About the UKCAT

The UKCAT is a multiple choice test, required for Admissions to Medical and Dentistry programmes at 26 universities in the UK.

Universities that require the UKCAT include:

Aberdeen, Barts and The London School of Medicine, Brighton and Sussex, Cardiff, Dundee, Durham, East Anglia, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull York Medical School, Imperial College London (grad only), Keele, King’s College London, Leeds, Leicester, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford (grad only), Peninsula College of Medicine & Dentistry, Queen Mary London, Queen’s University Belfast, Sheffield, Southampton, St. Andrew’s, St. George’s London and Warwick (grad only).

The UKCAT may only be taken once per academic year, so it is vital that students score highly the first time, otherwise they may have to take a gap year and re-apply the following year. Some universities also use the UKCAT score as a cut-off for invitation to University, so students with low UKCAT scores may miss out, even if the rest of their application is excellent.

That said, there are ways that you can ensure your UKCAT score is as high as possible, and one of these is understanding the format of the test and the skills tested in each section:

Students may take the UKCAT any day between the test-taking window which runs from July to October. Test Centres get very busy, especially in September, so it is important that students register early. The tests are held at Pearson Vue testing centres (you may have been there for your driving theory test). Click here to find your closest testing centre.

Key dates for the UKCAT:

Registration opens:  1st May 2012
Testing begins:  3rd July 2012
Registration deadline:  21st September 2012
Bursary application deadline:  21st September 2012
Last test date:  5th October 2012
UCAS application deadline: 15th October 2012

Further information about the UKCAT is available from the UKCAT Consortium, the makers of the UKCAT Test. Please visit www.ukcat.ac.uk