UK clinical aptitude test (UKCAT)
The UKCAT focuses on exploring your cognitive powers, as well as other attributes considered valuable for healthcare professionals.
Who needs to take the test?
All applicants to the BM4, BM5 and BM6 programmes are required to take the UKCAT in the summer prior to making an application. Any applicant who has not taken the UKCAT will not have their application considered further by the Faculty of Medicine.
Why are you being asked to take the test?
The Faculty of Medicine has made the decision to ask applicants to complete the UKCAT to assist us in making more informed choices when selecting which applicants we should offer a place to. Applications for entry have increased considerably since 2005 and the majority of these applications were from applicants who have achieved or were predicted high academic grades, as well as having undertaken extremely good quality work experience to support their application. This makes the role of universities, when selecting applicants to study medicine, very challenging.
When do you take the test?
The UKCAT results are only valid for applications to universities in the year in which the test is taken. If your application to medical school is not successful and you re-apply the following year, you will be required to re-sit the UKCAT. Applicants must resit the test in each year of application.
How do I take the test?
Registration for the test will only be available online at www.ukcat.ac.uk.
What will I be tested on?
The UKCAT focuses on exploring applicants cognitive powers as well as other attributes considered to be valuable for health care professionals as follows:
Verbal reasoning: The ability to think logically about written information and arrive at a reasoned conclusion
Quantitative reasoning: The ability to solve numerical problems
Abstract reasoning: The ability to infer relationships from information by convergent and divergent thinking
Decision Analysis: The ability to deal with various forms of information, to infer relationships, to make informed judgements, and to decide on an appropriate response.
The test does not contain any curriculum nor any science content and cannot be revised for.
How will the University of Southampton use the test results in its selection process?
All applicants to the BM4, BM5 and BM6 programmes are required to take the UKCAT.
The Faculty of Medicine will use a UKCAT cut-off score for applications to the BM5 (A100) and BM4 (A101) programmes.
From 2013 entry, applicants to BM5 and BM4 programmes must score 2500 or above in the UKCAT exam in order for their application to be considered further.
The cut-off score does not apply to the BM6 (A102) programme, but the UKCAT score will continue to be used alongside all other information as part of the BM6 selection process.
For further information on the UKCAT please visit www.ukcat.ac.uk
