Score Higher on the UKCAT

334 Pages·2014·88.22 MB·English

by  Brian Holmes

Preface
One test stands between you and aplace atthe medical school ofyour dreams: theUKCAT.
No matter how strongly you perform in your GCSEsand A-levels,you are likelyto find the UKCAT
incredibly challenging. Most students who applyto study medicine gettop results in their other exams,
and areused to surpassing anyacademic challengetheyhaveencountered. Suchstudents make upvirtu
allytheentire UKCATcohort, and sotheUKCATisdesigned todifferentiate among thiscohort ofhighly
capableand resourceful students.
Most UKCATtest-takers do very littleto prepare forthe exam, and eachyear countless students find
that TestDaycomes asarude surprise. Theyhavenever satanexam that theywereunable tofinish,or in
whichtheywereunable to understand fullythe nature ofthequestions being asked.Sadly,these students
areunable togetaplacestudying medicine because oftheir poor UKCATresults, and must waitanother
year before taking the test again. AtKaplan, wehavehelped hundreds ofstudents in this situation over
the past fewyears, and they alwaystell usthe same thing: they wish someone had told them they could
prepare forthe UKCAT.
Despitewhatyou mayhaveheard, theUKCATisverymuch atest youcan prepare for,and here'swhy:
the UKCATisastandardised test, meaning itasksthesame typesofquestions inthesame format in each
section, regardless ofthe particular version ofthe testyou mayencounter on TestDay.Becausethe test
isstandardised, youcan prepare for the specificquestion types, and build your confidence and score by
practising forspeed and accuracy-ideally withfull-length mock testsin proper UKCATformat-before
you sitthe actual UKCAT.This book includes two full-length Kaplan UKCATmock tests, aDiagnostic
Testthat willorient you to the format and challenges ofthe UKCAT,and afinalMock Testto complete
your preparation, asyou put the Kaplan top tipslearnt in this book fullyinto practice.
'Thisbook includes Kaplan'stop tips for building ahigher score on each section of the UKCAT,and
distils the basicsofKaplan'scomprehensive UKCATcourse into aself-study programme. Wedeveloped
the top tips at Kaplan by working with dozens of UKCAT teachers and helping thousands ofstudents
prepare for the UKCAT since its inception in 2006. Our Kaplan top tips have aproven track record, in
that they can be learnt and practised sothat they become 'second nature' byTestDay,and aregenuinely
helpful formost students to improve their timing and their score.
Weknowthat getting into medical school isachallenging endeavour, andwehavewritten thisbook to
help younavigate the challenges oftheUKCAT.Bylearning and practising the Kaplantop tips, wehope
youwillachieveascorethat will'make the cut; soyou can pursue your dream ofbecoming adoctor.
Studysmart-and think success!
Brian Holmes
Dr Marianna Parker
Dr Katie Hunt
Contents
About the authors viii
Score Higher on the UKCAT:test updates and mock online test ix
1. Assessing the UKCAT 1
2. Kaplan UKCATDiagnostic Test 5
3. Verbal Reasoning 75
4. Quantitative Reasoning 103
5. Abstract Reasoning 131
6. DecisionAnalysis 169
7. Situational Judgement 195
8. Kaplan UKCATMock Test 211
9. Getting Readyfor TestDaySuccess 283
APPENDIX
A. Kaplan TopTips for Test-Takerswith Learning Difficulties 287
B. Chapter2 Kaplan UKCATDiagnostic TestExplanations 289
C. Chapter8Kaplan UKCATMock TestExplanations 313
About the authors
Brian Holmes
BrianistheAcademic Director atKaplanTestPrepInternational andtheheadwriter forKaplan'sUKCAT
andBMATcourses. Hescored a3250ontheUKCAT.Beforerelocating toLondon in2006,Brianlectured
indrama, classicsand filmatCornell University and theUniversity ofCalifornia, LosAngeles.Hegradu
ated summa cum laudefrom Tulane University with aBachelor ofArts inEnglish and Greek and Latin,
and earned amaster's degree in theater arts from UCLA.
Dr Marianna Parker MBBS,BSe
Marianna earned aChemistry BScfrom the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology and amedical degree
from St George's University of London, where she was nominated for the University of London Gold
Medal. Asasuccessful applicant toboth UK and USuniversities, she has extensive personal experience
with admissions tests. She iscurrently training asapaediatrician at Massachusetts General Hospital in
Boston.
Dr Katie Hunt MA(Cantab)MBBS
Katiestudied Pre-Clinical Medicine andDevelopmental BiologyattheUniversity ofCambridge andthen
completed her medical degree at King'sCollege London School of Medicine, graduating with Distinc
tion. She has alwaysenjoyed teaching and training, with experience both abroad and inthe UK. Katie
has taught UKCATand BMATcourses forKaplan since 2007,including aslead UKCAT teacher. Sheis
aPaediatric Trainee inLondon, currently working atStThomas' Hospital, and alsohasakeen interest in
medical education.
KaplanTestPrep (www.kaptest.co.uk) hasofferedtestpreparation courses in theUKsince 1993.Kaplan
has been the leading provider ofpreparation forthe UKCATand BMATsince the tests werefirst intro
duced, and currently offersclassroom-based and online courses and tutoring, in addition to this book.
First established in the United Statesin 1938,KaplanTestPrep isthe world leader in test preparation,
offering preparation formore than 90standardised tests,including entrance exams forUK and USuni
versities, aswellassome professional licensure exams.KaplanTestPrep'scourse materials areupdated on
aregular basis sothat Kaplan students havethe most current and helpful testprep available.
VisitKaplan TestPrep'swebsite atwww.kaptest.co.ukJukcattest to accessthe free,full-length Kaplan
UKCAT MockOnline Test,which werecommend that youcomplete afterworking through the practice
questions and mock tests inthis book.
Score Higher on the UKCAT: test
updates and mock online test
The keyto achieving a high score in the UKCAT is to become familiar with the styleof questions and
practise these to develop your technique. It isalso very important to practise answering the questions
within the timing ofthe realexam. Once youhavefinishedworking through thebook youcan undertake
Kaplan'sMockOnline Test.Youwillalsowantto checkthe test updates inour Online Resource Centre in
the yearyou sitthe UKCAT,to ensure you areawareofanytest changes inthat year.
Test Updates
Test updates are freely available to readers of this book, but are password protected. Toaccessthe test
updates, simply visit the online resource centre atwww.oxfordtextbooks.co.uklorclkaplan_ukcat2e/
and enter thefollowing username and password:
Username:kaplan
Password:medicalschool
Annual changes to the UK Clinical Aptitude Testbythe exam provider are usually announced in April
and July,and wewillannounce anyupdates onthe Online Res-ource Centre soon thereafter.
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Assessing the UKCAT
Doctors cannot helppatients getbetter without firstcompleting an assessment, to ensure that they fully
understand the issuesand symptoms theirpatients arepresenting. Itisessentialtoadopt thesamemindset
when preparing forthe UKClinical Aptitude Test(UKCAT),which serves avery different purpose than
anyotherexamyouhavetaken,andpresentsverydifferentchallengesthanyouarelikelytohaveencountered
on anyprevious exam.
Aspart of your initial assessment of the UKCAT,you willcomplete the Kaplan UKCAT Diagnostic
Test(Chapter 2),which willhelpyou to understand the issues with question format and timing in each
section. First, let'stake afewminutes to consider the fundamental logic ofthe UKCAT.
The basic reason to sit the UKCAT isthat it is required for admission to 26 medical and dental pro
grammes in the UK.The 26universities that require the UKCATformedical and dental admissions are
known astheUKCATConsortium, thetest-maker responsible fortheUKCATsinceitsinception in2006.
Mostuniversities inthe UKCATConsortium require the UKCATforundergraduate admissions, though
afewrequire the exam for postgraduate admissions. Check the test-maker's website (www.ukcat.ac.uk)
for acurrent and complete list
NBAfewUKuniversities, including Oxford and Cambridge, require adifferentexamcalledtheBMAT
(www.bmat.org.uk) formedical admissions. Depending on which universities you plan to applyto,you
mayhave tositboth the UKCATand theBMAT.
. ..._ . ....._._ -" - --,
There is a further reason that the UKCAT is an essential part of the medical and dental admissions
process: most programmes that require the UKCATwill useyour results to determine which applicants
are invited to interview. The most common approach isto set a'cut-off' score: applicants with UKCAT
results above the cut-off are invited to interview; those with UKCATresults below the cut-off are not.
In this sense, then, your UKCATresult willlikelybe'make or break' forgetting into amedical or dental
programme.
Mostprogrammes thatuseacut-offscorearerather discreet aboutthefactthat theydoso,andasaresult
itcanbedifficult tofindout exactlywhere theydrawthe linebetween scoresthat getinvited to interview
and scores that are out of luck. Anecdotal evidence from many students who have been through the
admissions process recently revealsthat thecut-off score isusuallyright around theaveragemark on the
UKCAT,which iscurrently atotal scoreof2643,or an averageof660ineachsection. Toensure that you
scorehigher than the cut-offscore,youwillwant totry and scoreaboveaverageon theUKCAT.Thegood
news isthat itisverypossible to do so,but youwillneed to investtime in learning Kaplan'stop tips and
putting them into practice. Inorder to secure amedical or dental interview, itisessential to prepare for
theUKCAT,and to doyour absolute besttogetthe highest scorepossible onTestDay.
The UKCATisnot atest ofcontent that you studied atGCSEor A-level,and ithas been designed with
avery different format and timing than those exams. Assuch, the UKCAT willrequire avery different
approach. TheUKCATconsistsoffivesections,eachofwhichtestsyour abilitytoprovide themostcorrect
answers in averyshort time.
Here isabrief overview ofthe task,number ofquestions and timing ineach section.
Verbal Reasoning: Youmust assessstatements byfindingrelevant information and making inferences
from areading passage. Youmust answer 44itemsin 21minutes.
Quantitative Reasoning: Youmust find relevant data and complete basic calculations (most involve
arithmetic, algebra and/or geometry). Youmust answer 36questions in22minutes.
Abstract Reasoning: Youmust find patterns or progressions in setsofshapes, and match newshapes
to existing patterns and progressions. Youmust answer 55items in 13minutes.
Decision Analysis: Youmustevaluatethelogicalmeaning ofmessagesusingatableofcodes.Youmust
answer 28questions in 33minutes.
Situational Judgement: Youmust determine the most pressing issues in a clinical or educational
scenario, and evaluate aseries ofpossible responses to the scenario. Youmust answer 71items in
26minutes.
Asyou can see, the UKCAT willnot require you to useany content that you learnt in school, with the
exception of a fewbasic formulae (e.g. those involving percentage, mean, speed and geometry) in the
Quantitative Reasoning section. Most ofthe work required to answer correctly in most sections ispar
ticular to the types ofquestions on the UKCAT.Thus,youwillneed to learn the workings ofthevarious
question types, so you can improve your speed and accuracy at answering individual questions and in
working through each section.
Timing isalsoasignificant challengeonthe UKCAT.Youhaveabout aminute to answereachDecision
Analysisquestion, and 30seconds orlesstoanswereachquestion intheother foursections. Thistiming is
much quickerthan youwilllikelyhaveexperienced onanyexamyouhavesatpreviously.Itisverycommon
forstudents tobe unable tofinish one ormore sections ofthe firstUKCATtest paper they sit,sodon't be
alarmed ifthis happens toyou on the Kaplan UKCATDiagnostic Test.Justbeglad that you arenot one
ofthe many unlucky students each yearwho have the experience ofbeing unable to finish whilst sitting
the actual UKCAT.Sitting the realistic practice tests inthis book will beessential in preparing yourself
forthe timing and 'endurance' factors ofanswering 234questions in 2hours onTestDay.Youcan obtain
afurther practice test freeofcharge atwww.kaptest.co.uklukcattest. Each additional practice testyousit
willenableyoutoimprove yourtiming, giveyoumore opportunity topractise Kaplan'stop tipsand allow
you to make mistakes. Remember: any mistake you make whilst practising for the UKCATis one you
can avoidonTestDay.
The test-taking format isa further challenge in that the UKCAT istaken on a computer ata testing
centre.YoucanfindacompletelistofUKCAT testingcentres ontheUKCATwebsite, alongwith atutorial
and demonstration ofthe test-taking interface. The UKCATConsortium alsoprovides two full-length
practice tests in the computerised interface, which areavailablefor freeon the UKCATwebsite.Youare
strongly advised to work through these tests, but youshould doso aftercompleting the chapters in this
book. Don't worry if you have worked through the officialcomputerised practice tests already. Ifyou
haven't, youwillget more out ofthem once youhave learnt Kaplan'stop tips and completed the paper
based practice tests in this book. Itisessential that youbecome familiar with the exact appearance and
functions inthetest-taking interface.Theseincludetheoption tomovebackandforth between questions,
to flagquestions forreviewand to reviewquestions (whether flagged,unanswered orallquestions) atthe
end ofasection. Thecomputerised interface alsoincludes anonscreen calculator, which youwillwant to
practise using soyoucan beprepared forQuantitative Reasoning.
Thefirstfour sections ofthe UKCATareeachscoredfrom 300to 900.According tothe test-maker, most (")
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s:u
peoplewhosittheUKCATscorebetween 500and700ineachsection. Scoresabove700inanysection are ¥
considered difficult to achieve, and very impressive indeed. According to data provided bythe UKCAT ............
Consortium, the averagescore isjust aboveorbelow600ineach section.
Yourresults aretabulated bythecomputer, and youwillbegivenaprintout when youleavethe testing
room. Don'tlosethis printout, asthere isachargetoobtain areplacement copy.Yourresults areautomati
callysent to the universities you selecton your UCASform; for this reason, you must sitthe UKCATin
theyearwhenyouareapplyingforadmission. Scoresdonot carryover from oneyear toanother, andyou
can sitthe UKCATonly once per year.
Although the scores are scaled from 300to 900,the actual scoring isvery simple. Youget amark for
eachcorrect answer.Thereisnonegativemarking, soyoudonotloseanymarksforincorrect answers.You
donotgainorloseanymarks forquestions that areleftunanswered. Leavingmanyquestions unanswered
in one or more sections isthe most common mistake made byUKCATtest-takers on TestDay.Doing
sovirtually ensures that you willscore wellbelowthe averagein atleast one section, which will make it
difficultto passthe cut-off score required for interview.
Situational Judgement scores are given from Band 1to Band 4 (highest to lowest), depending how
many ofyour answers match those determined bythe panel ofmedical experts. Youget full marks for
choosing thecorrect answer,and partial marksforchoosing an answer that iscloseto thecorrect answer.
The exact details ofthe partial marking have not been disclosed by the UKCAT Consortium, but this
means that you have agood chance ofgetting some marks for each Situational Judgement question, so
long asyoumark an answer.
&
How do you get top scores?
Thefirsttip,ifperhaps asomewhat obviousone,isto mark ananswer forevery question. Youmaynot be
comfortable with marking answersfor questions youhavenot actually attempted. However,it ispossible
that you may find yourself running out oftime asyou get to the end of one or more sections, despite
your best efforts in preparing for the UKCAT,asthe timing issotight. Ifyouhave afewquestions you
are unable to work out properly, itisbetter tomark ananswer and gain achance ofpicking upthemarks
than to leavethem blank and have 0%chance ofpicking upthe mark.
Verbal Reasoning and Abstract Reasoning questions have three or four answer choices. Situational
Judgement questions have four answerchoices.Quantitative Reasoning and Decision Analysisquestions
have fiveanswer choices. Consider the odds ofguessing correctly when guessing blindly-as compared
to guessing strategically-in the followingtable.
Nurnberof Odds ofcorrectly Odds ofcorrectly guessing Odds ofcorrectly guessing
answer choices guessingblindly strategically, aftereliminating strategically, aftereliminating
1answer 2answers
3 33% 50% 100%
4 25% 33% 50%
5 20% 25% 33%
When youcaneliminate one ormore answerchoices,guessing strategically givesyouamuch stronger
chance of answering correctly and picking upthe mark. The odds ofguessing blindly are not bad, par
ticularly when there areonly three answer choices.Still,youshould onlyguessblindly ifyouarerunning
out oftime and atrisk ofleaving questions unanswered.
Youcanminimise blind guessingbyfollowingthe nexttip:maximise your marks with question triage.
Sinceyou haveso little time to answer each question, the UKCATcan challenge youbypresenting you
with afewquestions in each section that take farlonger than the averagetiming per question to answer
properly. For instance, you might see a few questions in the Quantitative section that would take 2 or
more minutes to solve using straightforward maths, rather than the 30 seconds allotted. Ifyou take the
time to answer one such question bydoing the straightforward maths, and spending 90seconds more
than you have, then youwilleffectivelyhaveensured that you areunable to answer 3questions later in
the section. Unlessyouwereonthe finalQuantitative set,youcould besurethat there would beatleast 3
more questions that youcouldreasonably answerin30secondseach.Answering those 3questions would
earn you3more marks, whereas answering theonelongquestion picksuponly asinglemark. Sincethere
arefairlyfewquestions in eachsection that aremeant to bevery time-consuming, youmust triage these
questions. Rather than followingthe usual timing, spend no more than 10seconds on one that appears
to bevery time-consuming. Makeastrategicorblind guess,mark ananswer,flagthe question forreview
and moveon.Youwillneed topractise fortriage-and tobuild upyour confidence in deploying triage as
atest-taking strategy-but students who do so usuallyscore wellabove 700in most (ifnot all)sections
ofthe UKCAT.
Thereason forthis hasto do with the exact correspondence ofthe number ofcorrect answers in each
section to the scaled scores from 300to 900. Basedon extensive feedback from students who have sat
the UKCAT,wehave prepared ascoring table whichyou can findatthe end ofthe two practice tests in
thisbook (on p.72and p.280).Ifyou checkthe scoring table,you willnotice that youcan score 700or
abovebyanswering approximately three-quarters ofthe questions in asection correctly. Ascore of700
inasection would placeyouinthetop 10%ofUKCAT test-takers-a phenomenal achievement, and one
you can attain without answering allthe questions in asection correctly.
Allthequestions intheUKCAThavebeen written foracertain objectivelevelofdifficulty.Ifyouthink
ofquestion difficultyasacontinuum from easytomedium tohard, most questions willbeinthe'medium'
range onthe continuum, with afewtowards theextremes of,easy'and 'hard'.Time-consuming questions
(i.e.those that take morethan the allotted time perquestion toanswer) arealwaysobjectivelyatthe 'hard'
endofthedifficultycontinuum, andthetestcannot giveyouverymanyofthese inanyone section. Triage
can thus help you maximise your marks in each section, byspending the time allotted on the easyand
medium questions, which should certainly account for atleast three-quarters of the total. Maximising
your marks on these questions willbeessential to earning ahigh score.
The final tip for getting a top score on the UKCAT is to make the most ofthis book. Learn the test
formats andtips foreachsection. Practise forstrategy aswellaspacing. This book isloaded with Kaplan
timed practice sets, which will allow you to practise triage, while also deploying Kaplan'stop tips and
ensuring that you answer every question before time isup.Reviewthe worked answers for every ques
tion you attempt while practising, soyou can ensure that you aregetting the right answers forthe right
reasons, and in the fastesttime possible.
When youareready to begin your UKCATpreparation, set asideacouple ofhours and sitthe Kaplan
UKCAT Diagnostic Test in Chapter 2.Besure to review allthe worked answers soon after the test
ideallythesame day,or thenextday.ManyUKCATtest-takers never sitafull-length practice test,soyou
willhaveahugeadvantage over the competition afterfinishing the next chapter.