How I Reached The Top UCAT Decile

I Got Very Organised With A Prep Spreadsheet

I didn’t know how to prepare for UCAT or where to start, so I used an excel spreadsheet to organise exactly when I was doing what. This was probably the key to my top UCAT score, which allowed me to consider a wide range of universities.

I began creating this spreadsheet by filling the top row with dates: the first date being the day I planned to start my UCAT preparation (28th June) and the last one being the date of my exam (28th august).

Next, I started filling in the tasks that I wanted to complete below the particular dates. I made sure the number of tasks was manageable, and that I was focusing on the completion of tasks rather than the number of hours spent revising.

Towards the beginning of my preparation, my task list would look something like this:

First day of prep:

• Make a list of the timings for each section
• Learn how to approach the verbal reasoning section
• Learn an acronym for the abstract reasoning patterns

Towards the middle of my prep:

• Complete 40 decision making questions
• Answer quantitative reasoning questions
• Try some situational judgement questions

Towards the end of my prep:

• Complete UCAT mocks
• Work through as much of the UCAT question bank as possible

I Simulated The Test Environment From The Start

From the very first few days of my preparation, I made sure that I was simulating the environment that I was going to take the test. In the long run, I was very thankful for this as it meant that the actual exam just felt like another mock which calmed my nerves immensely!

This was easy to do because the UCAT question bank mirrors the test environment.

I decided to take my UCAT online as I liked the idea of doing it on my laptop, in the comfort of my own study space. Although this may not be an option for those of you taking the test in this admission’s cycle, making sure you simulate the test centre’s environment is equally as important. This involves doing the mocks with no notes or food around and making sure that you are in a quiet environment with no other distractions, even if this involves gently reminding family members that you are doing a mock!

I Reflected On My Practise

Of course, doing a lot of practice questions is beneficial, but only if you take the time to learn from your answers, both correct and incorrect.

Overall, I made sure that I spent at least 10/15 minutes at the end of each day going over my incorrect answers and actively figuring out a strategy to avoid them in the future. This is especially important when doing mocks: make sure you are writing down what you got wrong and how you’re going to avoid this mistake in future mocks.