CHANGES TO UCAT ANZ 2022
1 year ago by Chris
There have been some changes to the structure and content of UCAT, which will apply to anyone sitting UCAT ANZ in 2022.
Summary of the changes
Here’s a summary of the changes to UCAT ANZ 2022:
- UCAT Quantitative Reasoning: there will be one more minute to answer questions, with no changes to the number of questions
- UCAT Abstract Reasoning: the number of questions has decreased by five (from 55 down to 50), and there will be one less minute to answer the questions
- UCAT Situational Judgement: the number of questions has decreased by three (from 69 down to 66), while timing remains the same at 26 minutes
- There is a new type of question in UCAT Situational Judgement, described in our blog
- Other sections (UCAT Verbal Reasoning and UCAT Decision Making) remain the same
- The overall length of time to complete UCAT is the same
Changes to UCAT Quantitative Reasoning
In UCAT ANZ 2022, there will be no change to the number of UCAT Quantitative Reasoning questions, however, candidates will have one more minute to answer the questions. This means that UCAT ANZ 2022 candidates will have an average of about 41.5 seconds to answer each UCAT Quantitative Reasoning question as opposed to 40 seconds.
Given this is a marginal change, UCAT ANZ 2022 candidates should not significantly alter their timing strategy for UCAT Quantitative Reasoning questions. Candidates, however, should be aware that they may have more ‘luxury’ time at the end of UCAT Quantitative Reasoning to return to any difficult questions that they have flagged for review.
The UCAT Quantitative Reasoning subtest historically has been a high scoring subtest. The additional time provided means that candidates should continue to score well in this subtest, although the difficulty of UCAT Quantitative Reasoning questions may increase in 2022.
Changes to UCAT Abstract Reasoning
In UCAT ANZ 2022, Abstract Reasoning will have five less questions, with one less minute to answer them. The reduction in the time provided to candidates is proportional to the reduction in the number of questions – that is, students will continue to have approximately 14 seconds to answer each UCAT Abstract Reasoning question.
The five questions removed in UCAT Abstract Reasoning will generally represent removal of one Set A / B / N unit of questions, which is the commonest type of question in UCAT Abstract Reasoning.
Therefore, UCAT ANZ 2022 candidates should approach this subtest in a similar manner to how they have done so previously.
Changes to UCAT Situational Judgement
The most significant change to UCAT ANZ 2022 is in UCAT Situational Judgement. The number of questions in UCAT Situational Judgement has reduced by three. In general, this is from removal of an appropriateness style UCAT Situational Judgement question.
Although the number of questions in the UCAT Situational Judgement subtest has reduced by three, there has been no change to the timing. This means that candidates will have more time to answer UCAT Situational Judgment questions, averaging an extra one second per question.
However, UCAT ANZ 2022 candidates will face a new type of UCAT Situational Judgement question, outlined in detail in our blog. This type of UCAT Situational Judgement question is more time consuming than others in the subtest, so overall, students should not significantly alter their timing for this section. Note that the UCAT Situational Judgement subtest tends to be the least time pressured section of all subtests.
What to do now to get prepared for UCAT ANZ 2022
While all of the above changes may leave you feeling worried about the upcoming UCAT, it is important to realise that UCAT is an exam that is continually changing. For example, just a few years ago, the UCAT Decision Making subtest was completely different in terms of the style of questions.
Furthermore, the changes that have been made are incremental, and if anything, should be welcomed by UCAT 2022 candidates. You will now have one more minute to answer UCAT Quantitative Reasoning questions and three less questions to answer in UCAT Situational Judgement, which will certainly help in these time pressured subtests. Although one minute has been cut from UCAT Abstract Reasoning, the number of questions has been reduced accordingly.
MedEntry will be updating our UCAT practice exams accordingly, to ensure that our students are well prepared for UCAT 2022.
