The UCAT explained: subtests, score, dates, practice and a study plan

Key takeaways

• →The UCAT is the admissions test for medical and dental degrees at UCAT Consortium universities. It has four subtests and lasts 117 minutes 30 seconds. Abstract Reasoning was withdrawn in 2025.
• →Three subtests are scored 300 to 900, for a total of 900 to 2700. Situational Judgement is a separate Band 1 to 4. There is no negative marking. The 2026 average total was 1918.
• →The 2027 cycle is not published yet, with dates due by February 2027. The 2026 test ran from 13 July to 24 September 2026. The consortium’s FAQs give fees of £70 (UK) and £115 (outside the UK).
• →Free official practice is on ucat.ac.uk. The consortium does not endorse paid-for resources. The plan below follows its order.

1. What the UCAT is and who needs it

The UCAT (University Clinical Aptitude Test) is a computer-based admissions test. A group of UK and partner universities, the UCAT Consortium, uses it to help choose applicants for medical and dental degrees, alongside academic qualifications and interviews.^[1]

You need it if you apply for a relevant medical or dental degree at a consortium university. The consortium calls it “a compulsory entry requirement”. Check each course’s requirements before you book, because alternatives apply to some applicants.^[2]

The consortium’s universities page lists 51 UK universities and 7 partner universities abroad. That is our count of the table rows, as the page gives no total.^[3]

On the test year, you must sit the UCAT 2026 “if you are applying for entry in 2027 (or deferred entry in 2028)”. The same page says its information “applies to the 2026 testing cycle and may change for 2027”.^[3]

The 2026 test window was 13 July to 24 September 2026, so it has closed. You may only sit the UCAT once in any test cycle.^[2]

The 2027 cycle is not published. Dates are due by February 2027, so the dates in this guide are for 2026.^[5]

On the usual pattern, a summer 2027 test would serve entry in 2028. The consortium has not said so yet.

2. The four subtests

The standard UCAT has four separately timed subtests, each preceded by a timed instruction screen. The whole test lasts 117 minutes 30 seconds, including 6 minutes 30 seconds of instructions. The table at the end of this section shows each subtest. Its last column is our own sum of time divided by questions.^[6]

Verbal Reasoning is about evaluating written information, Decision Making about making judgements from complex information, Quantitative Reasoning about numerical information, and Situational Judgement about real-world situations. A basic on-screen calculator is available in Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning.^[7]

Abstract Reasoning has gone. The consortium’s UCAT 2025 page says it “will be withdrawn” from the test in 2025. That leaves three thinking subtests plus Situational Judgement. The page gives two reasons: “lower predictive validity than the other sections” (a weaker guide to later performance), and more time for the other subtests.^[9]

3. UCAT score: how it is marked and what is typical

The test is marked on correct answers, and there is no negative marking. Each thinking subtest becomes a scaled score from 300 to 900, so the total runs from 900 to 2700. Situational Judgement is not in the total. It is reported as a band from 1 (highest) to 4.^[7]

The consortium calls Band 1 “an excellent level of performance” and Band 3 “a modest level”. Band 4 is low.^[7]

The table shows the consortium’s 2026 averages, from 42,359 tests taken up to 24 September 2026.^[10]

Answer every question: there is no negative marking.

4. Dates, fees and test day

The table at the end of this section shows the 2026 cycle, in UK time. Every date has passed, so use it for the shape of the year, not as 2027 dates. Instructions for registering and booking UCAT 2027 are due in March 2027.^[12]

The UCAS deadline for medicine and dentistry was 15 October 2026. UCAT sends results to your chosen UK universities in early November.^[1]

The consortium’s FAQs give a fee of £70 for tests taken in the UK and £115 outside the UK. That page does not say which year the fees are for, and 2027 fees are not published.^[11]

Under the 2026 rules you can reschedule or cancel up to 24 hours before your appointment and keep your fee. After that, or if you miss the test, you lose it.^[13]

You sit the UCAT on a computer at a Pearson VUE test centre, and the consortium says centres are available in many countries. Bring photo ID.^[11]

You get a copy of your score report before you leave, and your scores appear in your UCAT account within 24 hours.^[4]

Online testing (OnVUE) is limited. UK candidates are “not normally eligible” unless they live in particularly remote areas.^[16]

5. Bursary and extra support

UK candidates who meet the bursary criteria have the test fee waived automatically at booking.^[11]

The 2026 bursary scheme has closed, and 2027 information is due around March 2027.^[14]

The 2025 policy, the latest we could open, listed qualifying support such as local-authority free school meals, a 16 to 19 Bursary, or a parent or guardian at the same address receiving Universal Credit.^[15]

Access arrangements are extra support for disability and medical needs. The standard extra-time allowance is 25%, for a disability with a “substantial and long-term adverse effect on speed of working”. Rest breaks and a separate room are also available.^[17]

A 25% extra-time test lasts 145 minutes 15 seconds.^[6]

Apply through your UCAT account before you book, because arrangements cannot be added to an existing booking. Approval does not carry over, so you reapply each year.^[17]

6. How the UCAT differs from GCSEs and A-Levels

GCSEs and A-Levels test what you have been taught in your subjects. The UCAT is built differently.

It is on a computer, in four separately timed subtests, in multiple-choice format. Decision Making also asks for a yes or no beside each of five statements.^[8]

Little subject knowledge is expected. Verbal Reasoning needs no prior knowledge, Decision Making no specialist maths or logic terms, and Situational Judgement no medical knowledge.^[7]

The test is not adaptive: “your performance on one question does not influence which other questions are presented”. Once it starts, it cannot be paused.^[7]

You are given a laminated A4 notebook and a pen for notes.^[19]

There is no penalty for retaking the test in a later year.^[11]

7. How universities use your score

The consortium says universities “use UCAT results in different ways”. For some the score is a significant factor. For others it matters less or is used only in marginal cases. Most look at the total, but some set a cut-off for one subtest.^[20]

Some set a threshold you must reach to be considered further. Fixed thresholds are on university websites, and others set them each year and usually show earlier years’ scores. “An increasing number” use Situational Judgement, with some excluding lower performers.^[20]

For 2027 entry, Cambridge’s entry on the Medical Schools Council site says it will look at the overall cognitive score, will not use the Situational Judgement score, and has no minimum UCAT threshold.^[21]

Imperial’s FAQ for 2026 entry says candidates are selected for interview based on UCAT scores, with thresholds calculated each year, and that Situational Judgement Band 4 is discounted.^[22]

The consortium suggests using your result “to help inform your UCAS choices and avoid wasting an application”, and reading each university’s page carefully.^[20]

There is no single “good” UCAT score: each university decides how much it matters.

8. Free official UCAT practice and an 8 to 10 week plan

The consortium, the Medical Schools Council and the Dental Schools Council “do not endorse any paid-for preparation resources”. The official materials are free, in this order: preparation checklist, Tour Tutorial (the on-screen tools), Question Tutorials, Question Banks, then Practice Tests nearer your test date.^[25]

There are four Question Banks each for Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning, and three for Situational Judgement. Practice Tests A to D come in standard, 25% extra-time and untimed versions. They do not save your result or give a score, so count your own.^[26]

For timed practice with extra time, the consortium’s page for neurodivergent candidates points to the “UCATSEN” version.^[18]

This plan is our suggestion, not the consortium’s. With 8 weeks, merge weeks 6 and 7 and skip Practice Test D.

Keep a mistake log: After each set, note the subtest, the question type and why you lost the mark: misread, ran out of time, or guessed. Check the log weekly.

9. What happened to the BMAT?

The BMAT (BioMedical Admissions Test) is no longer running. Imperial College London’s FAQ for 2026 entry says: “The BMAT was used until 2024, when it was discontinued.” Its statistics list “Average BMAT (until 2024) and UCAT (from 2025) scores”.^[22]

Oxford’s 2024 notice says: “In 2024, in place of the BMAT, Oxford will use the Pearson VUE UCAT (University Clinical Aptitude Test) for Medicine.”^[24]

Cambridge’s medicine admission-test page now names the UCAT for Medicine (A100) and Graduate Medicine (A101).^[23]

Older pages may still mention the BMAT, so check each course’s own page.

10. How Brainhub can help

Brainhub tutors the UCAT one-to-one, live online across the UK, from about £40 an hour, and every family starts with a free 45-minute assessment. A tutor can help you turn the plan above into a weekly routine, go through your mistakes with you and check your timing. For your exact price, use the price calculator on our Prices page.

1. 1. How many subtests does the UCAT have now, and which one was removed?

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2. 2. How is the UCAT scored?

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3. 3. Is there negative marking in the UCAT?

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Your next steps

1. 01

   Check ucat.ac.uk for the 2027 dates (due by February 2027) and for registration and bursary details in March 2027.

2. 02

   Open the free Tour Tutorial and Question Tutorials on ucat.ac.uk and try a first set of questions in each subtest.

3. 03

   Book a free 45-minute assessment to talk through your plan.

Subject guides to go with this

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