If your child is in Year 10, they are likely experiencing the most academically challenging year of their life so far. In Year 10, they have to start deciding on a career pathway that they are interested in, choose subjects required to enter a suitable university that can support their interests, and undertake extra-curricular opportunities that could elevate their chances of success in their chosen career. Your Year 10 child needs to manage the above aspects whilst maintaining a high performance in their high school assessments.
This article aims to help you understand where your child stands in their educational journey toward medical school. With this general information, we hope you, as a parent, can support your child’s pathway to medicine effectively.
Medicine, in particular, is and continues to be a highly competitive educational degree and career-pathway that only a few manage to achieve. Therefore it is important that from the initial stages, you are able to help your child to gain access to the right resources, and most importantly, credible information to perform at their best.
In order to best support your child, you ought to be accustomed to the various challenges that your child could face down the lane. And it starts with familiarising yourself with the mandatory psychometric evaluation, UCAT, a significant prerequisite adopted by most undergraduate medical schools in Australia.
The UCAT, stands for the 'University Clinical Aptitude Test'. As the name suggests, it is an aptitude exam that measures a student’s critical thinking and time management skills over academic knowledge. To prepare for the UCAT, your child’s mindset needs to become flexible and interpretive in nature to tackle the complexities of the test, moving beyond the rote-learning approach often seen in high school subjects.
Once you begin exploring the UCAT in-depth, you will realise that the UCAT is a time-scarce exam and your child needs to improve their speed and accuracy during the early stages of preparation.
The UCAT exam is delivered in a computer based format. The UCAT is held annually, typically between July and August, offering a single testing window each year. The test comprises 184 multiple-choice questions divided across four sections, with a total duration of 1 hour and 51 minutes. Notably, starting in 2025, the Abstract Reasoning section was removed to streamline the test format.
- Verbal Reasoning
- Decision Making
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Situational Judgment
Each section evaluates different skill sets that are essential for success in medical practice.
If you read our article on how the UCAT assesses an individuals’ ability to become a doctor, you will observe that each UCAT subsection is designed to select those students who have well-developed critical thinking and effective time management skills, which are important aspects of medical practice.
For many students, the thought of tackling such a demanding test can feel overwhelming, given its significance in achieving their dream of studying medicine. However, it’s important to remember that the UCAT is a skill-based assessment that can be mastered through consistent practice. Just like preparing for a high school test, developing familiarity with the test structure and improving specific techniques can help reduce stress and build confidence. Therefore, equating the UCAT to your child’s high school exams can reduce the pressure on your child and help them approach the UCAT with a fresh mind to perform well on test day.
Finally, reassure your child that a poor UCAT performance does not mean the end of their medical aspirations. Alternative pathways exist, such as pursuing the GAMSAT for entry into medicine or dentistry at a postgraduate level of study, keeping their dream alive with determination and hard work.
Most undergraduate medical schools consider the UCAT score combined with the ATAR to rank students for a medical interview. Your child’s ATAR and UCAT score have to meet the university’s threshold to be invited for a medical interview.
There are, however, medical schools that do not consider the UCAT score and may rely on additional criteria, such as a personalised assessment in combination with your child’s ATAR to rank them for an interview.
The table below highlights some of the undergraduate medical schools in Australia and their consideration of the UCAT:
Based on the table above, it is evident that there is a predetermined percentage allocated to the UCAT score, hence, our experienced UCAT tutors often advise students to first understand the university requirements before creating a study plan. Being in the know for the university’s eligibility criteria can provide a more systematic direction to their UCAT preparation and also help strike a balance with their high school studies.
The UCAT demands a unique preparation strategy that can only be obtained through attempting multiple practice tests and mock exams. Here’s a simple analogy to strengthen your understanding of the UCAT:
Think of the mindset you need while solving a Rubix cube. It basically requires you to be good at improvisation and technique, which is exactly how the UCAT works.
Before your child starts UCAT preparation, it's crucial to understand the test and the skills it demands. A well-structured study plan that accommodates high school commitments becomes easier to create with this foundational knowledge. However, the research required can be overwhelming, which is why we offer the Strategy weekend course - the ideal starting point for your child’s UCAT journey, equipping them with all the necessary fundamentals.
Spanning three full days, the UCAT strategy weekend course covers all the fundamental aspects of the UCAT. Your child will work in small, interactive groups led by Australia’s top UCAT tutors, who will answer any questions and break down the complexities of each section. On the final day, your child will receive a personalised report based on a diagnostic exam and engage in a private consultation with one of our senior tutors, to create a tailored study plan.
This course also comes with additional perks such as access to over 2000 UCAT practice questions and a multitude of mocks and mini-mocks to help improve your child’s understanding of their strengths and weaknesses.
The Fraser’s Strategy Weekend is a great way to get started with your child’s UCAT study.
Once you sign up for our strategy weekend course program, you also get to witness Fraser's outlook on undertaking the UCAT and our iterative learning process, which produces a dynamic and engaging learning experience for our students. Hence, this course is an excellent way for you and your child to understand our values before committing to our comprehensive course packages.
As crucial as it is for your child to understand the UCAT domain, it is equally important for you, as a parent, to comprehend it as well. On this basis, you can also suggest approaches that could boost their chances of success and reassure them that they are not alone in this stressful journey.
As said earlier, medicine is a competitive field requiring individuals who can keep their calm under pressure and demonstrate higher-order thinking abilities. Both can be challenging to achieve if not for a strong support system.
Therefore, to know all the brass tacks of the UCAT, we have introduced a UCAT parents webinar solely meant to inform parents about the UCAT space and provide a broad overview of ways to support your child. This webinar is free of charge and is a great way for you to gauge the value you and your child will receive out of Fraser’s UCAT.
At Fraser’s, we have a team of UCAT experts who hold a long-standing reputation of educational excellence, including in the UCAT space. Our students additionally benefit from our UCAT tutors personalised feedback that has significantly altered their approach to the exam. Our senior tutors don’t just pave the way to build strategies for success in the UCAT but also provide tips that cater to your child’s ability to manage their other course loads for high school exams.
We offer a free 30-minute consultation with one of our tutors so that your child can understand how we teach and if the learning method fits well for your child. Introductory consults are beneficial particularly if your child is aware of their limitations within the UCAT but are unable to deduce a practical approach that can improve their chances of success in the test. Our tutors can then provide a cohesive plan to help your child build a highly targeted study plan across individual UCAT sections without limiting your child’s high school studies.
Our private tutors are available at flexible durations, meaning you can organize a one-on-one session that fits into your schedule, and may choose between an online or in-person classes.
Once you navigate through our aforementioned courses, you will have a fair understanding of which course suits your child’s preparation the best.
Regardless, your child should begin preparation for the UCAT whilst allocating suitable time to work on their ATAR subjects as well. It could be beneficial to start their UCAT preparation during their summer break of year 11 considering the UCAT testing window. Over the summer your child will need to devote a few hours a week to diligently work through UCAT practice questions to develop their reasoning skills. That way they are ahead by the time that they need to simultaneously learn content-rich high school subjects.
To further support your child's journey, we offer a Free Learning Management System (LMS) packed with valuable resources, practice questions, and performance-tracking tools. This platform provides an excellent starting point for your child's UCAT study, completely free of charge. Encourage your child to take full advantage of this resource to gain a competitive edge.
Where To Next?
We hope this article was useful and highlighted essential information about the UCAT exam. Alternatively, if you wish to gain more information about the UCAT, read our article on, ‘What is the UCAT?’
We also have tons of additional information about the UCAT subsections:
- UCAT Verbal Reasoning
- What Is UCAT Decision Making?
- UCAT Quantitative Reasoning and what it entails?
- Situational Judgement Test and its importance
We wish you and your child the best of luck on the UCAT journey!
