The Last Lap for UCAT

It’s June which means the UCAT is less than a month away. This is a crucial time for all students and what you do in these final days will greatly impact your performance on the actual exam.

Many of you would have started completing or already completed many practice exams on LMS and possibly ones provided by UCAT ANZ too. If not, it is especially important that you do these as they can significantly boost your confidence, and hence your score. Additionally, these practice questions will also help you finally polish your skills as well as improve your time-management. Identify any particular questions you are still having trouble with and try to fix these issues before the exam comes around (by discussing with your friends/tutor, reviewing guides or reading the comprehensive explanations provided by MedEntry for each question).

At this stage, you should also try and develop a strategy for how you will tackle the exam. It’s important to have a well-rehearsed, systematic and organised method of doing the exam so that you can finish in time and maximise your score on the subtests you are best at. Either you may choose to do the questions in order, or skip hard questions and come back to them later.

Many students get demoralised when they view their MedEntry UCAT percentile after they complete an exam online. Just remember that MedEntry is cultivating the top UCAT students and it is highly likely that you will get a much higher score in the actual UCAT. Furthermore, you should treat each exam you did not do so well in as an opportunity to learn. The more questions you get wrong,the more there is to learn and improve for your next try. Also, the actual UCAT may have questions that are slightly easier than MedEntry and so when you switch from MedEntry practice exams to UCAT ANZ ones, you may see an improvement in your time-management and score.

If you’re one of those students who is getting high scores, has a flawless strategy and is completing the exam well within the time constraints, then good on you and keep it up. If you can, try completing the exams in less than the allocated time. The couple of weeks before the UCAT is when many students show major improvement. However, it is crucial not to get complacent or slow down the pace simply because you are doing well now; other students can catch up very quickly. Continue working hard and keep putting in the effort if you want to see the same results mirrored in that the UCAT ANZ percentiles at the end of September.

You all are coming into that final lap of the gruelling UCAT race. Cross the finish line to enjoy the freedom awaiting at the end of that exam, but don’t let fear, anxiety or complacency catch-up to you in the meantime. Good luck!