UCAT Practice Questions: Official Practice Tests and Worked Examples

UCAT practice questions are free from the UCAT Consortium in three forms: question banks for each subtest with an "Explain Answer" rationale, full practice tests in the live test format with standard timing, 25% extra time or no time limit, and question tutorials that explain the strategies for each question type. The official material is representative of the live test, so it is the best practice there is, and it is worth using in a planned order. Below are where each resource is, original example questions for every subtest with worked answers, and a schedule for mocks.

Where to find official UCAT practice questions

Every official resource is on the UCAT website's practice tests page and question tutorials page, and all are free.

The practice tests show which answers were right or wrong at the end and let you open the rationale for each question, but they do not save your result or give a score. The UCAT score converter explains why, and how to read a live score.

Example Verbal Reasoning question

Verbal Reasoning gives 44 questions on 11 passages in 22 minutes, and asks whether conclusions can be drawn from the passage alone, without outside knowledge. The passage and question below are original.

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Community pharmacies in many towns now offer blood pressure checks without an appointment. Early evaluations of such schemes found that a significant share of people tested had readings high enough to be referred to their GP, and that many of them had not known their blood pressure was raised. Supporters argue that the checks reach people who rarely visit a doctor. Critics point out that a single reading can be misleading, since blood pressure varies through the day, and that some referrals turn out to be unnecessary.

Statement: The evaluations showed that pharmacy blood pressure checks reduce the number of strokes.

True, False or Can't Tell?

Answer: Can't Tell. The passage says the evaluations found people with high readings who were referred, and who had not known about it. It says nothing about strokes or any later health outcome, so the statement can be neither confirmed nor contradicted from the passage. Choosing True would rely on outside knowledge that treating high blood pressure lowers stroke risk, which is exactly what the subtest asks you not to use.

The Verbal Reasoning walkthrough has a full original passage with every question type.

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Example Decision Making question

Decision Making gives 35 questions in 37 minutes, some with a single answer and some asking you to mark five statements yes or no. This original example is a syllogism-style item with five statements.

Information: All of the volunteers at a clinic are first-aid trained. Some of the first-aid trained staff speak Welsh. No one who works the night shift is a volunteer.

Place "Yes" if the conclusion follows and "No" if it does not.

1. Some volunteers speak Welsh. No. The Welsh speakers are some of the first-aid trained staff, who may or may not include volunteers.
2. No one on the night shift is first-aid trained. No. Night-shift workers are not volunteers, and non-volunteers can still be first-aid trained.
3. Every volunteer is first-aid trained. Yes. This restates the first sentence.
4. Anyone who is not first-aid trained is not a volunteer. Yes. If every volunteer is first-aid trained, someone without the training cannot be a volunteer; this is the first sentence turned round.
5. A Welsh speaker cannot be a volunteer. No. Nothing rules it out.

Multiple-statement items like this one are worth two marks, with one mark for a partly correct response. The Decision Making walkthrough covers each question type.

Example Quantitative Reasoning question

Quantitative Reasoning gives 36 questions in 26 minutes, mostly on tables and charts, with a basic on-screen calculator. The data and question below are original.

Question: On which day was the percentage of missed appointments highest?

• A. Monday
• B. Tuesday
• C. Wednesday
• D. Thursday
• E. Friday

Answer: E. Missed appointments as a share of those booked are 7.5% on Monday, 12.5% on Tuesday, 6.7% on Wednesday, 4% on Thursday and 15% on Friday. Tuesday and Friday have the same number missed, 9, but Friday's smaller total makes its percentage higher, which is the trap the question sets.

The Quantitative Reasoning walkthrough has a full data set with harder questions.

Example Situational Judgement question

The Situational Judgement Test gives 69 questions in 26 minutes on scenarios set in clinical settings or medical and dental training. Most questions ask you to rate a response for how appropriate it is, or a consideration for how important it is, and the test does not need medical knowledge. This scenario is original.

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Amira, a medical student on a hospital placement, notices that a fellow student, Ben, has written up a patient's history that she knows he did not take himself, since he arrived after the patient had been seen. Ben's write-up will be signed off by the supervising doctor that afternoon.

How appropriate is it for Amira to speak to Ben privately before the sign-off and ask him about the write-up?

Answer: very appropriate. It addresses a possible probity issue promptly and directly, gives Ben the chance to explain or correct it, and does so without confrontation in front of others. Speaking to him first is the proportionate first step, and escalating to the supervisor would become appropriate if Ben did not correct the record.

How appropriate is it for Amira to say nothing, since it is Ben's responsibility?

Answer: very inappropriate. Honesty in clinical records affects patient safety, and the scenario gives Amira clear knowledge of the problem before the sign-off.

The Situational Judgement walkthrough covers the professional values the test draws on and how bands are awarded.

How to build a UCAT practice schedule

Using the official material in order makes each resource do a separate job, from learning methods to testing timing.

1. Tour Tutorial and Question Tutorials first. Learn the software and the strategy for each question type before timing anything.
2. Question banks by subtest. Work one subtest at a time, untimed at first, then at the live pace (about 30 seconds a question in Verbal Reasoning, a little over a minute in Decision Making, about 45 seconds in Quantitative Reasoning, and about 22 seconds in Situational Judgement).
3. Timed sections. Sit single subtests from the practice tests under the clock.
4. Full practice tests. Save the full tests for the last two to three weeks, sitting each one in one go at the time of day of your booking.
5. Review every mock. Use the Explain Answer rationale for every question you got wrong, guessed or spent too long on, and note the question type.

The UCAT preparation plan turns this into a week-by-week schedule.

Related guides

• UCAT guide: subtests, scoring and how universities use it
• UCAT dates, registration and fees
• How to apply to UK medical schools
• Medicine super-curricular activities
• Medical school interview preparation
• University admissions tests in the UK

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