This is going to be a a huge collection of UCAT resources that are out there for this year’s UCAT takers. I know the internet can be a minefield of resources so I’ve picked out some of the best ones and put them together here.
I did not use all of these resource (in fact many of them did not exist when I applied), you can see what I used when I applied here. It’s not necessary that you use all these resources, but perhaps pick a few from here that you want to use. Some fairly priced paid services can be beneficial so I’ve included some that are reasonably priced, offer bursaries and seem helpful for anybody who wants to try them.
Free Resources
UCAT Cheat Sheets – I created 3 sheet summaries for each section of the UCAT covering different question types, approaches and section-specific tips – everything you really need to know about each section to begin your prep all in one place.
UCAT Tour – This is provided by the official UCAT consortium and helps introduce you to and get you familiarised with the online interface. I’d recommend looking at this prior to beginning any online practice.
UCAT Question Tutorial – another resource provided by the UCAT consortium covering each type of question and a walkthrough to help you understand how to approach them. Recommend using this before practising.
UCAT Candidate Guides – UCAT consortium guides providing more information about the test day for students.
How to smash the UCAT – A guide covering the UCAT in depth, mentioning the ins and outs of each section as well as examples
Ultimate UCAT Guide – a comprehensive guide covering everything you need to know about the UCAT from the exam environment to advice on each section. Also includes a 4 week revision plan.
How to Approach the UCAT Guide – an overview of each of the UCAT sections, including tips and advice for each.
Master the UCAT VR ebook – a guide for Verbal Reasoning that’s being offered for free with the use of the code VR2020
UCAT Tips Podcast episode – UCAT top tips from a student who scored in top 1% of all candidates
Live UCAT Zoom Session – 11th July 5pm, 12th July 5pm. Free session delivered by a Kaplan tutor.
Free Questions
UCAT official app – this has a handful of free questions. The format isn’t ideal as it doesn’t replicate the usual desktop setting of the UCAT so it’s probably best to just start with this to familiarise yourself with the questions.
Official UCAT Question banks – these are the best questions to use as they’ve been created by the UCAT consortium so will match the real test the best. There are hundreds of questions available here.
Official UCAT mock tests – again, another invaluable resource as it comes from the official source. I’d advise saving these until you’ve got some practice in as you only get 4 mocks. You may want to start spacing them out after you’ve done half of your preparation to track your progress or save them all for about a week before your test date.
Medic Mind questions – 250+ free questions provided in the form of mini tests that are organised in a way to familiarise you with different question types. Definitely worth going through these!
PassMedicine – a resource that a lot of medical students use for practise questions and now they’ve got a section offering 3000+ free UCAT questions. Somebody asked me whether PassMed UCAT questions are similar to the real test. Being completely honest, I did my test 3 years ago and a lot could have changed since. PassMed UCAT questions also didn’t exist when I was preparing for my UCAT so I can’t advise from personal experience. The best match with the actual test will be the UCAT official questions and having a look at the PassMed questions they do look like they’re at a similar level to the UCAT official questions. I do highly recommend this as a resource!
You can also get more free questions by using the demos and free questions offered by the companies listed here.
Blog Posts
The Ultimate UCAT Tips – 3 posts answering common UCAT queries and how to start UCAT preparation.
Candidate Advice Posts – Posts written by high-scorers for the official UCAT website so you can read about some of their top tips.
Realising Opportunities – Top tips for UCAT – some top tips for the UCAT
Medic Portal Free UCAT Guide – brief guidance on the UCAT covering key points and an overview of the sections.
The Medic Blog – So many specific blog posts here, a mixture of tips and tricks based on mastering different subsets and also advice from high scoring students.
The Definitive Guide to UCAT Series – posts going over each section and providing 3 top tips for each
Preparing for the UCAT – Overview of each of the UCAT sections and tips on how you can begin preparation for them
YouTube Videos
Official UCAT YouTube Channel – A handful of short videos that you might want to briefly look through, won’t take long as there isn’t may at all.
Kharma Medic Online Crash Course – hours tutorials covering different sections, approaches, worked through examples
Journey2Med UCAT Playlist – lots of section-specific tips in these videos as well as more resource suggestions
How to smash the UCAT playlist – videos containing UCAT tips and resource suggestions
UCAT Preparation Videos – 2 videos about how universities use your UCAT score and mistakes to avoid.
Paid Books/eBooks
Ace the UCAT ebook – a guide priced at £14.99 covering helpful UCAT tips and methods, written by a student achieving 835 average. Contains helpful strategies and methods throughout. They also offer unlimited complete bursaries for anyone who meets any of the WP criteria.
ISC Medical 1250 UCAT Questions Books – this is a popular book that a lot of students used to use, I used it in my time but in all honesty its not the best of resources to use. There is a joint consensus that the questions from this book are a little too difficult compared to the real UCAT, however, some would say that could mean you’re extra prepared and can then go on to find the real UCAT easier. Another point is that you should prioritise online practise to mimic the test setup rather than use a book. It’s sold at £14.55, but you can always buy a used copy or ask around to see if any medical students are giving away their old copies.
Mastering the UCAT – this is a book by the Medic Portal which essentially goes through different question types, techniques and then illustrates them with examples. Has some examples for you to try too, but again it’s not ideal to be doing that from a book over an online interface. I’ve not used this book myself, but I know friends who have and I personally this it’s a lot more about the theory of the UCAT which you can educate yourself using the UCAT website’s official resources and even my cheat sheets.
Paid Question Banks
Medify – top of my list because as you all know this is the one that everyone uses and a lot of aspiring medics ask: Is it worth it? I think the main benefit to Medify is the it is the largest (as far as I’m aware) UCAT question bank allowing for a wealth of practice. I did use Medify in my time and I didn’t even get through half of the questions (but then again, I could have done more practise than I did). If you can work through the 10,000+ questions they have here you’ll definitely be sorted for practice. They offer a free demo of a few questions if you want to try that out too.
I haven’t personally used any of the following question banks, but here are some of the other alternative question banks out there:
UCAT Ninja – 1300+ UCAT questions and 2 mock tests. They offer 100 questions for free and free access to part of their guides. They also offer unlimited bursaries if you meet certain criteria.
The Medic Portal – offer reasonable priced access to their question bank. Cheaper than Medify, however, the number of questions within the bank is not specified. You can click “try demo” and try 1 set of questions from each subset if you’d like try a free set.
MedEntry – their online preparation package includes practice questions which are priced at £45. The number of questions however is not specified.
Kaplan – offer a 4500+ question bank and also a free demo question set for each subset
Paid Courses
I personally did not do a UCAT course when applying, so you definitely don’t need to! Most of your preparation for the UCAT will come from practising and that’s really the only way you’ll get better. I know some people prefer being told how to approach questions in a course setting which is why I’ve listed a few of the more cheaper reasonably priced courses below. Some of the courses below offer bursaries for students who need them too.
Again to re-iterate courses are absolutely not vital, but I wanted share options that weren’t a few hundreds pounds for those of you that are going to do a course anyway. If you choose to do a course, do not do more than 1!
Entry to Medicine: UCAT day – One-day zoom UCAT course on the 14th of July: £30 (all proceeds go to emergency aid)
The Medic Life – One-day live online UCAT course: £45
Note: I’m not endorsing any of the above courses and cannot speak for the content in them as I haven’t done them myself.
Putting this list together made me realise just how many resources are out there for the UCAT now! Even the huge number of questions offered by the UCAT official website, when I applied all I had was 3 official mock tests nothing more. Make sure to make good use of all the free resources I’ve shared – with the more practice you get in the more you’ll notice improvement in your score!
Disclaimer: I’m not affiliated with any of the resources I’ve shared in any way. Any discount codes I’ve shared are ones I’ve found the company is offering and not affiliated.
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