The Beginner’s Guide to UCAT
New to UCAT? The Beginner's Guide to UCAT provides comprehensive information you need to start your preparation for the University Clinical Aptitude Test, or UCAT.
All About UCAT
The Beginner’s Guide to UCAT is an in-depth summary of UCAT and how to prepare for the UCAT exam. It covers what you should know about the UCAT exam and whether you need to sit the exam.
There are 5 parts in the Beginner’s Guide to UCAT:
- Part 1: How to prepare for UCAT Verbal Reasoning
- Part 2: How to prepare for UCAT Decision Making
- Part 3: How to prepare for UCAT Quantitative Reasoning
- Part 4: How to prepare for UCAT Abstract Reasoning
- Part 5: How to prepare for UCAT Situational Judgement
- Part 6: Strategies for UCAT
- Part 7: How your UCAT score is calculated
- Part 8: UCAT Practice Paper
- Part 9: UCAT Roadmap for Success
- Part 10: UCAT Mock Exam Day (M.E.D)
What is the UCAT?
The UCAT or University Clinical Aptitude Test is an admissions test for entry into medical, dental and clinical science degree programs used by the UCAT ANZ Consortium of universities in Australia and New Zealand.
The UCAT exam replaced the UMAT exam in 2019.
The UCAT in Australia and New Zealand is a 2-hour computer-based test hosted at a Pearson VUE test centre.
Check out the Matrix UCAT Exam Simulator powered by Learnable platform. It’s identical to the real UCAT computer-based test.
UCAT Masterclass Exam Simulator from Matrix Education on Vimeo.
What is the purpose of the UCAT?
The UCAT exam is used for universities in their selection of applicants with the most suitable mental abilities, attitudes and professional behaviours that are required for new doctors and dentists.
It’s used alongside with other admission criteria including other academic qualifications (ie. ATAR) and an interview.
What’s the format of the UCAT?
The UCAT exam is a 2-hour computer-based test consisting of 233 multiple-choice questions.
Once started the test cannot be paused for a break but before each subtest there is a timed instruction section.
It assesses a range of mental abilities identified as important for medical professions such as medicine, dentistry and clinical sciences.
The UCAT exam is divided into 4 cognitive and 1 non-cognitive subtests.
Flowchart: UCAT Subtests Overview
As illustrated in the flowchart above, the UCAT exam consists of 5 sections:
- Verbal Reasoning: Assesses the ability to critically evaluate information presented in a written form
- Decision Making: Assesses the ability to make sound decisions and judgements using complex information
- Quantitative Reasoning: Assesses the ability to critically evaluate information presented in a numerical form
- Abstract Reasoning: Assesses the use of convergent and divergent thinking to infer relationships from information.
- Situational Judgement: Measures the capacity to understand real-world situations and to identify critical factors and appropriate behaviour in dealing with them.
The test format for each UCAT subtest is outlined below:
| UCAT Subtest | Questions | Test Duration* |
| Verbal Reasoning | 44 | 21 minutes |
| Decision Making | 29 | 31 minutes |
| Quantitative Reasoning | 36 | 24 minutes |
| Abstract Reasoning | 55 | 13 minutes |
| Situational Management | 69 | 26 minutes |
| *For each section, there is 1-minute instruction section | ||
Not sure how to prepare for UCAT?
Matrix has helped thousands of students ace their UMAT (now UCAT) to get into the medical science degrees. Prepare for UCAT with our dual face-to-face classes with UCAT experts and comprehensive online-resources. Learn more about our UCAT Prep Course.
Why do we need the UCAT?
The UCAT is a compulsory entry requirement for Medicine or health-related courses at Australia and New Zealand universities.
Our affiliates over at UCAT Masterclass have comprehensive University Guides for each of the regions where UCAT is used:
The UCAT is used to assist with the selection of students into the medicine, dentistry and health science degree programs at an undergraduate level at the following university courses:
| Table: University courses requiring UCAT (links take you to the UCAT Masterclass University Guide pages) | |
| University | Course(s) requiring UCAT |
| The University of Adelaide | Medicine, Dental Surgery, Oral Health |
| Charles Sturt University | Medicine |
| Curtin University | Medicine |
| Flinders University | Medicine |
| Monash University | Medicine |
| The University of Newcastle / University of New England | Joint Medical Program |
| The University of New South Wales | Medicine |
| The University of Queensland | Medicine (provisional entry), Dental Science |
| University of Tasmania | Medicine |
| The University of Western Australia | Medicine (Direct Pathway), Dental Medicine (Direct Pathway) |
| Western Sydney University | Medicine |
| The University of Auckland | Medicine |
| University of Otago | Medicine, Dental Surgery |
Our affiliates over at UCAT Masterclass have comprehensive university Guides for each of the regions where UCAT is used:
UCAT Registration Process and Dates
Who should sit the UCAT?
2020 UCAT should be sat by any Year 12 students who are seeking entry into the medicine, dentistry and health science degree programs in 2021.
When can you register for UCAT?
From March 2020, applicants for the UCAT ANZ Consortium universities in Australia and New Zealand can register and book their UCAT to be sat between 1 July and 31 July 2020.
The UCAT timeline is shown below.
How do you register for UCAT?
There is a two-step process in the Pearson VUE online registration system. Please refer to this webpage for the latest registration instructions.
When is the last testing date?
The last testing date for UCAT ANZ 2020 has yet to be released.
When are UCAT results released?
Upon completion of the UCAT test applicants will be provided details of how to access their UCAT Score Report via their online Pearson VUE account. These results will be sent to the UCAT ANZ Consortium universities in early September. Applicants do not need to personally submit these results.
The UCAT results cannot be carried over from one year to the next.
Applicants can use their UCAT test results to better assist them with their university course preference options to maximise their success for entry into a Medicine or Dentistry program.
UCAT results from 2019 can only be used for courses commencing in 2020. Similarly, the results for from 2020 will only be able to be used for courses beginning in 2021.
UCAT Preparation
Since news the UMAT exam was replaced by the UCAT in 2019, many students asked for advice on how to prepare for the UCAT.
Do not enrol into any UCAT courses until you have checked that it satisfies the new UCAT exam content and format.
Our UCAT team has developed effective resources for the UCAT ANZ exam. New Matrix UCAT preparation courses are open for enrolment. Spaces are limited.
Not sure how to prepare for UCAT?
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