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Ukcat (ucat) Time Saving Tips

Time saving techniques for the UK Clinical Aptitude Test

Date : 10/03/2021

Author Information

Darius

Uploaded by : Darius
Uploaded on : 10/03/2021
Subject : UCAT

The UCAT (previously known as the UKCAT) is probably one of the most time-pressured tests you will encounter. It is an assessment of not only academic ability, but also time-management, pattern recognition and situational judgement - all of which require practice to perform well in the UCAT. For example, when you begin the verbal reasoning section of the test, you will be faced will multiple long passages which you will not have time to read thoroughly. So then, what is the trick to ace-ing this section? The answer is practicing a few techniques that will help skim through passages with ease and locate the information needed to answer each question. Here are a few that I have compiled:

  • The Key-Word Method - For each question choose a unique key word that is unlikely to appear many times in the passage and start skim-reading (or scanning) the passage for the word. This is the best way of locating the information which answers the question best.
  • Look at the questions first! - When faced with a new passage, it is much more efficient to look at the questions first rather than passage, as you do not have enough time to read all the passage, so looking at the questions first will help you understand what information you need to look for.
  • The "S" Shape - when skimming a passage it is more efficient to scan in an "S" shape rather than left to right to locate the key word(s) for each question.
  • Find your perfect speed - although efficiency is key to performing well, scanning too fast might cause you to miss out important information and answer a question incorrectly. Practice will help you figure what speed is right for you.
  • Guess! - If you find yourself running out of time for the section, it is worth quickly skipping to questions you haven`t answered yet and choosing an (estimated) guess, remember there is no negative marking in the UCAT so this could score you extra marks.


I hope you have found this useful! If you would like to find out more, send me a message and we can arrange some dedicated lessons.

I look forward to meeting you!

This resource was uploaded by: Darius