UCAT Frequently Asked Questions

You may only test once in any year; multiple testing will be treated as misconduct.

There is no penalty for taking the UCAT again in subsequent years. Candidates who created an account prior to 2026 should refer to the information for returning candidates.

Candidates are also not permitted to sit both the UCAT and UCAT ANZ in the same year.

Candidates should not sit the UCAT early as a ‘practice run’ for the following reasons:

• Candidates must prepare properly before sitting the test; it is better to focus these efforts in the year of actual testing.
• The motivation and mindset for a candidate taking the test as a practice run would be completely different, making performance unrepresentative.
• Test content and scoring can change each year, so a practice run before sitting the actual test would not be helpful.
• You would be taking up a valuable test slot for a candidate that needs to test this year.

UCAT analyses registration data and may act if it appears a candidate is sitting the test as a ‘practice run’.

Yes, test centres are available in many countries. Use the test centre locator to find your nearest centre.

If travel to a test centre is difficult because of distance, pandemic, war, civil unrest or natural disaster, please refer to the information on online proctored testing (OnVUE UCAT) before booking your test.

The UCAT ANZ is identical in content to the UCAT but is used by a consortium of universities in Australia and New Zealand for their medical, dental and clinical science degree programmes.

If you are applying to UK Universities or our International Partners only, you should sit the UCAT.

If you are (also) applying to Australian/New Zealand universities, you should sit the UCAT ANZ.

Read more about UCAT ANZ.

Refer to the instructions on our Registration and Booking page

The test fee is payable at the time of booking by major debit/credit card* 

• Tests taken in the UK: £70
• Tests taken outside the UK: £115

*Our UCAT Bursary is available to UK candidates who meet the bursary criteria. This will automatically be applied when booking to waive the test fee.

Yes. For 2026 testing, we are launching a new candidate registration system. This means that if you have previously created a UCAT account, you will need to create a new account for 2026. Please refer to the information for Returning Candidates.

Yes, you can reschedule or cancel your appointment without charge as long as you give appropriate notice. Refer to the instructions on rescheduling or cancelling your test.

Why can't I login to my account/book a test?

Please note, if you created a UCAT Account prior to 2026, you will need to create a new account if you wish to test in 2026. See our returning candidates page for more details.

Registration for the UCAT 2026 opens on 20th May 2026, you will be able to create a new account after this date.

Booking opens 23rd June 2026, you will be able to book a test after this date.

Have I been charged twice for my test booking?

Once you have successfully booked your test, you will see your appointment shown on your UCAT Account dashboard. You will also receive two confirmation emails:

• A booking confirmation email which contains important test appointment details.
• A payment confirmation email which is a receipt of the test fee.

The booking system should only let you book one test appointment and you will only be charged once.

Any other ‘payments’ you see will usually be a temporary payment hold which should be released again shortly and will not appear as a charge against your account.

This sometimes happens due to the sheer number of candidates who are trying to book the same appointment on the day booking opens.

If you need any further reassurance, please call Pearson Customer Services and they can check for you.

The UCAT Bursary scheme is open to UK Candidates who meet the bursary criteria.

Our bursary page outlines the bursary eligibility criteria, the application process and the supporting evidence required.

Please refer to our Bursary page for guidance and specific FAQs.

Details of the access arrangements available for the UCAT and how to apply for them, can be found on the Access Arrangements page.

At the bottom of the Access Arrangements page is a list of specific FAQs which may answer your query.

Candidates should use the free, official preparation materials to support their test preparation.

The preparation workshop plan will guide you through these materials.

We recommend you begin your preparation with the Tour Tutorial and Question Tutorials before you move onto the Question Banks, and finally progress to the timed Practice Tests. 

Read our statement on commercial preparation materials.

No, the only official preparation materials are available on our website free of charge to all candidates. Advice and materials published by third-parties may not be accurate or representative of the live testing experience.

Please read our statement on commercial preparation materials.

Details about the test format, timings and scoring can be found on our test format and scoring page.

Eligible candidates can apply for Access Arrangements to sit an extended version of the test.

Each year several test forms are created. The test form that a candidate sits is selected at random and within each subtest questions are presented randomly. This ensures that every candidate's test experience is different.  

All test forms are equated and balanced to ensure that the scaled scores that candidates receive are equivalent between forms. Questions in the UCAT have been pretested and have passed rigorous data analysis and statistical screening. Analysis of test performance is done regularly throughout the test window and after testing ends.

To see a video of a test centre and find out about what happens on test day, refer to our test day page.

You will be asked to store personal belongings in a designated area before you enter the test room.  There are exceptions permitted for religious, cultural and medical apparel.

For clarity, nothing is allowed into the testing room apart from the indoor clothes you are wearing, your photo ID, items considered under general accessibility and approved access arrangements.

Food and drink (including water) is not permitted in the testing room (unless approved as an access arrangement) as it may damage technical equipment. If brought it must be stored in a designated area and used outside the testing room.

Staff will conduct a routine visual inspection of your clothing, hands/arms, ears (if covered) and any comfort aids or approved access arrangements. This is for security purposes.

You must bring photographic identification to your test which meets all the requirements detailed in the Photo ID Policy and is accepted in the country where you are testing.

If you do not have the correct photo ID you will not be allowed to test and you will lose your test fee.

Please read the UCAT Test Rules before your test. These also explain what to do if you experience a problem during testing.

If you need a break (e.g. to use the toilets), raise your hand to notify the invigilator. Unless you have been approved for pause-the-clock breaks, the test cannot be paused. You will lose time when out of the room. You may want to take breaks between subtests to limit impact on test time.

Our ‘Fitness to Test’ Policy means if a candidate attends their test, they are declaring themselves fit to take the test.

If you are concerned that illness, injury or personal circumstances mean you are unable to declare yourself ‘fit to test’, please refer to the Fitness to Test Policy for advice before booking or sitting a test.

Please refer to the Test Rules and the information on the Test Incident page which explain what to do if there is a problem during your test.

If you report a problem during testing that you believe has not been satisfactorily resolved at the test centre or when testing online, you may request an incident investigation.

Please refer to the Test Incident page for advice on how to proceed.

UCAT does not have an 'special consideration' process like exams that occur on a single day, because mitigating circumstances are covered by our Fitness to Test policy. If you are unable to declare yourself Fit to Test because of illness, injury or personal circumstances, you should follow the advice on our Fitness to Test page before sitting your test. We are unable to make adjustments to scores after testing.

You will receive a copy of your UCAT score report before you leave the Pearson test centre.

Your score report will also be accessible through your UCAT account.

If you need a copy of a score report from 2025 or earlier, you can order one by contacting Pearson Customer Services. Please note that score reports from 2018 or earlier cost £25 GBP to be made available.

Universities consider UCAT scores in many different ways in selection alongside their other entry criteria. There is no single score that guarantees selection and not all universities have a minimum score requirement. More advice about how universities use results is on this page.

Preliminary mean scores and deciles will be published in mid-September. Final mean scores, deciles and percentiles will be published on the Test Statistics page shortly after testing ends.

UCAT will deliver your result directly to your chosen UK universities in early November.

Universities will only accept results provided directly by the UCAT Office.

You do not need to pass your test result to your university choices or include it on your UCAS application.

After the 15 October application deadline, UCAT works with UCAS on a data matching exercise to obtain your application choices that require a UCAT result. You do not need to tell us your UCAS PID or application choices as we obtain this data directly from UCAS.

Please refer to our Wellbeing and the UCAT page.