UCAT Verbal Reasoning – Free Guidance and Top Tips
The UCAT verbal reasoning section gives you a series of written passages of around 200-300 words followed by questions. You only have 21 minutes to do this section and due to the large amount of text this can cause extreme time pressure. We look at why this is being tested and give you some tips on how to boost your score.
What is UCAT verbal reasoning?
It tests your ability to read a large amount of information with limited time and critically think to work out the answer.
You do not need any prior knowledge to answer any question, nor should you attempt to use this.
Be careful if you appear to have some knowledge about the passage, especially if you feel something might be wrong. You are expected to answer the question based only on what has been given to you in the passage.
The subjects of the passages can be from a wide variety of sources, such science, current news topics, history, education, business and finance, in fact they can be from any topic.
The questions will make you comprehend meanings, look at inference, identify whether something is valid and assess the strength of a logical argument (and much more).
There is a lot of long words here but again as with other sections of the exam, these ways of critical thinking can be taught.
Most medical school applicants are from a science-based background. A small minority will hate these types of tests which are more like an English exam rather than a maths or science test. Over the years this tends to be the section which students score the lowest and this is understandable.
Why do they test UCAT verbal reasoning?
Doctors need to able to understand complex information such as from medical journals
Doctors need to communicate this (sometimes complex and written in medical terminology) information to patients in a manner that they can understand
Doctors need to be able understand and interpret findings from publications, such as peer reviews and medical trials.
Doctors need to be able apply information to their own practice and use this to decide the best treatment for patients.
You have to be able critique skills such as materials in order to decide whether it is valid or perhaps made some assumptions. This is tested again at medical school interview level.
You draw their own conclusions from material that you are presented.
You have to be able objectively validate any findings. You have to be prepared to justify any decisions that you make as a doctor.
These skills are also tested again in the BMAT examination in section 1. We always advice students to attempt both the UCAT and BMAT to maximise their choice of medical schools that they can apply for and there is also significant overlap in the skills needed for both exams.
What types of question are there in UCAT verbal reasoning?
The UCAT verbal reasoning session has two key types of question: -
The True/False or Can’t tell or logical order questions.
You need to decide from the information in the text whether the statement is true or false or you cannot tell whether it is true or false. The examiners will try and trip you up here – especially between something that is either ‘false’ or ‘can’t tell’. We go through and show you where and how examiners will try and trip you up on our UCAT Intensive Course.
The words True, False and Can’t tell themselves each have specific definitions, for example ‘can’t tell’ means that you cannot be certain using the information they have given you. Following on from this this could be that they have changed the context giving a different twist or meaning to a statement.
Critical reasoning questions with free text
You need to select the best answer, make inferences and conclusions from the information that has been provided. Questions can be as incomplete statements.
Come to our UCAT courses, taught and designed by doctors and top A-level critical thinking teachers. Learn all the strategy to need to answer questions in all sections quickly and accurately. We also give you a calibrated question bank and over a hundred support tutorials. Click here to learn more about our UCAT courses.
