What The Earlier BMAT Test Date Means For Your Medicine Application

You need to register for BMAT before the deadline

Since the BMAT test date is earlier than usual this year, the BMAT registration deadline is also earlier than in previous years. The final registration deadline is 30th September 2022 and the BMAT website stresses that no late registrations will be accepted after this date.

It’s important to understand that if you don’t think about BMAT until the registration deadline is approaching in late September, you won’t have a lot of time to prepare for the 18th October test date. This means you need to get organised and try to make a decision about sitting the BMAT as soon as you can.

To decide whether you want to do the BMAT, you should consider:

• Do you want to apply to any BMAT universities? There are seven Medical Schools which require the BMAT, including Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial and UCL. If you’re only interested in applying to UCAT universities, there is no need to sit the BMAT.
• Were you happy with your UCAT score? If you got a low UCAT score which limits the number of UCAT Medical Schools you can apply to, you might want to consider sitting the BMAT and applying to BMAT Medical Schools instead or as well.

You need to start BMAT prep as soon as possible

The 2022 BMAT is happening around two weeks earlier than usual – which means you have around two weeks less time to prepare.

You’ll need to consider the earlier test date when you’re looking at BMAT prep resources from previous years. For example, if you’re looking at a suggested revision calendar from last year, remember that it will be working towards a November test date and you’ll need to adjust the timescale for 18th October.

If you’re planning to sit the BMAT and you’ve already sat the UCAT during the summer, you can comfortably begin your BMAT prep today! However, if you haven’t done the UCAT yet because you booked it for a date in September, bear in mind that you won’t have a lot of time between the two tests and will need to plan your BMAT prep accordingly.

Ideally, you should be starting the early stages of your BMAT preparation now. Familiarise yourself with the test format first (Section 1 involves problem-solving, Section 2 involves science & maths, and Section 3 involves writing an essay) and make sure you understand how BMAT scores work. We have upcoming BMAT webinars which cover these areas. Then, learn strategies to tackle each section (a BMAT course can help with this) and do plenty of practice questions and past papers in the run-up to test day.

You need to get ahead with your UCAS application

The 2022 UCAS deadline for Medicine is Saturday 15th October – three days before the BMAT test date of Tuesday 18th October. You don’t want to spend the week before your BMAT ignoring it because you’re panicking about something else, so it’s important that you get ahead with your UCAS application and avoid leaving it until the last minute.

This means you need to start working on your Personal Statement as soon as possible. Check out these Personal Statement examples and these PS writing tips if you need some inspiration to get you started.

Your UCAS application also includes your four Medical School choices, and you need to give yourself plenty of time to think about this. Do your research into the entry requirements for different Med Schools, their course structure, their location, etc, so you can make an informed decision and choose Med Schools where 1) you will be happy to study and 2) you are more likely to be invited to interview. You don’t want to waste your application by applying to universities that aren’t right for you!

In addition to the four Medical Schools, you also get a fifth UCAS choice which you can treat as a back-up option if you don’t get any offers for Medicine. You might want to fill this fifth choice with a Medicine-related course like Biomedical Science or another healthcare-related course in Allied Health. You may not want to think about a ‘back-up option’ right now, but it’s very useful to have one!