UCAT Tips for Each Section: VR, DM, QR and SJT

The UCAT at a glance: what your tips need to fit

The UCAT has four separately timed subtests, each with its own short instruction section. Once the test starts it can't be paused. The table works out the average time per question, which is the single most useful number for planning your approach.

The UCAT is marked on the number of correct answers, with no negative marking, so answer every question, even if you have to guess in the last seconds. Your answer to one question doesn't change which questions you get next. For the full breakdown of each section, see our UCAT format guide.

General UCAT tips: tools, flagging and navigation

The UCAT Consortium recommends getting to know the test tools because it can save valuable time on test day. Work through the official Tour Tutorial before anything else. The features worth practising:

• Flag for review. You can flag a question and come back to it if you have time at the end of the subtest. Use it for questions that are eating your time, not for every slight doubt.
• Keyboard shortcuts. Where a letter is underlined, Alt plus that letter carries out the action; for example, Alt + N moves to the next question. Some actions, such as drag-and-drop answers, only work with the mouse, so practise both.
• Calculator. A basic on-screen calculator is available in Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning only. It has no scientific functions. If you type numbers on the keyboard, make sure Num Lock is on, and remember the calculator stops responding if you click away or use a shortcut until you click back on it.
• Timer. Each subtest and instruction screen has its own countdown in the top right. It turns yellow with less than 5 minutes left. When time runs out, press OK on the pop-up straight away or you lose time from the next section.
• Notebook. At a test centre you get an A4 laminated notebook and pen. Check the pen works before you start.
• Display. Ctrl + and Ctrl − zoom the screen, Ctrl 0 resets it, and you can change the colour scheme if that helps you read.

UCAT Verbal Reasoning tips

Verbal Reasoning gives you eleven passages, each with four questions, and asks whether conclusions can be drawn from the text. You're not expected to use outside knowledge. At 30 seconds a question, it has the least time per question of the three scored cognitive subtests.

• Read the question first, then search the passage. Reading every passage in full is hard at 30 seconds a question.
• Pick a reading strategy and test it. The Consortium's advice from high-scoring past candidates is to decide whether you prefer skim reading or finding key words, and to consider approaching different question types differently.
• Answer only from the passage. If the text doesn't support a statement, your own knowledge can't rescue it.
• Move on from a stuck question. Guess, flag it and keep going. A single passage shouldn't take much more than two minutes.
• Practise reading at speed. Past candidates suggest reading news articles and pulling out key information quickly.

Try timed sets in our UCAT Verbal Reasoning practice.

UCAT Decision Making tips

Decision Making tests logic, evaluating arguments and analysing statistical information. Some questions are multiple choice; others ask for a yes or no against each of five statements. No specialist terminology is needed. You have the most time per question here, so accuracy matters more than speed.

• Know the marking. Single-answer questions are worth 1 mark. Multiple-statement questions are worth 2, and you get 1 mark for a partially correct response. So answer all five statements even when you're unsure of one.
• Brush up on Venn diagrams and basic probability. These are the two topics the Consortium's past-candidate tips specifically mention.
• Learn each question type. The official Decision Making question tutorial walks through the types with worked examples.
• Flag the long ones. Past candidates recommend using flag and review to save the hardest questions for later.
• Draw it out. Use the notebook for quick diagrams or tables in logic puzzles rather than holding everything in your head.

Practise with our UCAT Decision Making questions.

UCAT Quantitative Reasoning tips

Quantitative Reasoning questions most often refer to charts and graphs, and the Consortium says they are less about numerical facility and more about problem solving. At about 43 seconds a question, finding the right numbers quickly is half the battle.

• Find the data before you calculate. Read the question, identify exactly which figures from the table or chart you need, then work.
• Mix your methods. Past candidates suggest combining mental arithmetic, written methods and the on-screen calculator. The calculator is slow for simple sums.
• Round to eliminate. Use rounding to rule out obviously wrong answers first; often only one option is close.
• Revise the basics. Past candidates recommend brushing up on basic maths skills and mental arithmetic, such as percentages, ratios and averages.
• Practise the calculator with the keyboard and number pad, so you don't lose seconds switching between mouse and keys.

Build speed with our UCAT Quantitative Reasoning practice.

UCAT Situational Judgement tips

The Situational Judgement Test presents hypothetical scenarios in a clinical setting or during medical or dental training, with up to six questions per scenario. It assesses integrity, perspective taking, team involvement, resilience and adaptability, and needs no medical knowledge. You get full marks for matching the correct answer and partial marks for being close.

• Read Good Medical Practice. The Consortium's past-candidate tips point to the GMC's guide to Good Medical Practice.
• Answer as a good student or doctor should, not as you might instinctively. Think about patient safety, honesty, and working within your role.
• Look for patterns. Work through the official question banks to identify common themes.
• Keep moving. At about 23 seconds a question, there is little time to deliberate. Partial marks mean a close answer still counts.

Practise scenarios with our UCAT Situational Judgement practice.

Use the official practice materials in the right order

The UCAT Consortium offers everything free on its practice tests page and says its example questions and practice tests are representative of the live test. It also says it does not endorse any paid-for preparation resources.

1. Tour Tutorial: learn the calculator, navigator, shortcuts and flagging.
2. Question Tutorials: one for each subtest, with strategies and worked examples (UCAT).
3. Question banks: four each for Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning, and three for Situational Judgement. Use 'Explain Answer' to see the reasoning. Your progress isn't saved, so note which questions you've done.
4. Practice tests: four tests (A to D), each with standard timing, 25% extra time or untimed. Use them nearer your test date. They show which answers were right but don't give a score.

Past candidates quoted by the Consortium suggest planning your preparation across 4 to 8 weeks and looking at the format before practice questions. Between the official sets, our free UCAT practice test gives you more timed questions for each subtest. To see how results are reported, read UCAT scores explained.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Every source below was accessed on the listed date. Pages — especially department admissions pages — change without notice; the links go to the live versions.

1. Test Format and Scoring — UCAT Consortium. Accessed 2026-10-01.
2. Test Tools and Functionality — UCAT Consortium. Accessed 2026-10-01.
3. Practice Tests and Question Banks — UCAT Consortium. Accessed 2026-10-01.
4. Preparation Resources — UCAT Consortium. Accessed 2026-10-01.
5. Question Tutorials — UCAT Consortium. Accessed 2026-10-01.
6. Advice from past candidates — UCAT Consortium. Accessed 2026-10-01.
7. UCAT Test Dates — UCAT Consortium. Accessed 2026-10-01.

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