BMAT: What Replaced It and How to Prepare for the UCAT

The BioMedical Admissions Test no longer exists: Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing, the body that set and marked it, has closed and no longer delivers any test, so the BMAT and the TSA are no longer offered. Oxford and Cambridge medicine applicants, who previously sat the BMAT alongside their UCAS application, now sit the UCAT (University Clinical Aptitude Test) instead, the same computer-based test used by most other UK medical schools.

Anyone searching for BMAT preparation advice is looking for a test that has already gone, and the practical question for a Year 12 applicant is what has taken its place and how to get ready for it. Applicants to medical schools other than Oxford and Cambridge who previously used the BMAT should check their chosen university's own course page for its current admissions test, since the requirement can differ by institution and by course and is not covered by the Oxford and Cambridge position set out here.

What was the BMAT, and why has it stopped?

The BioMedical Admissions Test was a written aptitude test that a small number of UK universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, required alongside the UCAS application for medicine, biomedical sciences and some dentistry courses, sat once each autumn before interviews. It combined questions on scientific and mathematical reasoning with a short written response, marked separately from A-level or Scottish Higher grades and used to help shortlist candidates for interview.

It stopped because Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing, the organisation within Cambridge Assessment that developed and delivered the BMAT, has closed and no longer runs any admissions test; the Thinking Skills Assessment is no longer offered either, and Oxford now uses the TARA for the courses that once required it. Neither test has been replaced with a direct equivalent module by module; the universities that used the BMAT for medicine moved to the UCAT instead.

Which test do Oxford and Cambridge medicine applicants sit now?

Oxford and Cambridge medicine applicants now sit the UCAT instead of the BMAT, and both universities' admissions pages confirm this directly. Oxford requires the UCAT for Medicine and for Graduate-entry Medicine, with registration for the test being the applicant's own responsibility and separate from the UCAS application.

Cambridge requires the UCAT for its standard Medicine course and for Graduate Medicine at every college, describing selection as a mixture of academic record, UCAT and interview, with no minimum UCAT score set. Applicants who are also applying to medical schools in Australia or New Zealand should note Cambridge's guidance that it accepts the UCAT ANZ as an alternative, though a candidate cannot sit both the UCAT and the UCAT ANZ in the same year.

What should applicants to other UCAT-using medical schools check?

Medicine applicants to universities other than Oxford and Cambridge who remember the BMAT should check their chosen course's own admissions page for its current test requirement instead of assuming it still applies, since this article's verified position covers only Oxford and Cambridge. Every UK medical school sets and publishes its own admissions testing policy on its course page, in the same way Oxford and Cambridge do, and that page is the reliable place to confirm what's required for the cycle being applied to.

• which admissions test is named on the medicine course page
• whether the same test applies to standard entry and graduate-entry medicine
• whether the requirement has changed since any older guidance the applicant has seen

What does the UCAT assess?

Described on the official UCAT Consortium website as helping universities select applicants to medical and dental degree programmes, the UCAT is a computer-based test that measures a consistent set of skills across four timed sections.

Scores from the three reasoning sections are combined into a scaled score between 900 and 2700, whilst Situational Judgement is reported separately as a band from 1 to 4, and there is no negative marking for incorrect answers on any section.

• Verbal Reasoning: assesses the ability to critically evaluate information presented in written form
• Decision Making: assesses the ability to apply logic to reach a conclusion, evaluate arguments and analyse statistical information
• Quantitative Reasoning: assesses the ability to use numerical skills to solve problems, mostly presented through charts and graphs, with an on-screen calculator available
• Situational Judgement: assesses understanding of real-world situations, covering integrity, perspective-taking, team involvement, resilience and adaptability

How does UCAT preparation differ from BMAT preparation?

UCAT preparation is built around timed reasoning practice instead of subject revision, because the test's four sections work with written passages, numerical data, logical statements and judgement scenarios instead of examining scientific or mathematical content from the A-level syllabus in the way the BMAT's science and maths questions did. Where BMAT preparation typically involved reviewing GCSE and early A-level science content and practising a timed written response, UCAT preparation centres on working through practice questions under strict time pressure, since each section is tightly timed against a fixed number of questions.

Old BMAT papers have little direct use for UCAT preparation, since the two tests examine different skills in different formats. The UCAT Consortium, together with the Medical Schools Council and the Dental Schools Council, states on its official website that paid-for preparation resources are unnecessary and directs candidates instead to its own free official practice materials, starting with its UCAT Essentials guide, which cover all four current sections.

How do registration and results work?

Registering for the UCAT is the applicant's own responsibility and sits outside the UCAS process, done by creating an account on the official UCAT website and then booking a test slot at a Pearson VUE test centre. The UCAT Consortium states plainly that it is the candidate's responsibility to ensure the booking is made before the deadline, and that technical problems or mitigating circumstances are not grounds for a late booking.

Candidates receive a paper copy of their score report before leaving the test centre, with the full report also available shortly afterwards through their online UCAT account. Results are sent directly from the UCAT office to the universities a candidate selects during registration, matched against UCAS choices, so applicants do not need to forward their own score to their chosen medical schools.

How do medical schools use the UCAT score alongside interviews?

Oxford and Cambridge both treat the UCAT as one part of a wider selection process instead of a standalone cut-off, using the score together with academic record and, for Oxford, its own shortlisting criteria ahead of interview. Oxford's medical sciences division explains that it uses the UCAT because it is the one measure available for every applicant and has some capacity to indicate aptitude for the course.

Cambridge describes its selection as a mixture of academic record, UCAT and interview, stating that there is no minimum UCAT score and that the result is considered alongside everything else known about the applicant. In practice this means a UCAT score contributes to whether an applicant is invited to interview, without functioning as a pass or fail threshold on its own.

Related guides

• UCAT guide: sections, scoring and preparation
• Medicine personal statement guide
• UCAT tutors

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