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UCAT 2026–27: Format, Dates and Free Practice Test

The UCAT is the admissions test for medicine and dentistry: Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning and Situational Judgement, just under two hours in total. The 2026 testing window ran from 13 July to 24 September 2026.

Sources last checked 2026-10-01

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UCAT guides

What this record establishes

Owner
UCAT Consortium
Dates
2027 entry
Format
Official format source listed
Status
Current test

Registration and sitting dates for 2027 entry

Dates change by cycle. Follow the live official pages named below, then check the exact institution deadline rather than copying a date from another course.

  • 2026 test (for 2027 entry): registration opened 20 May 2026, booking closed 16 September 2026 and testing ran from 13 July to 24 September 2026.
  • Results go to universities in early November 2026, and the UCAS deadline for medicine and dentistry is 15 October 2026.
  • Dates for the next UCAT will appear on the UCAT Consortium's website. Confirm each medicine or dentistry course requirement separately.

Format and modules

What the official sources listed on this page establish about delivery, timing, and papers or modules.

Delivery
Computer-based test with four separately timed subtests
Timing
Just under 2 hours, including a short instruction section before each subtest

Papers or modules

  • Verbal Reasoning — 44 questions in 22 minutes
  • Decision Making — 35 questions in 37 minutes
  • Quantitative Reasoning — 36 questions in 26 minutes
  • Situational Judgement — 69 questions in 26 minutes

Scope of this format record

  • Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning are each scored from 300 to 900, for a total of 900 to 2700.
  • Situational Judgement is reported in four bands, Band 1 being the highest.
  • There is no negative marking.

Preparation order

Verify the booking decision first. Preparation advice cannot repair a test choice made for the wrong course, entry year, or module combination.

  1. 1Check which medical or dental schools you are applying to and how each uses the UCAT.
  2. 2Learn the four subtests and their timing: speed matters as much as accuracy.
  3. 3Practise each subtest separately under the official time limits, then sit full mocks.
  4. 4For Situational Judgement, learn the professional values the scenarios test: patient safety, honesty and teamwork.
  5. 5Register and book as soon as the UCAT opens registration for your cycle.

Institution and course records

Read the institution, exact course scope, and entry year together. A row is not a rule for a different course or university.

University of Oxford · 2027 entry

Medicine

Required for this row

Oxford's current admissions-test page is the requirement source; the UCAT Consortium is the test-cycle source.

Policy owner
University of Oxford
Last checked
2026-08-11
Next review
2026-12-01

Dates · 2027 entry

  • Use the UCAT Consortium's live annual dates page for registration, booking, and testing dates.
  • Confirm Oxford's course and application deadlines separately.

Format and modules

Computer-based test with four separately timed subtests

Just under 2 hours, including a short instruction section before each subtest

  • Verbal Reasoning — 44 questions in 22 minutes
  • Decision Making — 35 questions in 37 minutes
  • Quantitative Reasoning — 36 questions in 26 minutes
  • Situational Judgement — 69 questions in 26 minutes

Sitting constraints

  • The requirement is scoped to Oxford Medicine and the stated entry year.
  • The listed annual source establishes dates, not current attempt rules; verify those rules separately before booking.
  • Do not infer that every former BMAT course adopted UCAT.

Transition history

  • bmat → ucat

    This transition is recorded only for Oxford Medicine. Other former BMAT users must be checked separately.

Open the primary official source

University College London · 2027 entry

Medicine MBBS

Required for this row

UCL's tests page is the requirement source; the UCAT Consortium is the test-cycle source.

Policy owner
University College London
Last checked
2026-08-11
Next review
2026-12-01

Dates · 2027 entry

  • Use the UCAT Consortium's live annual dates page for registration, booking, and testing dates.
  • Confirm UCL's course and application deadlines separately.

Format and modules

Computer-based test with four separately timed subtests

Just under 2 hours, including a short instruction section before each subtest

  • Verbal Reasoning — 44 questions in 22 minutes
  • Decision Making — 35 questions in 37 minutes
  • Quantitative Reasoning — 36 questions in 26 minutes
  • Situational Judgement — 69 questions in 26 minutes

Sitting constraints

  • The requirement is scoped to UCL Medicine MBBS and the stated entry year.
  • The listed annual source establishes dates, not current attempt rules; verify those rules separately before booking.
  • Do not infer that every former BMAT course adopted UCAT.

Transition history

  • bmat → ucat

    This transition is recorded only for UCL Medicine. Other former BMAT users must be checked separately.

Open the primary official source

Scope of this record

Check the exact course before booking.

The test owner controls the test; the institution controls whether your course requires it and by when.

Related test records

Official sources

Each link goes to the official test owner, institution, or official report. A test-owner page does not establish a university course requirement; that requires an institution source.

  1. UCAT test format

    UCAT Consortium · checked 2026-10-01 · next review 2026-12-01

    UCAT subtests, question counts, timing and scoring.

  2. UCAT 2026 test dates

    UCAT Consortium · checked 2026-08-11 · next review 2026-12-01

    Use for the named 2026 UCAT cycle and current UCAT naming. It does not establish the test format or a course requirement; course requirements still need the institution's page.

  3. Admissions tests

    University of Oxford · checked 2026-08-11 · next review 2026-12-01

    Use only for Oxford entry-year and course requirements. It must not be generalized to other universities or courses.

  4. Tests, tasks and interviews

    University College London · checked 2026-08-11 · next review 2026-12-01

    Use only for UCL courses and the entry cycle stated by UCL. It must not be generalized to other institutions.

Sources and corrections

Next source review 2026-12-01

These records are dated snapshots of official pages. The live test-owner and institution pages win if a requirement, module, deadline, or sitting rule changes. Send the exact page and row when reporting a correction.

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