How I Scored In The Top UCAT Decile And Band 1

During my UCAT cycle I scored over 3,000 and a band 1 in the SJT which put me in the top 2% of test takers in my year. My high score enabled me to receive interviews (and subsequently offers) from the UCAT universities I applied to.

Here are my best tips and tricks to help you to get Band 1 in the SJT:

Make Sure You Know The Ethical Principles

Try to read the GMC’s Good Medical Practice document and you’ll identify some of the key standards Doctors need to maintain, such as compassion, honesty and confidentiality. You may also know about the four pillars of ethics (autonomy, beneficence, autonomy, justice) so you could think about these too when you’re answering the question.

Understand Your Role In The SJT Scenario

The UCAT question will outline what your role is in the scenario. It could be things like being a student, FY1 Doctor or friend to a person in need. Read this carefully because this will influence how you respond as you need to act within your remit.

For example, if the situation involves you being a Medical Student on a work placement, you shouldn’t be diagnosing patients even if they ask you. Again, the more questions you do, the easier it will become to make sure you are carrying out your role properly.

Don’t Select The Answer That Matches What You’d Do

Even though the question says to pick what you would do, it means what would someone ideally do in this situation. Even if it’s something you wouldn’t want to do personally, think about what the question writers would count as being appropriate and choose your answers accordingly.

Audit Your Prep Resources

Remember that there are only so many resources available for UCAT prep. Before you start doing any of them, note down exactly what questions and practice papers you have. This will help you to plan when you will do them because you don’t want to use up all your resources early on because then you’ll be struggling to gain momentum towards the end of your practice.

Don’t forget to try the Medic Portal’s free UCAT Practice Test to get a sense of how you’re doing!

Review Questions You Found Hard

You may have noted down some particularly difficult questions while you were doing your SJT practice before. Take a look at them again before test day. This will help you if a similar question appears on test day as you will know what steps you need to do in order to get the right answer.