One of the first things you’ll want to know while studying for the UCAT is how the test is evaluated and what your results will be. Everything you need to know about how your score is calculated and applied will be covered in this tutorial!
Please be advised that in 2025, the UCAT will undergo significant format modifications. First and foremost, the exam will no longer feature the Abstract Reasoning Subtest. When studying for the UCAT, please keep this in mind and avoid practicing Abstract Reasoning problems since they are no longer applicable.
How is the UCAT scored? How do universities use the UCAT? What does the UCAT score mean?
For those who want to take the UCAT, here are some crucial questions. You can perform to the best of your ability if you understand how the UCAT is assessed and what constitutes a good, terrible, or average score. You may adjust your UCAT practice tests and preparations based on your score, which will also assist you choose which institutions to apply to.
This page will explain the UCAT score system’s workings, the key information you should be aware of, and how various colleges utilize this infamous admissions exam for their application processes.
The Structure Of The UCAT
The UCAT is a two-hour computer-based test that is divided into four portions, as you are well aware:
- Verbal Reasoning (VR)
- Decision Making (DM)
- Quantitative Reasoning (QR)
- Situational Judgement (SJT)
Each of these four categories assesses a separate set of skills necessary to practice medicine or dentistry.
Because each topic is graded independently, it is crucial to do well in each one separately in addition to achieving a high total score.
When Do You Get Your UCAT Results?
One benefit of this exam is that there is no waiting involved since you get your results as soon as you exit the testing area!
Upon obtaining your findings, you are given a score that includes a Band for Situational Judgement ranging from 1 to 4 and your individual numerical scores for the first three subsections, which range from 300 to 900.
Additionally, the sum of your numerical scores will provide you with an overall score between 1200 and 2700, which is what many colleges consider when evaluating applications.
You will need to wait until the final test data are released, which occurs around one week after the testing session concludes, to find out precisely what this implies for your medical school application and how you performed in comparison to other applicants.
To help you situate your score in relation to others, this includes the average overall and subsection scores for that year along with decile rankings.
When you sit for and finish your UCAT test, Pearson VUE will provide you the picture below. It will provide you with both your overall score and the scores for each of your sections.
How Is The UCAT Scored?
The amount of questions you answer correctly or incorrectly has no bearing on your score on the UCAT.
A person who answered 50% of the questions correctly one year would get a different score than someone who answered 50% correctly the next year.
Calculating grade limits for GCSEs is a lot like the process of turning raw marks into a UCAT score.
Continue reading to see how the final Situational Judgement portion is graded in comparison to the initial Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, and Quantitative Reasoning sections.
How Is Each UCAT Section Scored?
Evaluation of the Sections on Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, and Quantitative Reasoning
Verbal reasoning, decision-making, and quantitative reasoning all get the same score.
In essence, a certain set of “test takers” is used to scale raw scores and transform them into a number between 300 and 900, which aids the exam board in determining how difficult the exam is that year. Depending on how well you performed in comparison to the average score of the sample of “test takers” for that year, your raw mark will be translated to a UCAT score on test day.
The group’s mean score, also known as the average, is 600, with 500 and 700 being represented by one standard deviation on each side of the mean. In contrast, this total score is the sum of the four individual scores. When you examine the data of the prior test cycles, you will see these scores often. However, these two values are ultimately interchangeable.
Remember that you may get 900 in a section without answering every question correctly. In actuality, this implies that you may exclude difficult or time-consuming questions since not all of them are meant to be finished in a certain amount of time. However, you should try every question to increase your chances of receiving a good score.
UCAT.Ninja is a great tool for becoming acquainted with the degree of difficulty of UCAT problems. You may get important experience and understanding of the test structure by completing the 20,000 practice questions.
The UCAT’s minimum, maximum, and median scores—as well as the average score attained by successful applicants—are shown in the graphic below.
Scoring For Situational Judgement
The procedure is the same for the Situational Judgement portion, except you are given a band from 1 to 4, where Band 1 is the best and Band 4 is the worst, rather than a score.
This portion assesses your ability to appraise various ethical or team dilemmas by contrasting them with the actions that a doctor would take in each circumstance. Therefore, you receive a higher band the closer you are to what the panel of physicians claimed they would do.
The fact that there is no negative grading on the UCAT is one of the most important things to remember about its scoring system. Therefore, you could get a few more points at no additional expense if you answer every question.
The UCAT Situational Judgement (SJT) bands have the following official definitions:
BAND 1 (BEST)
Band 1 members performed at a very high level and, for the most part, shared the panel of experts’ judgment.
BAND 2
Band 2 members gave a strong, impressive performance, exhibiting sound judgment. Often, a large number of replies match those in the model.
BAND 3
Band 3 members performed at a moderate level, using good judgment for some problems and deviating significantly from the best answers for others.
BAND 4 (WORST)
Band 4 members performed poorly, and their judgment often deviated significantly from the best answers.
UCAT Score Conversion Tables
As seen, the UCAT is scored in a quite unusual manner, and not all of the relevant data is publicly accessible. In particular, UCAT has not made clear the numbers—such as the average and standard deviation—that are used to convert your raw scores.
There are a number of UCAT Conversion Tables available online, however keep in mind that they are not official sources and are probably estimates based on past performance. These may be useful for practice, but they don’t show how your scores will be transformed for the UCAT.
Additionally, avoid using UCAT Conversion Calculators unless they were made by UCAT itself. These often don’t account for scale when determining your score; instead, they use simple code to provide a preset score, as seen in the example below:
else if (s <= 33) sc = 750;
Why not look at UCAT.Ninja if you’re searching for a tool that gives you a more accurate UCAT score while you practice? By using the average scores of other UCAT.Ninja users, our practice question and mock test scoring system mimics the official UCAT methodology and gives you a correctly computed and scaled score. You may immediately improve your score by using the 20,000 practice questions that are available.
