The Complete UCAT Guide for Australia & New Zealand
Try a free UCAT question →The UCAT (University Clinical Aptitude Test) is a roughly two-hour, computer-based admissions test used by universities across Australia and New Zealand to help select applicants for medicine and dentistry. It has four subtests — Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning and Situational Judgement — totalling 184 questions, and is sat once per year during a July testing window.
What is the UCAT?
The UCAT ANZ is a computer-based admissions test used by the UCAT ANZ Consortium of universities in Australia and New Zealand to help select applicants to their medicine, dentistry and clinical-science degree programmes. It’s administered in this region by ACER. Around 15,000 candidates sit it each year.
It is an aptitude test: it measures how you reason, judge and work under time pressure. There’s no syllabus to revise and no science or maths content to memorise — the skills it assesses are the kind you build through practice.
The UCAT also runs in the UK, reported differently: in Australia and New Zealand, Situational Judgement is a scaled 300–900 score, not the UK’s “Band 1–4.” But it’s the same exam — one UCAT result can be used for medical schools across the UK, Australia and New Zealand alike.
What’s on the UCAT?
Four timed sections, each testing a different skill. The UCAT used to include a fifth, Abstract Reasoning — removed from the 2025 cycle, so the current test has four subtests only.
Verbal Reasoning
Reading passages and judging what the text does and doesn’t support.
The pacing section — the tightest timing in the exam, so lock onto each passage’s direction fast.
Explore →Decision Making
CalculatorLogic puzzles, syllogisms, probability and interpreting information to reach a sound conclusion.
The most improvable section — the approaches can be learned.
Explore →Quantitative Reasoning
CalculatorApplied numerical problem-solving from tables, charts and figures.
An accuracy test — most marks ride on reading the data correctly.
Explore →Situational Judgement
Judging how appropriate or important different responses are in realistic professional scenarios.
A test of professional judgement — answer as a reasonable professional would, not just what you’d personally do.
Explore →Each guide breaks the section into its question types and the specific traps that catch students out, with a real, interactive example. These reflect the patterns we see most often in recent papers; UCAT doesn’t publish an official list of question types, and the exact mix can vary year to year.
How is the UCAT scored?
The three cognitive subtests — Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning — are each converted from your raw marks to a scaled score between 300 and 900. Those three are added together to give a total cognitive scaled score from 900 to 2700.
Situational Judgement is reported separately, also on a 300–900 scaled score. It is not added into the cognitive total, and in Australia and New Zealand it is not reported as a band.
Heads-up: you’ll still see “1200–3600” quoted on older pages — that was the range when the test had four cognitive subtests including Abstract Reasoning. With AR gone, the cognitive total now tops out at 2700.
What’s a good UCAT score?
The honest answer is: it depends on what you’re trying to do. “Good” means three different things depending on your goal — good enough to get into any school you want, good enough to get into one school, or good enough for you, given your circumstances and preferences.
As a starting benchmark, scores are best read as percentiles against everyone who sat the test that year. Beating the average puts you above the median; the strongest applicants are in the top deciles. ACER publishes the cohort means, quartiles and deciles each year.
When is the UCAT?
The UCAT runs on an annual cycle. You sit it the year before you’d start university.
2027 cycle dates are typically released by ACER in early 2027 — we’ll update this when they’re confirmed.
You may sit the UCAT only once per cycle, and a result is used only for the immediately following intake (a 2026 result is for 2027 entry; it doesn’t carry over to later years).
Which universities require the UCAT?
Most undergraduate-entry medical and dental schools in Australia and New Zealand use the UCAT, though a handful don’t.
17 universities across Australia (15) and New Zealand (2) use the UCAT ANZ as part of selection. At every one of them, the UCAT is one component of the decision, combined with your academic results (ATAR or equivalent) and, usually, an interview. How heavily each university weights the UCAT — and any score thresholds — varies, and most don’t publish exact numbers.
How to prepare for the UCAT
The most effective preparation works with the way the UCAT is built. Because it rewards pattern-recognition and speed, the prep that pays off is learning the specific traps each question type is built around, then drilling your timing until spotting them becomes automatic.
That’s exactly how MedPath is built. Every question type is broken down into the traps that catch students out, with worked, interactive examples — and the practice adapts to your weak spots so you’re not wasting time on what you’ve already mastered.
A sensible preparation arc: learn each subtest’s question types and traps → drill them under realistic timing → sit full mock exams to build stamina and pacing → review your mistakes by trap, not just by score.
Start with a free calibration test.
Find your starting band in one short sitting, then keep sharp with free daily practice that adapts to the traps costing you the most marks.
UCAT, quick answers
Does the UCAT still have Abstract Reasoning?+
No. Abstract Reasoning was removed from the 2025 cycle. The test now has four subtests: Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning and Situational Judgement.
Is there a calculator?+
Yes — a simple on-screen calculator, but only in the Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning sections. There’s no calculator in Verbal Reasoning or Situational Judgement.
Can I retake the UCAT in the same year?+
No. You can sit it only once per cycle; sitting more than once in a cycle is treated as misconduct and your results are cancelled. You can sit again in a future year if you reapply.
Is the UCAT computer-based?+
Yes. It’s taken on a computer at a Pearson VUE test centre (a limited online-proctored option exists for candidates who qualify).
How long is my result valid?+
For one cycle only. A result is used for entry in the immediately following year and does not carry over.