UCAT Test Format and Scoring
The UCAT assesses a range of mental abilities identified by university medical and dental schools as important.
The test consists of four separately timed subtests in multiple-choice format:
- Verbal Reasoning assesses your ability to critically evaluate information presented in a written form
- Decision Making assess your ability to make sound decisions and judgements using complex information
- Quantitative Reasoning assesses your ability to critically evaluate information presented in a numerical form
- Situational Judgement measures your capacity to understand real world situations and to identify critical factors and appropriate behaviour in dealing with them
Question Tutorials
Detailed information about each subtest can be found in the Question Tutorials. The tutorials include general advice on how to approach the test as well as in-depth tips and strategies on how to approach and answer each of the different question types within all four subtests.
You should also use the free, Official UCAT Preparation Advice and Resources and Question Banks and Practice Tests to prepare for your test.
Test Timings
The standard test is just under 2 hours. Once the test has started it cannot be paused but each subtest is preceded by a timed instruction section.
| Subtest | Questions | Instruction section | UCAT Subtest Time | Scoring |
| Verbal Reasoning | 44 | 1 minute 30 seconds | 22 minutes | 300 - 900 |
| Decision Making | 35 | 1 minute 30 seconds | 37 minutes | 300 - 900 |
| Quantitative Reasoning | 36 | 2 minutes | 26 minutes | 300 - 900 |
| Situational Judgement | 69 | 1 minute 30 seconds | 26 minutes | Bands 1 - 4 |
Eligible candidates can apply for Access Arrangements to sit an extended version of the test.
UCAT Scoring
Candidates will receive a total score of 900-2700 and a Situational Judgement Band. The UCAT is marked on the number of correct answers you give. There is no negative marking for incorrect answers. Your performance on one question does not influence which other questions are presented.
Find out how you and your university choices receive your results and how universities use the UCAT in their selection processes.
Cognitive Subtest Scoring
As the number of questions varies between the three cognitive subtests it is not possible to make a direct comparison of the raw marks between these subtests. Raw marks are therefore converted to scaled scores for each subtest that share a common range from 300 to 900.
The total scaled score (900-2700) is generated by summing the individual scale scores of Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, and Quantitative Reasoning.
| Cognitive Subtest | Questions | Scale Score Range | Marking |
| Verbal Reasoning | 44 | 300 - 900 | Questions are worth 1 mark each. |
| Decision Making | 35 | 300 - 900 | Single answer questions are worth 1 mark.Multiple statement questions are worth 2 marks. 1 mark is awarded to partially correct responses on the multiple-statement questions. |
| Quantitative Reasoning | 36 | 300 - 900 | Questions are worth 1 mark each. |
Situational Judgement Scoring
Within the Situational Judgement Test, full marks are awarded for a question if your response matches the correct answer and partial marks awarded if your response is close to the correct answer.
Scores for the Situational Judgement Test are expressed in one of four bands, with band 1 being the highest. Alongside your band, you are given an interpretation of your performance:
| Band 1 | Those in Band 1 demonstrated an excellent level of performance, showing similar judgement in most cases to the panel of experts. |
| Band 2 | Those in Band 2 demonstrated a good, solid level of performance, showing appropriate judgement frequently, with many responses matching model answers. |
| Band 3 | Those in Band 3 demonstrated a modest level of performance, with appropriate judgement shown for some questions and substantial differences from ideal responses for others. |
| Band 4 | The performance of those in Band 4 was low, with judgement tending to differ substantially from ideal responses in many cases. |
