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 The acronym, UKCAT, isn’t exactly easy to decipher. I’ll try to make it as easy as possible to get your head around. Firstly, UKCAT stands for ‘The UK Clinical Aptitude Test’, plain and simple. This is the test all UK and EU universities require if you want to apply for medical and dental degrees, especially if you are applying as an international student. 

Why exactly do they ask for it? I’m sure you are aware that anyone who is thinking of applying to do medicine or dentistry is going to be pretty darn smart. For universities, this makes it incredibly difficult to know which pupils are the best, when almost all applying are going to have high academic track records. The UKCAT is just one of the ways to help universities pick the cream of the crop from the thousands of applicants. A great UKCAT score is just another way you can impress admissions!

I’m sure the majority of you are pretty unsure about what is actually in the UKCAT exam.  Unlike what you would expect, it’s not a test about your medical, dentistry or science knowledge.  It’s hardly related to those subjects. It’s an exam where they want to assess things like your reasoning, how you solve problems and how you think logically.

The test is only two hours long; however it requires you to complete five separate sections. In short, you are placed in front of a computer, where you are asked to answer a series of questions through multiple choice.  The five sections you are asked to complete are:

• Verbal Reasoning
• Decision Analysis
• Quantitative Reasoning
• Abstract Reasoning
• Non-Cognitive Analysis

All these areas are trying to gage your intellectual ability and whether you will be individually suited to a medical or dentistry degree.  You have to understand that the admissions offices know that everyone is human. They don’t expect you to get 100% on your UKCAT exam; all they want is for you to show your ability to think!

That said and having explained that the UKCAT is not academically based; there are ways to improve your chances of obtaining a great UKCAT score. Don’t fret as we at ICON+ want to help. ICON+ is here to improve your capabilities in preparation for the exam, to get you the high marks you deserve. Here at ICON+ we offer personal tutoring for UKCAT. Please get in touch with us if you wish to know the details!