent it's possible to get around 1-2 correct CONSISTENTLY. Guessing is very personalized for everyone, it's always good to skip the long passages but also note that it's also good to skip passages that are boring to you as this will make them 100x harder to comprehend. For me this was any passage about medicine/sciency stuff for you it might be different, figure out what is boring for you and don’t be afraid to skip these. People say to NOT use outside information in VR but if you're guessing I think that using external information can increase your score. This is because the passage will not say things such as ‘the earth has no moons’ and hence choosing the answer option saying ‘the earth has a moon’ could be correct. THIS IS ONLY AS A LAST RESORT DO NOT RELY ON THIS.

4. OQB Vs Medify Vs Medentry

Personally I found OQB and official mocks to be the best for VR as it is vital to understand what they allow as an inference (as they are a lot more lenient with inferences compared to medify/medentry.) I found medify useful as the length of the passage was quite long and so I could get used to longer texts/time management. I found medentry to be a good mix between the 2 as it had a decent passage length as well as decent inferences.

750

720 810 860 770 810 830 800 800 860 800

880 900 860 850 900 900 820 880 900 900 Last

This table is from medify/medentry/oqb and is ONLY the mocks that were from my last 2 weeks prep. I did NOT start with a 750 (started with a 17/44).

General Tips

Make sure you ANSWER the question, what I mean by this is sometimes there will be an answer option that is correct but it won’t ANSWER the question.
For T/F/CT sometimes the stem will require 2 proofs. Eg, if the statement said ‘Barcelona beat Real Madrid in 2007 and became the best team’ you need to confirm that Barcelona beat Real Madrid AND that they became the best team. If one of these is true and the other is can’t tell the answer becomes can’t tell. If one of these is true and one of these is false it becomes false. If one of these is false and one of these is can’t tell it becomes false. TLDR: t+ct=ct, t+f=f, f+ct=f.
Don’t get complacent. If you are ahead of time there is a possibility that the first few passages will be easier and the last few are harder. Stick to 30 seconds per q. On the other hand don’t skip just because you're a few seconds/minutes behind, it could be that the first few passages were harder and the last few are easier.
If a question starts off with ‘the passage states that..’ the only options are going to be true or false it will NEVER be can’t tell as if its not there, the passage doesn’t state it and hence it would just be false.

Decision Making

For me, decision making was one of the more approachable subtests compared to VR, and I was a lot more consistent with it. My main methods of approach came to these things.

1. Syllogisms

Make sure you know the definitions of every single term like the back of your hand and the common misunderstandings that come associated. This is especially important with the definition of the word “some”, “few”, “many” and other similarly associated terms. Although there is an official list, I would like to define some of these common terms a little clearer. Always find synonyms when possible.

All- Everything within a set

None- Nothing, 0%

Always- On every instance

Often- On more than one occasion

At least One- A number larger or equal to one, inclusive of the entire set

Not all- A number between 1-99% of the set

Some- A discrete number more than 1 but less than all

Many- Similar to some, but may be used interchangeably to represent a distinct set that is large. Often associated with Plurals, please watch out for the use of the letter “s” at the end of certain words to mean multiple (Context of this matters in whether it is the stem or premise often.)

Numerous- Similar to many/several, but representative solely of a larger set, never 2

Either/Or- Exclusively one of the two sets mentioned on either side, never both of the two at the same instance. (However if they only use “or” without “either”, it can be both. If they only use the word “either”, it is still only one of the two not both)

Few- A number more than 1 but less than 50% of the set

Majority- A number more than 50% but less than 100% of the set

Most- Two meanings are possible depending on context. May represent the option most prevalent in a subset comparatively, not necessarily larger than 50%. Eg “The most popular cat”. May also represent a majority of larger than 50% but less than 100%. Eg “Most people picked a teddy bear”

Only- Occurs strictly for this premise

Unless/Necessary- Provides the only premise for when something is true

Modality- Watch out for low and high modality words and the combination of these. If a premise simply states “Bears are black”, this has to hold under any and every circumstance. Whilst a lower modality word such as “Bears can be black” will be considered true as long as one case for this exists. This is often a subject of confusion, when a stem is given such that “Bears are black or brown” and the premise is “Bears can be brown”, this is true, whilst “Bears are brown” is false. If a low modality word is combined with a high modality word, this makes it a high modality statement. Eg ”Bears can only be brown,” will be false. Please be careful with assessing whether it asks for only one case or all cases.

Strategies-Venn diagrams or Arrow methods are more common and have worked for plenty of other people so it may also be a good choice for you. Personally, I found internalising it more useful. Some of the common methods I used are as follows:

Counterexample-Arguably one of the most useful ones I use. For questions with high modality, often finding a single counter example is enough to disprove the statement. And for options with a lower modality, a single existent case makes this true. Eg if a statement asks whether A is either B or C, you may test whether A is both B and C, if it is, this statement is false.

Contrapositive-Negate both sides and flip the implication, this is useful for questions with a negative or/either statements as well. Eg if a statement asks whether “Not A implies Not B”, you may test whether “B implies A”, and if the latter holds, the former is also true. Please note while doing contrapositive, either becomes and, while and becomes either. You can look this up for further clarification.

Direct - Utilise your statement and follow it directly, try to see if your statement when utilised in the stem holds or contradicts some of the rules set. It may also be helpful to the mathematically minded to assign letters to the words instead of utilising the actual words, to get a clearer line of logic. This is the one that is hardest to train, but can be utilised for almost anything in combination to finding a counterexample. Always try to find an easier, equivalent statement. These 3 are just some of the ones I found, you may do some research and find others you find useful. My specific methods may be too personalised/messy to note, but for confusing or easier methods I sometimes did rewrite the question in simpler terms and wording through equivalence.

Common misunderstandings: A statement does not go both ways after negating a singular side or both without flipping.

If A implies B, B does not Imply A unless explicitly stated, I have seen many people make this mistake, a statement does not go both ways.

If some A are B, it does not follow that some A are not B, as the remaining can have a population of only 1.

If Only A are B, it follows that B is a subset of A, but does not follow A is a subset of B

If all of A is B, some of B is A however will normally follow, as B will include other subsets as well. Do not overthink this, UCAT will usually never define 2 sets to be identical. If A is a subset of B, B is a subset of A it would mean they are describing the same thing when this is stated.

If some A are B, and all B are C, it does not follow that some A are C, as it is possible for all of A to be a subset of C.

I find a lot of people misunderstand the term either and or. Both represent only one side of the word, and cannot include both. So always try finding a counterexample for this type of question to disprove it regularly.

Please do not overthink your syllogism choices. The intent of the question is not to make the wording or the situation ambiguous but to test your logical deductive ability for a given premise. If you find yourself finding an outlandish claim or extreme statement, it will often be wrong. For this I heavily encourage doing the official question bank to check the extent of inference in which UCAT allows. This is usually minimal/only common sense for logic, but more lax with data and narrative based.

The most common type of inference in narrative, logic and data based syllogisms which results in it being false is the scope. Scope is arguably one of the most important things when considering whether an argument is yes or no. I like to check whether the question is explicitly supporting the premise given, implicitly supporting or the statement is too general or too specific to deduce. Watch out for population size, location, sampled groups and key defining words. Assess whether these are directly indicative of the change/or there are other possible contributing factors. Watch out for sentence structure, and whether the sentence you read is connected to the next or previous sentence. Just because something occurs in a certain place/location, does not mean the place/location is responsible for it unless the wording suggests so. However, do not over analyze. If something is stated to have a major impact, do not try and push for an alternative that could be possible, this is often not the purpose. It is better to think of it in this way, whether the text supports, refutes, or does not consider the premise. For me personally, It was better to read the questions and then the text in this specific section. The same applies to data syllogisms, please refer to OQB for practicing the extent of inference, it is a very patterned and gut feeling at times that you can classify yourself to help you approach it.

2. Probability

It might be useful to do these first, especially the probability section as these can be quick easy marks as opposed to logic puzzles. For probability, you may find it useful to review conditional probability, tree diagrams, and combinatorics as well as permutations.

A common question type I notice is where it says I have a 50/50 chance on each draw of a marble being red. I draw 2 marbles, the first one is red. The probability of the second one being red is irrespective of the first one, as it has already occurred.

Tree diagrams are useful for where events are impacted by the event that occurs before it. Eg when it says if it rained the day before, the chance it will rain today is 30%, while if it was sunny the day before, the chance it will rain today is 70%. These questions often require a tree diagram to fully set out and solve.

Combination is the chance of picking a select number out regardless of order. While for permutations, order matters. It is often useful to find the probability through the total possible number of combinations, and the amount of combinations that result in the desired outcome. Here is a link for reading: Per/Com

3. Venn Diagrams

Some questions may ask you to select which statement is true based on the venn diagram. Always start with the statement you think is easiest to prove/disprove, this will leave the most time consuming one for last which you can auto-select if you are confident the other 3 meet the requirements. The statements that equate, give exact fractions and have less numbers is what you do first. When you find the statement you believe is true, move on. Do not go and check every other statement, it is not worth it most of the time unless you are very ahead of time.

For the ones that ask you to assign a venn diagram to a series of statements, you can normally rule out 2.

For the remaining attempt to assign labels to the shapes and test whether it holds, or is not entirely accurate.

A lot of the questions that give numbers of A,B,C and sometimes the numbers for only A and B, it is inherently helpful to draw it out. You can draw circles prior to starting your DM subtest during the 1:30min break, this may save you some time. Be familiar with venn diagram rules, this is a basic run down here. Again, this helped me, but may not help you. I liked to think of parts of the venn diagram as stacking parts of paper, and the overlapping parts and the amount of overlaps is what I had to take away to go back to the original total, this way of thinking saved me a lot of time personally.

4. Strongest Argument

There are a lot of misconceptions with this subtest. This subtest is not testing your morals, it is testing your associative ability. The answer is normally the statement that addresses all or the most aspects of the solution with a valid reason. It is very important that it provides a reason too, it cannot simply state that the proposed solution provides the desired outcome without a reason, this is not valid. The statement may infer/assume a little to reason, this is standard. But how well it addresses the concerns and aspects not noted by all parts of the statement is what determines the best statement. Often the statement I personally think is most thorough is incorrect, so do not let your personal bias influence your decision on this section. When you are used to this, it will probably be the fastest part of your DM.

5. Logic Puzzles

I personally left this section to do last. It is probably the most time consuming section, without the proper reward to compensate for it. The method I use is what most people use, which is drawing a table. Always assign one of the rows as a set variable, eg names, while leaving the other column free for movement. An example table may look like this.

Varying 1 | Varying 2 | Varying 3 | Varying 4

A |

B |

C |

D |

The other types of logic puzzles are less common, but require you to follow the steps. It was definitely helpful to start with the most absolute statement. Eg. Noah is third, Jim is in between Noah and Sandra, and leaves the less absolute statements such as James is not first, to the very end to fill. Determining the order in which you approach the clues is just as important as the setting out.

Other directional and letter based logic puzzles are inconsistent and I cannot comment on, however if you use absolute statements first, it will often follow the same method of deduction. Some people might receive letters which correlate to numbers, it may represent distinct letters, number of letters or even the number it correlates to in the alphabet, so think outside of the box for some of the more outlandish ones that might remind you of abstract reasoning.

I’ve also seen the addition of shapes and their correlation. Try to find the set with the most similarities/equations that can be represented with the shapes present in the asked equation. This will normally make it relatively easy to solve.

Hopefully I have addressed most concerns, and again, this is only a rough guide to what I did in the DM section, your approach can look completely different. I personally pushed heavily on syllogisms and got through them in roughly 30-40s each. You can train another strength to a high extent and leave more time for your weaker areas. Do not forget to train your strengths so they are even better.

For those wondering, my order of approach was:

Syllogisms->Probability->Venn Diagrams->Narrative and Data based syllogisms->Recognising Assumptions/Strongest Argument->Logical Puzzles

This is a list of my DM mock scores from first to last. I believe the medify DM difficulties are rather similar, however their inference and syllogisms tend to be sometimes incorrect or strange. I also did a lot of question sets between mocks, especially after the first few.

650

710 730 680 780 740 740 860 780 760 800 720

900 820 820 680 900 800 840 760 840 900 800 880

Last

Quantitative Reasoning

This is what most people find to be the easiest subsection of the UCAT. Quantitative reasoning gives a huge advantage to those strong with mental math. If you can, try to minimally use your calculator, otherwise practice your use of the calculator heavily. I recommend getting a keyboard with a number pad.

Practice your speed, this will get very fast and save you time. Additionally, make sure you read the entire question stem before attempting the question. I know it sounds like a waste of time, but it is worth it to save any possible recalculations you might have to go through.

1. Keyboard Shortcuts:

M: M- Key

P: M+ Key

C: MRC

For those wondering what these are useful for, you utilize these when adding numbers that have different multiplicity factors. Eg. Eggs,bacon,milk with different amounts for different prices. M+ adds the number displayed on the calculator screen to the memory. If a number already exists in the memory, the number displayed will be added to the stored number. M- subtracts the number displayed on the calculator screen from the memory. This also means subtracting from the stored number. MRC brings up the number stored in your memory, treating it as a variable with a value to use in your calculations. Pressing this twice will reset your memory to 0, the small M on the screen will also disappear. The initial stored memory value is always 0, and on the official UCAT, your memory will not carry from question to question, so it is often worth it to write down values you think will be useful for later questions.

2. Mathematical Shortcuts:

Shortcuts are everywhere in QR. Try to locate them. Especially with averages. When we multiply multiple numbers by the same amount, or it asks us to find the difference of 2 values when we are given a percentage, it is often much more efficient to average the percentages or find the difference first. Eg if they tell us a company spends $1000, some percentage is distributed among A,B,C with percentages 10%, 15%, 20%. It is often faster to find the average of A,B,C which is 15% x 1000=$150 for the average instead of multiplying them individually.

Shortcuts for order of operations are everywhere and will save you a lot of time, so look at where they can be used. Being able to estimate certain values is also very useful, sometimes you can get an answer without ever actually calculating for it.

3. Units:

Units and their formulas are trippy, a lot of people find it hard to go from one unit to another. I like to think of their units as representative of their formula. Eg. Velocity is m/s, because m(refers to distance in metres) and s(refers to the time in seconds) if you convert any part of the unit, think of it in fraction form, and apply the same operation to the numerical value. Get used to conversions, remember shortcuts and practice them.

4. Percentage Change:

I always converted my percentages to decimals, it was just a preference. Beware of the word change, it is a difference, not a multiple of. If I say I have 2x as much money as James who has 10$, I have 20$.

However, if I say I have 200% more money. This means I have 200%+100% or 3 times as much money as James, meaning I have 30$. UCAT sometimes likes to give graphs with percentage change, make sure you add this to 100% before multiplying for total resultant value.

QR is a subject that requires practice, just as much as VR if you are not mathematically inclined. When looking at a tedious solution, always ask if there is a better method to do it, and note it down. This will help you remember it, and get it right. Things such as going from m/s to km/h means multiplying by 3.6 unit conversions and basic shapes, and a lot more smaller nuances, memorised/common formulas will come from practice.

I won’t go into specifics about question types, as QR varies too much, this is just a general approach, don’t be afraid to skip questions, but QR is definitely a subtest worth investing on, as it is much less ambiguous than the rest and can guarantee marks.

I was already rather strong at mathematics, I did a lot of competitions when I was younger so my score might be inflated compared to people who are just starting out. I also had to train my calculator skills at the beginning.

770

770 880 820 840 750 880 900 840 840 690

(idk)

840

800 860 900 900 840 800 770 880 840 880 900 840

Last

SJT {#sjt}

SJT Tips from a B1 scorer (660+) who revised for less than 4 hours total for this subtest

SJT is the least time pressured subtest of the UCAT and is a nice end to the exam. However, many people neglect this subtest and purely focus on scaled score, which results in a B3 or B4. Whilst B3 in itself isn’t that bad, even 1 hour revision can make this a B2 minimum if you do it correctly.

Biggest tip: Do NOT use Medify/Medentry SJT – these are the worst places to be doing SJT revision. At the very start of my revision, I nearly fell into this trap of learning incorrect logic. I’ve seen plenty of people who unfortunately fall into this trap and do not get the SJT band they want. The only resource you should be using is the Official UCAT question bank (OQB) and Good Medical Practice. When you do mocks on other platforms apart from OQB, always skip the SJT. I see plenty of people saying this is wrong, but in my opinion, it is just a waste of time and makes you feel more burnt out at the end of mocks. The main priority is your scaled score – think about it like this, universities prioritise a 2400 B3 rather than a 2100 B1. Always focus on the scaled.

Throughout my UCAT prep, I didn’t do SJT revision until the final 2 weeks before the exam, when I first touched the OQB.

What you should do on OQB:

There are two sets of 69 questions on the OQB (not including mocks)

You should:

Do these as a “Mini-mock” – you don’t even need to spend the full 26 minutes, but if you want to, you can. I would usually get SJT done within 15 minutes (11 minutes on the clock remaining). In the real exam however, I spent this time, but then glanced over my answers for the rest of the time remaining instead of ending review (don’t end review in the actual exam, spend the full 26 mins)
After, review all questions, not just incorrect ones – you MUST learn the OQB logic. This can differ significantly if you have already been using Medify/Medentry logic.

Now this is the bare minimum, but you should make notes on the ones you get wrong.

You will eventually start seeing a pattern by just doing those two question sets. Ensure you have these in your mind every time you are doing SJT:

Patient safety
Patient confidentiality
Four pillars of medical ethics: Autonomy, Beneficence, Non-Maleficence and Justice
Reputation
Attempting to resolve problems locally
Doctor-patient relationship
The limitations of your role – this has to be emphasised, ensure you know your place, ie if you are a junior doctor, consultant or a medical student (they all have different levels of responsibility)
Personal boundaries
Compassion
Empathy

I see a lot of people get confused by OQB logic, and I was also at the start, but just doing all of the questions on OQB helped significantly. The most common one I see is the difficulty in differentiating between the extremes and the less extremes. Why might something be inappropriate but not awful, but OQB says its very inappropriate? Remember, the people who made OQB make the real exam (they are real doctors), so you just have to accept and learn the logic, even if you may think that there may be some slight consideration, usually OQB is clearcut on this.

What I did after this was skim read GMP (this took around 30 minutes) – this was very helpful for me for generating the key themes listed above.

When you are nearing your exam, you will probably attempt mocks A, B, C and D. I advise you to do all of these SJT sections as well, ensuring you review them thoroughly too by reading every answer explanation and internalising it.

If you have time, I would do the OQB section again. This is to test if you really have internalised what OQB wants you to do.

On the days leading up to the exam, I would advise you to read this document:

https://tinyurl.com/UCATsjt - Credits to @shaunlikestosleep who also scored a B1 with a similar number of hours

If you can print it out, that would be very helpful as well if you want to annotate stuff.

This document consists of all the OQB SJT questions and logic typed onto one document. I only read around 10 pages of it because it was the night before my exam and a few minutes before my exam. It significantly helped me not only in SJT, but VR as well. Extra tip: this is literally speedreading practice right before your exam, ensuring you’ve read something at least before you attempt the VR subsection of the UCAT.

During the exam, don’t be afraid to flag a question you think may have slight considerations. You will have time at the end. I would say usually however, if you do have a second thought, the middle answer options are safer than the extremes. Please don’t second guess yourself – go with your gut and most of the time it will be right.

To ease your nerves, SJT marking is very generous. SJT is actually scored out of 276, with 4 points for the best answer.

Here’s an example:

If the answer is “Very important”,

Very important = 4

Important = 3

Of minor importance = 2

Not important at all = 1

If the answer is “Of minor importance”,

Very important = 1

Important = 2

Of minor importance = 4

Not important at all = 3

You can still get a lot of marks just by being on the correct side (important, not important, appropriate, inappropriate)

TLDR:

Utilise OQB and read through every answer explanation, stop using other platform questions completely.

Mental State {#mental-state-on-the-day-tips}

Kyle:

On the day your mental state plays more than you think. Get 8 hours sleep before your UCAT. Anything more or anything less will hinder your performance. Even if you’ve been getting shit exam scores remember you only need to perform good once (on the exam) and mock scores won’t matter after that. If you’ve been getting good mock scores then be happy with yourself, you know you can perform well so you just need to do the same on the day. On the drive to my testing center its good to revise some VR, I would not recommend doing actual questions cause if you get them all wrong it'll mess with your mental state, instead just go on reading some of the passages and look at the questions as this will get you in the mindset for VR and you won’t ‘warm up’ halfway through your VR. Before I walked in I looked at some of my past mock scores to remind myself that I was capable of getting good scores. In the waiting room you’ll be with other students and no matter how smart or nerdy they look, just reassure yourself, tell yourself that you’ve outworked everyone there and that even if you had to go back in time and study again you wouldn’t change a thing. Do NOT second guess yourself or start playing the ‘what if’ game in the waiting room. On the day mental state plays around 40% of your overall success with the other 60% being your study and skill. There is NO luck on the exam day and anyone that says there is luck is coping. If you think luck plays a part in the UCAT then you will end up not giving it your all and just blaming yourself for being ‘unlucky’ which will then again, hinder your performance. Overall just make sure you have a really good mindset and I'm sure you’ll ace your exam.

Before the day

Before the day of your exam do NOT do a mock. If you get a bad score it’ll mess with your mind more than you think. If you are really keen on doing a mock make sure it's an easy one which you know everyone gets good grades on. For reference these are some easy mocks.

OQB: Mock C and D
Medify: 4, 12, 17, 23, 24
Medentry: e72, e05, e53, 95, e01, e90, e99

Do not overwhelm yourself with prep on the day. Even if you're capable of studying 9 hours without burning out, only study around 2-4 - recommended this is on OQB. For the rest of your day relax, go out with friends, eat an ice cream and doomscroll. Spending large amounts of the day before your exam doing prep is NOT going to impact your score (if anything it will be lower), so just enjoy your day.

BetterHalo:

I averaged around 2450 on medify and 2500s on medentry. My official Mock C was a 2610. VR:830 DM:880 QR:900

My official Mock D was a 2580. VR:850 DM:850 QR:880

Kyle:

Averaged around 2450 on medify and 2500s on medentry. My official Mock C was 2520 VR:860 DM:820 QR:840

My official Mock D was a 2560 VR:900 DM:820 QR:840

Breaks

In the UCAT you are given breaks in between subtests. Use this time wisely. Let go of any previous subtest and focus fully on the next one. If you think you did bad in VR and that's all you're thinking about going into DM it's likely you will also do bad in DM. A 600 900 900 is better than a 600 600 600. Take some deep breaths, gaslight yourself into thinking you aced the previous subtest if needed but fully let go of any emotions before your break ends. During the breaks make sure that your pen works, if not raise your hand for your invigilator and they will bring you one.

Betterhalo:

I was hella nervous, I woke up early, took a shower and did some light reading right before my sexam to warm up my head for verbal. Some people got into a routine of doing mocks at the time of their exam which definitely could have helped. Overall, try to relax a bit before, for me it meant talking to my significant other for motivation, however, it may be very different for you. It’s okay to be anxious, shaky and heavy hearted before your exam. Go in with a plan, but do not expect that it will go exactly how you have practiced. Because most likely, it won’t. It’ll be more chaotic. Once you complete a subtest, move on to the next and forget about what you did on the last one. Keep pushing. UCAT is as much of a game of nerves as it is of practice. I had only done 16 questions with 9 minutes to spare in my own verbal exam, but I pushed through. Redirect your anxiety into adrenaline that makes you perform, use it to your advantage and as long as you envision your success, I’m sure you will do just as well.

General advice from other people who scored 2600+

Peeson- Hi guys! I’m Peeson and I scored a 2670 (880/890/900). I actually read this guide before my UCAT, and I agree with essentially everything written about the subsections, but it varies by individual, so I thought I’d add my own thoughts.

As stated in the introduction, the UCAT tries its best to be an aptitude test so there are no “gotcha” ways to get high marks and is different for everyone. For instance, this was my approach to the test/prep:

VR —I also full read, which allowed me to answer about half the questions w/o looking, the rest I skimmed. However, I will say I did the reading faster (about 20-30 seconds) and skimmed back a bit more. Had about 2 minutes at the end. (Alt+V gives you your flagged questions!)

DM — I think that for revision purposes almost every inference, probability, venn diagram and identifying assumptions question is quite straightforward to solve assuming you understand how to solve it (Hlo fully explains this in the guide). I skipped logic puzzles; I did the rest chronologically.

QR — Essentially followed Hlo’s guide: shortcuts, getting used to the calculator, reading the whole question Had about 6 minutes left. (Fun fact I used the top number keys! I was quite fast though).

The closest things to a “gotcha”, in my opinion, are 1. getting very quick with shortcuts and the UCAT calculator, and 2. understanding the DM terminology/logic.

Comments on preparation- To familiarize yourself with the questions, I think it’s important to begin with lots of question-bank practice for specific question types before mocks. Much of this guide comes naturally with practice.

I stopped doing mocks a few days before my exam. Instead, I looked through the OQB for the first time, focusing mostly on the OQB and official mocks' DM sections. As per Hlo the OQB is more lenient in its inferences compared to Medify/Medentry and takes some syllogisms differently. For me looking at it from the perspective of a marker was beneficial. In the test you have about 1 minute per question in DM.

Medify initially conditioned me to think of bizarre conditions that could prove some statements false, but as per the guide if you're thinking of a ridiculous fringe case, it's likely not correct. OQB is king.

This is not a route the others have taken but I did not complete the DM sections in the official mocks under timed/untimed conditions. This is because DM is markedly different from Medify/Medentry, so I wanted to complete, mark and understand every question separately, just treating the official mocks’ DM sections like another OQB. Also, consider using Medify’s calculator for the OQB/official mock QR sections because it’s far less buggy and slow than the website’s, which could introduce bad habits.

For another perspective on syllogisms, I’m not good enough at DM to fully internalize syllogisms, so I sometimes drew venn diagrams. If you do so, I will say that some statements have multiple ways they could be represented. For instance, if few bears are brown, the “brown” circle could either be fully in the “bears” circle or extend beyond it. You should keep this in mind when drawing the diagrams, particularly for “can” or high modality statements. This flexibility (and speed) is why internalizing could be better.

Day before / On the day- On the morning and day prior, I kept preparation to the minimum. I did little practice, and if I did it was only a few syllogisms and inferences on Medify/OQB to keep on the DM mindset. Additionally on the day I followed a familiar routine. I was housesitting someone for a while so in the mornings I would walk their dog, eat lunch, chill and then do a mock; I followed this exact process on the day. A routine could be useful to calm down before the rest.

Additionally, I also skipped all the breaks in between the subtests. VR is the most time-stressed and memory-based section of the test, so I ended up in a sort of flow state after the end of VR that I did not want to interrupt by spending 2 minutes sitting on the screen possibly becoming more anxious. If you feel like you're in a good state of mind at the end of VR this could be a viable approach.

General remarks- I will say my mocks were not as insane as the other authors. I averaged 2360 on Medify for my last 5, and 2370 for my last 10 Medentry mocks (however the latter may have been due to lost motivation). I peaked at 2540 on Medify 23 and exceeded 800 on DM only 6/36 times. To be honest I was as shocked as anyone at my score, but whilst fluctuations in scores can exist due to how you feel on the day, preparation is what gives you the chance to be at the higher end of the spectrum. A message of hope to all test sitters!

It is a journey for everyone, and it takes a while to see improvement. It is a bit painful, especially at the start, but if you understand your mistakes, it becomes a lot easier to improve. Good luck to you all and may we all get into med! See some of you next year 😉

Jefferson- I scored a 2600(880VR,820DM,900QR). I LOVED this guide; it helped me clear up a lot of things and gave me more confidence in my VR strategies, please follow this guide, its so damn accurate. I was performing nowhere near as consistently as these guys (2200s on medify), but I reckon taking the day off the day before played a huge role in what I did get. RELAX. I don’t think I can stress this enough but relax. Some people crumble under stress, I was one of them, so I made sure whatever I did, I wasn’t thinking about UCAT. I personally played games with friends the night before just to keep my mind off it, so do whatever work for you. And if you are someone to get nervous, USE your break time during subtests. You have over 5 mins accumulated, and the exam only starts when you press start, so do not let nerves get the better of you. Make sure you’re ready, focused and your heartbeat (yes, your heartbeat) slows down enough before pressing the start button. I’m still in shock about how well I did, I would say it could be a big fluke, but hopefully that gives some of you guys' hope, that you all can do just as well!

Vander- Well somehow, I got here. I scored a 2610(880VR,830DM,900QR), I wanted to do well, I had a very big drive to do well, and I guess this influenced my prep heavily. I did long hours, multiple mocks a day and it probably did more harm at times than good. Know your limits, if you are tired, then sleep. VR was arguably my strongest subtest, and the best advice I can give on VR is to slow down and stick to finding what works for you. Everyone else can have a million different strategies, but if it doesn’t work for you, it’s useless. So, try, and try, and try again until you find your own strategy and practice it like your life depends on it. I didn’t do as much on test day either, I just had breakfast and went, no questions done. But when you start the test, make sure you slow down. I went too fast because of nerves; I lost comprehension and slowed down significantly due to it. So, calm yourself down, pace yourself and don’t try to go faster than the clock unless you are absolutely confident in yourself. After your test, no matter what you get, treat yourself a bit, its’ worth celebrating regardless.

Hopefully we helped, best of luck with your exam inshallah we all make it to med🙏

(if you have any questions feel free to DM betterhlo or kyleyboi on discord)

Breaks

Betterhalo: I was hella nervous, I woke up early, took a shower and did some light reading right before my sexam to warm up my head for verbal. Some people got into a routine of doing mocks at the time of their exam which definitely could have helped. Overall, try to relax a bit before, for me it meant talking to my significant other for motivation, however, it may be very different for you. It’s okay to be anxious, shaky and heavy hearted before your exam. Go in with a plan, but do not expect that it will go exactly how you have practiced. Because most likely, it won’t. It’ll be more chaotic. Once you complete a subtest, move on to the next and forget about what you did on the last one. Keep pushing. UCAT is as much of a game of nerves as it is of practice. I had only done 16 questions with 9 minutes to spare in my own verbal exam, but I pushed through. Redirect your anxiety into adrenaline that makes you perform, use it to your advantage and as long as you envision your success, I’m sure you will do just as well.

"It is a journey for everyone, and it takes a while to see improvement. It is a bit painful, especially at the start, but if you understand your mistakes, it becomes a lot easier to improve. Good luck to you all and may we all get into med! See some of you next year 😉" - Jefferson

Hopefully we helped, best of luck with your exam inshallah we all make it to med🙏

(if you have any questions feel free to DM betterhlo or kyleyboi on discord)

Breaks

Hopefully we helped, best of luck with your exam inshallah we all make it to med🙏

(if you have any questions feel free to DM betterhlo or kyleyboi on discord)

Breaks

General remarks- I averaged around 2360 on Medify for my last 5, and 2370 for my last 10 Medentry mocks (however the latter may have been due to lost motivation). I peaked at 2540 on Medify 23 and exceeded 800 on DM only 6/36 times. To be honest I was as shocked as anyone at my score, but whilst fluctuations in scores can exist due to how you feel on the day, preparation is what gives you the chance to be at the higher end of the spectrum. A message of hope to all test sitters!

This is My final note from the community: Peeson, Jefferson, Vander and others share varied experiences, reminding that success is personalized and contingent on consistent practice, strategy fit, and day-of-state management.

Day before / On the day

On the morning and day prior, many successful candidates emphasize a light, routine-based approach. Some prefer minimal practice to avoid fatigue; others lean on VR warm-up reading to enter the mindset. The key is to avoid overloading the day before the exam. For some, a light VR review suffices; for others, a full rest day works best.

Remember: there is no single magic prep path. The community consensus is to focus on understanding core concepts (VR reading strategies, inference rules in DM, QR shortcuts), maintain calm during breaks, and rely on high-quality official resources (OQB) over external mocks for SJT logic. The maxim is: practice with intention, not volume; internalize reliable patterns, then apply flexibly on exam day.

Breaks were described above; many candidates report balancing mental state, rest, and routine as critical levers for peak performance.

"UCAT is as much a mental game as a test of skill. Find your pace, keep calm, and practice with intention." - Community Insight

Appendix: Quick Reference Facts

Official UCAT resources emphasize OQB logic as the most reliable source for SJT and DM inference.
The UCAT scoring model rewards accuracy and speed, with SJT contributing up to 276 points.
Memory and calculator familiarity can significantly boost Quantitative Reasoning performance.
Table of typical break strategies varies; the core principle is to let go of prior subtests before starting the next.

Quantitative Reasoning

[Content from Quantitative Reasoning section would continue here if there was more; the current excerpt above focuses primarily on VR and DM, with QR guidance interwoven in the QR bullet points. The intent of the original material is preserved, including keyboard shortcuts, unit conversions, and common QR shortcuts.]

SJT

[The SJT section contains practical tips, minimal time-pressure guidance, and recommended resources (OQB, GMP). It details example scoring logic and recommended study patterns. See above for the full excerpt on SJT strategy and resources.]

Mental State & On-the-Day Tips

On the day your mental state plays a large role; ensure you sleep well, avoid overwhelming yourself with late-stage practice, and use breaks to reset.
Visualisation or positive self-talk and routine can help maintain focus during the exam.
Remember there is no luck on the exam day; skill and preparation drive results.

Breaks Day-Before

Candidates typically suggest keeping the day before light and avoiding heavy problem-solving sessions.
Use a simple prep plan that reinforces confidence without inducing fatigue.

General Remarks & Community Feedback

The UCAT prep community emphasizes personalized strategies; many high-scorers advocate for full reading in VR and selective skimming in other question types.
The emphasis on OQB for SJT and DM inference is recurring across testimonials.
The shared advice focuses on calm, consistent practice, and day-of-state management.

Testimonial Highlights

BetterHlo: VR 830 DM 880 QR 900; Mock C 2610; Mock D 2580; total around 2600s.
Kyle: VR 860 DM 820 QR 840; Mock C 2520; Mock D 2560.
Vander: VR 880; DM 830; QR 900; total 2610.
Jefferson: 880 VR, 820 DM, 900 QR; emphasizes day-before rest and steady pace.
Peeson: 880/890/900 distribution; discusses using the guide as a framework while adapting to personal strengths.

Appendix: Quick Reference Facts

The UCAT comprises VR, DM, QR, and SJT; the balance of time and difficulty varies per candidate.
In VR, focus on two initial options and avoid over-reading when time is tight.
In DM, syllogisms, probability, Venn diagrams, and strong argument questions form the core; practice with inference patterns.
In QR, high utility shortcuts exist for averages, unit conversions, and percentage changes; practice mental math and calculator use.

Note: The content above preserves key ideas, tips, and figures from the original text, including individual candidate experiences and opinions about preparation approaches. Readers should adapt strategies to their own learning style and exam timetable.