UKCAT tips/advice

VR
 11 statements
 44 questions
 22 mins
 30s per question

 R – Read the question

 S – Scan for support
 E – Eliminate and select

Evaluating VR statements (MOO – Match, Opposite, Outside)

 True (paraphrase/inference)
 False (contradict/extreme)
 Can’t tell (entirely or partially; not a match and not the opposite)

 Keywords
o Not important to read the whole passage, scan for keywords
o Read before/after keyword
o Watch for words similar to keyword
o Look for same keyword in whole passage
o If pressed for time and you can’t find keyword, select Can’t tell
o Some statements won’t have a keyword, so you have to look for
keywords from the answers

 Verbal questions (not T/F/Can’t Tell)

o Look for keywords in passage from question
o Otherwise look for keywords from answers and eliminate
 Inferences
o Sometimes holistic view is required
 Open Questions
o Attempt or Guess ‘n’ Go
o If keyword from an answer is not present in passage, eliminate it
o If keyword leads to information not matching answer, eliminate
answer
 Negative questions
o Correct answer is something false
o Wrong answers are things that are true
o Answers that agree with passage are incorrect, therefore eliminate
o Sometimes it’s quicker to eliminate the incorrect answers
o Incorrect answers will match the passage
o Negative questions – correct answer is False or CT
 Most T/F/CT will be T
 If you spend 30 seconds unsuccessfully, eliminate incorrect ones, mark an
answer and flag for review
  If running out of time, and keyword is not present, select CT
 If running out of time, eliminate answers that you feel are incorrect

QR
 9 sets
 36 questions
 24 mins
 30 secs or less per question

Kaplan Method

1. Identify the target

2. Check the data
3. Set up and solve
4. Eliminate and select

 Maximise ‘no maths’ (eyeball questions)

 Skip complex questions – make educated guess in 10 secs then review for
later
 Eliminate extreme answers by using approximate figures
 Guess figures on graphs
 Fractions and percentages
o 1/9 = 11%
o 1/8 = 12%
o 1/7 = 14%
o 1/6 = 16%
 Speed = Distance/Time
AR
 11 sets
 55 questions
 5 shapes per set
 14 mins
 1 min per set
 30 seconds to find a pattern

 If a test shape fits both sets, select Neither

 The test shape must exactly fit the pattern for a particular set

 AR is not about matching but about finding a pattern

 Start with the simplest box

 Count as a last resort – consider other SCANS (Shape, Colour, Arrangement,

Number, Size) categories before Number
  SCANS categories may be combined

 Scanning tip – if pattern isn’t apparent – compare the two most similar boxes
in Set A and Set B, often this will highlight the subtle differences

 Be wary of Conditionals

 Look at whole shape

 Sometimes comparing 2-3 boxes within a set are enough to find a pattern

 Sometimes all boxes in both sets will look similar, therefore compare the 2
most similar boxes in each set to determine pattern

 Take a step back and assess both sets at the start or if you can’t find pattern
quickly

 Once you determine one pattern, carry on and consider others as well, don’t
jump into answering as this might be a partial pattern

 Don’t assume the pattern of one set will always be opposite of the pattern
on the other set

 Remember: AR is testing pattern recognition not whether you can place a

test shape into a set; so identify the pattern then consider the test shapes

Kaplan Method

1. Ignore test shape

2. Scan the set
3. Look at test shape
4. Eliminate and select

SCANS

Shape
 A particular shape in each box
 A particular feature
o Line
o Angle
o Convex/concave
o Open/closed
o Regular/irregular
o Even/Odd sides
o Corners/Edges

Colour
Arrangement
 Relative positioning of shapes (adjacent, opposite etc)
 Clockwise/anticlockwise
 Rotations
 Shapes pointing to other shapes
 Shapes inside/outside other shapes
 Shapes connected
Number
 Start with the simplest box
 Sides
 Intersections/crossovers
 Angle measurements
 Regions formed
 Even/Odd
 Multiplying
 Formula between shapes e.g. 2 triangles for every 1 square
Size

UKCAT doesn’t create ‘or’ patterns

Type 2 (sequence) questions – Colour and Arrangement likely to feature in most

sequences
 Eliminate answer choices as you find elements of the sequence
 15 seconds on each question
Type 2 (compare) questions – Colour and Arrangement likely to feature in most
sequences
 Use only top two boxes to determine sequence
 Eliminate answer choices as you find elements of the sequence
  15 seconds on each question

DA (ELIMINATION)
 1 scenario
 28 questions
 31 mins
 1 min per question
 Request extra noteboards
 Spend 1 min looking at the code table and again when new info is added
 Work from the answer choices for ‘New words’ or ‘Inverted’ questions
 Choose strange responses if it’s ‘best fit’
 Operators
o +ve = positive
o –ve = negative
o + = combine
o <- = opposite
o ^ = increase
 An Operator can’t become an operator already present in the table

Kaplan Method

1. Translate message
2. Compare to answers
3. Eliminate and select

Decode questions

 Eliminate answers that do not include all elements from the message
 Eliminate answers where an element is present more/less times than in
message
 You cannot interpret an element if it is already present in the table
 Translate/Compare/Eliminate
 Compare element by element
 Eliminate as you go along (one element at a time)

Inverted questions

 Work backwards from the answers

 Use identical (or similar) terms to eliminate and narrow down the choices
 Look at code table
 You don’t necessarily need to interpret or eliminate coded message in order

New word questions

 Work backwards from the answers

Eliminate answers that
  Are not in the message or
 Can be made with existing code or
 Less essential
 Nested answers – if left with 3 or more possible answers, check for nested
answers as long as it’s essential and cannot be represented already

Make ABCDE elimination table

SJ
 20 scenerios
 67 questions
 27 mins
 90secs per 5 questions
Kaplan Method

1. Read scenario
2. Identify key issues
3. Assess and select

 Act promptly
 Should seek advice from colleagues if unsure of best course of action

Importance questions
 Medical professionalism, ethics and patient safety are usually important or
very important
 Patient safety > public confidence and perception
 External pressures on the decider are less important
 Follow rules/procedures at all times

Appropriateness questions

 Don’t undermine public confidence

 Always’s behave professionally
 Other considerations:
o Address problems ASAP
o Seek local solutions first
o Anything undermining public confidence is urgent and more
important other things
o You should be reasonable discreet and sensitive in addressing issues
70-80% of the answers will be in extremes; either very appropriate or very
inappropiate

 Some options may be appropriate/important in the short term (i.e.

immediately addressing a wrong doing) and some are appropriate/important
in the long term (discussing the implications of the wrong doing after the
event). Consider response options irrelevant of the timeframe. A response
option may still be an appropriate thing to do even if it is not something that
can be done immediately.

Pacing and Practising

Don’t be afraid to triage (Guess ‘n’ go) when you

 Have spent more time than allotted on a question or
 Suspect the question is difficult or time consuming
Once you find the correct answer, move on, don’t double check

SCANS method

SCANS (shape, colour, arrangement, number, size).

NO negative marking
 Therefore answer all questions.
 If unsure, try and eliminate some to reduce possible right answers.

Educated guesses

 Make educated guesses by eliminating obviously wrong answers

 Complete easiest questions first, leave difficult ones till last

Eliminate
Eliminate as many wrong answers as possible
Sometimes the right answer can be determined by eliminating wrong anwers

Look at the Answers first

Immediately look at the question and answers first before the statement, then work
backwards
Abstract reasoning

A basic over view of what you should be looking for:

 Type and size of the objects

 Number of objects

 Number of sides

 Symmetries/rotations

 Number and type of angles

 Intersections

 Colour of the objects

 Position and direction of the objects

Quantitive reasoning

 Give each question a shot for a certain amount of time, then decide whether you can
work the answer out, if not, move on and then come back to it at the end. This
ensures you pick up marks on the easier questions.
 You don’t need to study the data in-depth immediately. Scan the data intelligently,
then look at the question so you know what information to look for.
 Consider ‘order of magnitudes’ – size of possible answers, to eliminate glaringly
obvious ones and narrow potential correct ones.
 Work in reverse – start from the options if appropriate – e.g. plugging options into an
equation to see which one is right.
 Know when to convert numbers – i.e. convert fewer numbers by possibly converting
final answer instead of raw data.
 Conversions: Convert final answers instead of each individual unit.
o Eg #1 – Cube of 10cm sides has a volume of 103cm3 = 1000cm3.
Therefore to convert this to m3, we use 10cm = 0.1m and 1000cm3=
0.13m3= 0.001m3
o Eg # 2 – 1m=3.27ft therefore 13m3 = 3.273ft3 which equals 1m3=34.97ft3
 Scaling: Convert raw numbers i.e. if scale is 1:200 then divide individual
numbers by 200 before calculating things like surface area, volume etc.