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Asked by Millie to Adrian, Ali, Charnelle, Deborah, Kit, Phil, Rob on 9 Nov 2017.
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Kit T answered on 9 Nov 2017:
I did the UKCAT and found that practice was the most useful way to get ready. They say it’s not the sort of test you can revise for but you can certainly prepare to give yourself the best chance! A lot of it comes down to timing so it’s important to be familiar with the questions and be able to work through them in time. There are practice questions on the UKCAT website and other free online places like practice.ukcat.ac.uk. I used a book of practice questions too which was good. I personally wouldn’t bother paying for courses as they’re expensive and the same info is available for free, but that’s up to what suits you.
I know a few people who did the BMAT, which sounds like it needs a similar type of prep to be familiar with the multiple choice questions. There’s also an essay to write which looks more at your ability to organise and communicate ideas, which would be worth practicing.
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Robert Cullum answered on 9 Nov 2017:
I did both of them :
For UKCAT I prepared by doing the practice test online and then going through lots of questions – practice is the key for this as it’s a very time pressured exam. I would recommend starting off just practising the process and question type and then working in the timer nearer the assessment. They have some really good resources on the UKCAT website which is a good starting point. I think they say the best performers do around 25 hours of practice.
For BMAT, the UKCAT preparation will help with the aptitude section. When it comes to the science bit – it’s worth looking over your GCSE science books, and some practice questions. For the essay what I did which I found useful is to get my old English teacher to mark some examples I had done and give me feedback – my score for the essay section started out really low but more than doubled with some good feedback 🙂
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Charnelle Lusuku answered on 10 Nov 2017:
I only did the UKCAT and to prepare I bought a book (the name of which I cant remember sorry!) which had 250-500 questions in it and I did little brain trainers when I wasn’t in the mood to actually read haha
Comments
WP/Admissions Officer commented on :
If you’re thinking about applying to Medicine you will need to do the UKCAT, BMAT or both. It all depends on which Medical Schools you are applying to. Most will ask for you to take the UKCAT. The BMAT Medical Schools are:
Brighton and Sussex
Imperial College
Lancaster
UCL
Cambridge
Leeds
Oxford
Keele
So if you are not thinking of applying to those medical schools then you don’t need to take the BMAT.
The UKCAT you would take in the summer of Year 12 (between May and September)
The BMAT you would take either in September of Year 12 (before applying) OR in November of Year 12 (after applying). The Medical Schools that ask for the BMAT will specify if they accept the September test or if they only accept the November one.
To find out more please look at:
UKCAT: https://www.ukcat.ac.uk/
BMAT: http://www.admissionstestingservice.org/for-test-takers/bmat/
465tgpk22 commented on :
Heh Folks,
Actually, Keele med school uses the UKCAT aptitude test (NOT BMAT).
WP/Admissions Officer commented on :
Apologies – this was from the BMAT website. This states that the BMAT is used by Keele Medical School for ‘Overseas’ applicants only.