School of Medicine

UKCAT

General Overview

There has been a widespread feeling for some time amongst those involved in admissions to medical schools that A-levels were failing to discriminate between candidates at the upper end of the scale of academic ability. The UKCAT was conceived to improve the fairness and objectivity of the admissions process for medicine and dentistry. The test offers universities the ability to select students on the basis of characteristics relevant to success in their chosen professions. The test also offers the significant advantage of helping to widen access to university by identifying potential in applicants from less advantaged educational backgrounds.

The test, when considered alongside other factors, will help universities select candidates who have the best combination of mental abilities, attitudes and professional behaviours required for doctors in their clinical careers. Further details about the test are available from the UKCAT website www.ukcat.ac.uk

Test preparation

The medical schools participating in UKCAT do not endorse any commercially available preparation courses or materials. The test is designed to be a test of aptitude rather than academic achievement and does not draw on any particular knowledge or curriculum that you can learn in advance. We would however encourage candidates to practise answering the types of questions that will be presented in the UKCAT and to familiarise themselves with the test format so that they know how to navigate through the test. By doing this, candidates will become familiar with the different types of questions and understand the time restrictions imposed within the test.

There are practice questions, including two fully-timed tests, available free on the UKCAT website at www.ukcat.ac.uk

How we use UKCAT scores

At Keele University School of Medicine we do not use an absolute UKCAT score cut off point in order to select candidates for interview. We consider carefully all aspects of each application before deciding on which candidates to invite for interview. Those invited to interview offer a broad range of UKCAT scores. We may use UKCAT scores to help us decide between borderline applicants who are competing for a limited number of places. The total UKCAT scores of students accepted onto the A100 course in 2010 ranged from 2150 to 3030.

September 2010