UCAT Situational Judgement Tips: Save Time and Boost Your Score
Introduction to UCAT SJT
The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) is an admissions exam required by most UK medical and dental schools. One crucial part of this exam is the Situational Judgement Test (SJT) – the final section of the UCAT. The SJT presents real-life-inspired scenarios to assess your judgement in medical or professional situations. In simpler terms, it tests whether you can identify the appropriate and ethical ways to respond, much like a responsible doctor or dentist would.
The SJT section consists of 69 questions based on around 22 short scenarios, and you have 26 minutes to answer them all. This works out to roughly 22 seconds per question – so while it’s not as calculation-heavy as other sections, you still need to work efficiently under time pressure. Your answers don’t receive a numeric score like other subtests; instead, you’ll get placed in Band 1 (highest) to Band 4 (lowest) based on how closely your judgements align with expert consensus. Band 1 means you showed excellent judgement, very similar to a panel of experts, whereas Band 4 means your choices often differed greatly from ideal responses. Importantly, there’s no negative marking – in fact, the SJT even awards partial marks for answers that are close to the correct answer. This means it’s worth answering every question, even if you’re unsure.
Many students consider SJT less time-pressured than other sections. However, it comes at the end of a long exam, when fatigue can set in. Don’t underestimate it! A strong performance can strengthen your application, but a poor one can hold you back. Medical schools do pay attention to your SJT band – in fact, many universities won’t accept applicants with a Band 4, and some are wary of Band 3. An increasing number of med/dental schools use the SJT score during selection, with some even outright rejecting lower-band candidates. In other words, doing well in this section isn’t just about passing the test – it could make or break your chances of getting an interview or offer.
The good news is that with the right strategies, you can save time on SJT questions and boost your score. Below, we’ll walk through essential tips – from understanding what examiners are looking for, to efficient time management and answering techniques. These tips are written in clear 🇬🇧 British English, with any tricky terms explained, so that Sixth Form students (and anyone else taking the UCAT) can easily follow along. Let’s dive into our top strategies for acing the UCAT SJT! 🎯
1. Don’t Underestimate the Situational Judgement Section 📚
Treat the SJT as seriously as the other sections of UCAT. It may be the last section and feel more like “common sense,” but it carries significant weight. Some students make the mistake of neglecting SJT preparation because it’s viewed as less technical or time-pressured. In reality, a low SJT band can limit your university options. Many medical and dental schools have a baseline requirement for SJT – for example, a number of schools simply ignore applications that score Band 4 (the lowest band). Some even hesitate to accept Band 3 candidates. On the other hand, scoring Band 1 or Band 2 will keep all your options open and may even give you an edge in interviews (some universities use SJT results in their interview scoring).
How can you avoid underperforming? Start by allocating time to practice SJT questions and review explanations for the answers. Even though SJT scenarios don’t involve calculations or formulas, they do require a solid grasp of professional ethics and effective decision-making. Make sure you dedicate part of your UCAT revision schedule to this section – don’t just cram it in at the end. The SJT has its own style of questions, which you’ll become better at with practice. By treating it seriously from the beginning, you’ll develop a instinct for the right responses and ensure you’re not caught off guard on test day.
Key takeaway: Respect the SJT. ✔️ Give this section plenty of practice and attention. Knowing that many schools exclude low SJT bands from consideration should motivate you to aim high. Scoring well (ideally Band 1 or 2) can boost your application and show schools that you have the professional judgement expected of a future medic.
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2. Learn the Good Medical Practice Principles 💡
One of the best ways to prepare for SJT scenarios is to familiarize yourself with the professional guidelines that real doctors follow. A great starting point is the General Medical Council’s Good Medical Practice guide. This official document is essentially a blueprint for how doctors should behave – and many UCAT SJT questions are based on the same principles and scenarios covered by this guidet. In fact, you can often trace SJT answers back to the core tenets outlined in Good Medical Practice.
Good Medical Practice covers the “Duties of a Doctor”, including fundamental values like:
🟦 Patient Safety First: Make patient care your first concern. Never do anything that risks harm to a patient. If something goes wrong, focus on correcting it and protecting the patient.
🟩 Honesty and Integrity: Always be honest, ethical, and trustworthy. This means owning up to mistakes, telling the truth to patients and colleagues, and not falsifying information.
🟦 Maintaining Professionalism: Treat patients politely and with respect, maintain confidentiality, and establish proper boundaries. Show empathy and compassion.
🟩 Teamwork and Respect: Work well with colleagues and value the contributions of all team members. Good healthcare is a team effort, so communication and teamwork are vital.
🟦 Competence and Accountability: Know your limits. If you’re unqualified to handle an issue (say, as a first-year med student), seek help from someone more senior. Take responsibility for your actions and decisions.
🟩 Dealing with Pressure: Stay calm and effective under pressure. If you make an error or face a setback, respond professionally (for example, by informing a supervisor and learning from it, rather than panicking or hiding it).
These are just a few of the main themes. By reading Good Medical Practice (even if you only have time for the summary or the first section on doctors’ duties), you’ll gain a clear picture of what “ideal” behaviour looks like. Then, when you tackle an SJT question, ask yourself: Which answer choice best reflects the conduct of a good doctor or dentist, according to those principles?
For example, if a scenario is about a colleague making a mistake, Good Medical Practice would guide you to act with integrity – perhaps by ensuring the mistake is corrected and informing the appropriate people – rather than ignoring it or covering it up. If a scenario involves a patient asking something sensitive, the principles of honesty, empathy, and patient welfare should drive your response.
Quick tip: Consider printing out or jotting down the key points from Good Medical Practice and reviewing them regularly as part of your UCAT prep. It’s not light reading, but it’s pure gold for SJT preparation. The better you know these fundamental guidelines, the more naturally the correct answers will come to you. Many top scorers credit this as their #1 SJT prep tip!
3. Remember the Qualities of a Good Healthcare Professional 🏥
Hand-in-hand with the GMC guidelines are the core qualities that medical and dental schools expect in future professionals. SJT questions often test whether you demonstrate these traits in your decision-making. So, what are these key qualities?
Honesty and Integrity: Always choose answers that reflect honesty. This could mean admitting to an error, telling a patient the truth (appropriately), or not taking credit for someone else’s work. If an option involves any form of deceit or “bending the truth,” it’s likely not the best choice.
Patient Safety: Patient welfare is paramount. Actions that protect patient safety or wellbeing are usually marked as very appropriate. Conversely, actions that put a patient at risk or delay necessary care are usually inappropriate. In any scenario, consider: does this action help or harm the patient (even indirectly)?
Teamwork: Many scenarios involve interactions with colleagues – doctors, nurses, fellow students, etc. The UCAT wants to see that you can work cooperatively and respectfully in a team. Answers that show support for colleagues, seeking advice when needed, or constructively addressing issues (like a colleague’s repeated lateness) will rank higher than those that are confrontational or solo attempts to fix everything. Remember, effective healthcare is a team sport.
Dealing with Pressure and Resilience: Some questions may test how you respond to stressful or high-pressure situations (for instance, discovering you gave a wrong medication, or juggling too many tasks). The ideal responses usually involve staying calm, thinking clearly, and seeking appropriate help – not panicking, blaming others, or giving up. Show that you can keep a level head and bounce back from challenges.
Professionalism and Respect: Treating everyone with respect – patients, peers, staff – is crucial. Even if a patient is difficult or a colleague is slacking, the appropriate actions are measured and professional (e.g. addressing the issue privately or through the correct channels, rather than publicly shaming or ignoring it). Also, maintain confidentiality and boundaries. If a scenario tempts you to share sensitive information inappropriately or step beyond your role, that’s a red flag.
By keeping these themes in mind, you’ll be able to eliminate options in SJT questions that conflict with these values. Often, two or three answer choices will clearly violate one of the core qualities – those are likely “inappropriate” responses. The one that best upholds these professional traits is usually the “very appropriate” or “most important” answer.
Supportive tip: If you find it hard to memorize lists of qualities, try to connect them with scenarios. For example, imagine how integrity applies if you damage a piece of equipment by accident – (the honest action: report it and apologize). How does teamwork apply if a fellow student is struggling – (help them or inform a supervisor rather than ignore them). This way, the qualities become more than buzzwords; they become guides for action. Over time, you’ll develop an intuition for “what would a good doctor/dentist do here?”, which is exactly what the SJT is looking for.
4. Think Like a Professional – Not “What Would I Do?” 🤔
When answering SJT questions, a common mistake is to pick the option that you personally would do in that situation. It’s natural to react that way, but remember: the exam isn’t assessing your personal experience as a 17- or 18-year-old student. It’s assessing whether you can make decisions like a responsible healthcare professional.
Always pause and ask yourself, “What is the professionally appropriate response here, given the role I’m in?”. This may be very different from what you might instinctively do in real life. For example, if a friend is cheating on a test, your personal inclination might be to stay out of it. But as a professional (bound by integrity and patient safety, if this were a medical scenario), the correct action might be to report it to ensure honesty and safety are maintained.
The key point: Detach your ego and personal habits from the scenario. The SJT is almost like role-playing. You might be a shy student normally, but if the scenario says you’re a foundation-year doctor who must speak up for a patient’s wellbeing, then the “right” answer is to speak up – even if that’s not what you would do by default.
A helpful mental trick is to picture an ideal mentor or role model – say, a doctor or dentist you admire (it could even be a character from a medical TV show who always “does the right thing”!). In each scenario, imagine what that ideal professional would likely do. That can guide you toward the model answer, which is often aligned with how an experienced, ethical practitioner would respond.
Example: The scenario describes that you (a medical student) witnessed a doctor being rude to a patient. Option A: Pretend it didn’t happen (maybe what a conflict-averse person might do). Option B: Immediately confront the doctor angrily (what a hot-headed person might do). Option C: Discuss it discreetly with the doctor later or raise it with a supervisor in a respectful way. Your personal style might lean toward A or B, but Option C is likely the professionally sound approach – it addresses the behaviour but in an appropriate, responsible manner. That’s what the exam wants to see.
By consistently filtering your choices through the lens of professional expectations rather than personal preference, you’ll avoid the trap of picking “what I’d do” instead of “what should be done.” Remember, you’re effectively being tested on your suitability to join a professional medical community. Show them you can think like a doctor/dentist, even before you’ve started training.
5. Understand the Answer Options and Scoring 📝
The Situational Judgement section has a unique answer format. You won’t be choosing A, B, C, or D in the usual way; instead, you will rate responses or considerations. It’s crucial to understand what each of these rating options actually means, so you can use them correctly and consistently. Knowing the difference can also save you time, because you won’t second-guess the definitions during the exam.
For Appropriateness questions (the most common type), you’ll see phrases like:
“A very appropriate thing to do” – This means the action is highly ideal. It directly addresses the problem in a helpful/effective way. In other words, it’s one of the best actions you could take in that scenario.
“Appropriate, but not ideal” – This action isn’t wrong, and it could be done, but it’s not the best possible solution. Maybe it addresses the situation only partially, or there’s a better step you should take first.
“Inappropriate, but not awful” – This action is not really the right thing to do, but it’s not a total disaster. Perhaps it has minor negative consequences or simply doesn’t help, but it wouldn’t make the situation dramatically worse.
“A very inappropriate thing to do” – This is definitely the wrong move. It would likely aggravate the situation, violate professional values, or create new problems. In short, it’s something you should absolutely avoid doing.
For Importance questions, the scale is similar conceptually, but you’re judging how crucial a consideration is:
“Very important” – This factor is essential to consider. Ignoring it could lead to a bad outcome.
“Important” – This factor matters and should be considered, but it’s not absolutely critical.
“Of minor importance” – This is a small detail – you might think about it briefly, but it won’t majorly affect the outcome.
“Not important at all” – Completely irrelevant to the situation. It can be safely ignored.
Understanding these terms beforehand means you won’t waste time during the test trying to interpret what “not awful” implies, for example. It will also help you avoid rating errors. Sometimes an answer seems reasonable until you recall the precise definitions: e.g., an action might feel okay, but if it doesn’t actually solve any part of the problem, you realize it’s not even “appropriate” at all, it might be “inappropriate but not awful.”
Partial marks: Remember that in the SJT, if your answer is close to the correct answer, you get some credit. In practice, this means if the correct answer was “very appropriate” and you answered “appropriate but not ideal” (one step away), you’ll score 0.5 marks out of 1 for that question. If you were two steps off (e.g. answered “inappropriate” when it was “appropriate”), you’d get 0. This scoring system rewards you for being in the right ballpark. So don’t agonize between two adjacent options – being slightly off is not the end of the world.
Strategy: If you’re torn between two ratings (say, “very appropriate” vs “appropriate but not ideal”), choose the one you lean towards and move on. It’s better to answer decisively and maybe get 0.5 marks than to spend too long and risk running out of time on later questions. Avoid the trap of perfectionism – sometimes there’s a fine line between the options, and even experts might debate it. The exam isn’t expecting mind-reading; it’s assessing reasonable judgement. As long as you’re on the right side (appropriate vs inappropriate) of the spectrum, you’ll get credit.
In summary, know the scales inside out. During preparation, practice classifying actions into these categories and review official explanations to see why an answer was “very inappropriate” versus just “inappropriate.” By test day, the meanings should be second nature. This knowledge will let you focus on the scenario itself during the exam, rather than puzzling over terminology.
6. Focus on the Action’s Impact, Not the Scenario’s Emotion 🎯
Some SJT questions can be emotionally charged or tricky in their setup. For instance, you might get a scenario where “you, as a junior doctor, have given the wrong medication to a patient.” It’s easy to get caught up in the drama of the scenario – you might start panicking internally, thinking “Oh no, this is terrible!” However, the key to answering correctly is to focus on the response, not the background mistake or how guilty you feel about it.
In the example above, the fact that a mistake occurred is already a given. The question isn’t asking “Should you have given the wrong medication?” (of course not!) – it’s asking what to do now that it’s happened. The appropriate responses will be things like informing a senior doctor immediately, monitoring the patient, apologizing, and documenting the error – actions that address and mitigate the issue. In contrast, an answer like “ignore it and hope for the best” would be very inappropriate (it makes the situation worse by doing nothing). An answer like “instantly quit your job because you feel so bad” might reflect panic and guilt, but that doesn’t help the patient – so it’s also inappropriate despite the emotional reasoning.
Always base your judgement on consequences and ethics, not emotions. Even if the scenario is something where you clearly messed up or someone else did, the question is evaluating how well you can respond to the situation constructively.
Another example: You are a medical student and you see a patient collapse in a corridor. You might feel scared (you’re just a student!), but focus on what action is needed – probably call for help immediately, try to assist within the limits of your training, etc. Answers driven purely by fear (running away, freezing up without calling for help) would score poorly.
This tip also means: don’t get sidetracked by irrelevant details in the scenario. Some scenarios include extra information to test whether you can identify what truly matters. Strip each situation down to its core problem or issue, and evaluate the responses based on how well they address that problem.
In short: Keep a clear head. Zero in on the appropriateness or importance of each action given the scenario, and judge that action alone. Don’t let the background noise or your hypothetical feelings about the scenario lead you astray. By staying objective and outcome-focused, you’ll pick the answer that best resolves the scenario or aligns with professional standards.
7. Always Note Your Role in the Scenario 🎭
In each SJT scenario, pay careful attention to who you are supposed to be. Are you a first-year medical student? A final-year dental student on clinic duty? A newly qualified junior doctor? Or perhaps a receptionist or a patient’s friend? The scenario will usually specify your role, and this detail is hugely important for determining the correct action.
Why does role matter so much? Because what’s appropriate depends on your level of responsibility and competence. An action that’s fine for a doctor might be inappropriate for a student, and vice versa. You must act within your remit – that is, within the boundaries of what someone in your position should do.
For example, imagine a scenario: A patient asks you if they will recover from their illness. If you are the doctor in the scenario, it could be appropriate to give a frank but compassionate answer based on the medical information (especially if it’s good news!). Reassuring a patient or explaining their condition is part of a doctor’s job. However, if you are just a work experience student observing on the ward, it would be very inappropriate to make any medical comment on the patient’s prognosis. In that role, you should defer to qualified staff. The patient shouldn’t even realize you’re not a qualified professional, and it’s not your place to deliver news or opinions.
Another scenario: If you are a junior dental student and you see another student doing something risky, an appropriate action might be to inform your supervisor or gently remind the student of the correct procedure. But if you were a senior dentist, you’d be expected to intervene more directly. The higher your role, the more initiative and responsibility you’re generally expected to take.
So, before you look at the answer options, quickly identify your role and its implications. Ask: “Given I am [X], what are my boundaries? What am I trained or allowed to do? Who is above me that I should involve if needed?” This will filter out options that don’t fit. For instance, if an option says “Perform procedure Y immediately” but you’re just a student, that’s likely wrong (you’re not qualified to do Y). If an option says “Tell your supervisor” and you are the supervisor (e.g., scenario says you’re the senior doctor), that wouldn’t make sense either – you are the authority in that case, so you must act, not pass the buck.
Being aware of your role also ties into showing humility and knowing your limits, which examiners want to see. If you’re in a junior role, it’s often very appropriate to seek help or advice from a senior colleague when faced with a tough situation. Recognizing when you shouldn’t handle something alone is a strength, not a weakness.
Remember: UCAT isn’t trying to trick you with the role – it’s explicitly telling you how to frame your decision. So use that information. The scenario’s “hat” you’re wearing is a big clue to picking the right action. Wear that hat proudly and act accordingly!
8. Don’t Assume Only One Action Will Be Done 🚀
SJT questions sometimes list several actions that could all be done in a real scenario. A trap candidates fall into is thinking they have to mentally choose the single best action and mark others as inappropriate because “I’d do something else instead.” However, the question usually isn’t asking for the best or only thing to do; it’s asking if that particular action is appropriate at all, possibly alongside other actions.
In real life, when faced with a complex situation, you would often do multiple things. For example, consider a scenario: A patient’s condition suddenly worsens on your watch. You might alert a senior doctor and comfort the patient and check their vitals. If the SJT lists those as separate actions, you might be inclined to rank them, but in truth all of them could be appropriate to do. The SJT expects you to judge each action on its own merits, not in comparison to the others.
So, if an option seems like a reasonable step that could help the situation (even if it’s not the very first thing you’d personally do), it’s likely “appropriate” or at least “approp. but not ideal,” rather than “inappropriate.” Only label it inappropriate if doing it would actually be a bad idea or irrelevant in context.
Example: Scenario: There’s a misunderstanding with a patient’s family. Possible actions:
Apologize and clarify the misunderstanding.
Inform your supervising consultant about the issue.
Write a report about the incident for records.
Do nothing and hope it resolves itself.
Here, more than one action is appropriate: You should apologize/clarify (very appropriate) and you might also inform a consultant (also appropriate, assuming the issue is significant). Writing a report might be “appropriate but not ideal” (it’s a good idea after resolving it, but not the first priority in the moment). “Do nothing” is “very inappropriate.” Notice how multiple answers can be marked as appropriate in different degrees – they’re not mutually exclusive tasks.
When you catch yourself thinking, “Well, I’d do Action A, not Action B,” remember the exam likely expects that both A and B are fine to do, and you’re just rating each in isolation. The phrase in SJT instructions often is: “Is this action appropriate/important in this scenario?” – not “would you do this instead of something else?”
Pro tip: Treat each option independently. Assume other necessary actions will or can happen too. This mindset will prevent you from undervaluing a helpful action just because another action seems slightly more effective. If it would be reasonable to include that action as part of a complete response, mark it as such. This approach mirrors real clinical reasoning, where often a combination of steps solves a problem.
9. Be Decisive – Don’t Overthink Yourself into a Twist ⏱️
One of the biggest time-wasters in SJT (and a source of anxiety) is overthinking. It’s easy to second-guess yourself on these moral/ethical questions: “Maybe in some situation this might be somewhat important…” or “I can argue that this inappropriate action isn’t totally awful because what if XYZ…” Before you know it, you’ve spent two minutes dissecting one question – time you simply don’t have.
Remember, you have about 22 seconds per question on average. While, as mentioned, SJT isn’t as frantic as, say, Quantitative Reasoning, you still need to keep a brisk pace. Trust your first instinct when it aligns with the principles you’ve learned. Usually, your gut reaction – informed by Good Medical Practice and core values – will be correct or at least in the right direction. The test is not designed to be a trick; if something strikes you as clearly wrong (e.g., lying to a patient), it almost certainly is “very inappropriate.” If something seems obviously good (e.g., asking for help from a supervisor when out of depth), it’s likely “very appropriate.”
A useful strategy: Do a first pass through the questions answering with your initial judgement. Flag any questions that you truly found confusing. If time permits, you can revisit flagged ones. Often, on a second look, the extreme answers (very appropriate vs very inappropriate) stand out more clearly once you’re not in the heat of reading the scenario for the first time. However, avoid changing answers willy-nilly. Only adjust if you realize you misread the scenario or had a factual misunderstanding. Overthinking can lead you to change a right answer to a wrong one.
Also, keep in mind the partial credit system (half marks for near-misses). This is actually a safety net that means you don’t have to be 100% precise on every question. If you’re debating between two adjacent ratings, don’t agonize too long – make your best choice and move forward. Even if you’re slightly off, you’ll likely still get some marks. You won’t get any extra points by writing an essay in your head – just pick and proceed.
A note on revisiting questions: If you happen to finish the SJT section early (it can happen!), it’s okay to review a few flagged questions, but don’t overdo it. There’s a point of diminishing returns where more contemplation doesn’t equal a better score, and you may start second-guessing correct answers. In fact, some experts suggest that if you have time remaining, it might be better not to go back through every answer and doubt yourself. Use any spare time to take a breather and mentally prepare for the end of the test, rather than changing answers back-and-forth out of nerves.
In short: be confident and keep moving. You’ve prepared, you know the ethical principles – trust that knowledge. By staying decisive, you’ll answer more questions within the time limit and reduce the chance of leaving any question blank (a blank gets 0, whereas an educated guess can earn you 0.5 or 1 mark). Good situational judgement is as much about clarity and decisiveness as it is about ethics.
10. Practice Under Exam Conditions & Build Stamina 🏃♂️🎓
Finally, a tip that ties everything together: practise, practise, practise – and do it under realistic conditions. The SJT is the last section of a long exam, and many students report feeling mentally drained by the time they reach it. Your ability to apply all these tips can falter if you’re exhausted or not used to the test’s timing. Here’s how to prepare effectively:
Do Full-Length Mocks: At least a couple of times before the real exam, simulate the entire UCAT (all sections in one go, timed). This will help you build the stamina to maintain focus through to the very end. If you’ve only ever practised SJT questions fresh, you might be surprised how much slower or less sharp you feel after an hour of intense quizzing. Training your brain to handle 2 hours of concentration will make the actual test feel easier by comparison.
Timing Awareness: During practice, get a feel for how long ~22 seconds really is per question. Some questions will take longer (reading a scenario with 5 questions attached might take a minute or two upfront), and some individual questions you can answer in 5-10 seconds. That’s fine as long as it balances out. With practice, you’ll develop a sense of when you’re spending too long on a question. If you notice you’ve spent, say, 40-50 seconds on one scenario question, it’s a sign to wrap it up and move on. You can always flag it and return if time allows.
Use Official Resources: The UCAT Consortium’s official question banks and practice tests are great for mimicking the real exam software and style. They will show you exactly how scenarios are presented on screen and how the timing feels. Being familiar with the interface means you won’t waste time on technicalities on test day (like how to mark answers, move to next, etc.).
Review Explanations: After practising questions or mocks, always review the explanations for SJT items – even the ones you got right. This is where you’ll often pick up subtle points, like why a certain action was only “appropriate but not ideal” instead of “very appropriate.” Over time, these nuances will become clearer, sharpening your judgement.
Stamina tricks: If you find yourself fading during practice, try small hacks: take very brief eye-rests (5 seconds to close eyes) between sections, or do a quick stretch if you’re at home. You obviously can’t pause the real exam, but building resilience is key. Practising at the same time of day as your actual test can also help (if you’re scheduled to take UCAT at 9 AM, do some mocks at 9 AM to get your brain used to working at that hour).
On test day, because you’ve trained for it, you’ll know how to keep a steady pace in SJT and remain focused, even if you’re a bit tired. Remind yourself that each question still matters for your score – don’t mentally “clock out” during the SJT. It might be tempting to relax because the finish line is near and you sense it’s easier, but stay engaged right to the end. Every mark counts, and a strong SJT performance could be the difference between a Band 2 and Band 1 (or an interview offer versus a rejection).
Bottom line: you wouldn’t run a marathon without long runs in training; similarly, don’t walk into the UCAT without having done full, timed SJT practice. The more you familiarise yourself with the test conditions, the more confidently you can tackle the SJT while managing your time and energy.
By following these tips, you’ll be well on your way to acing the UCAT Situational Judgement Test. You’ll save precious time through smart strategies and, most importantly, answer with the insight and integrity expected of a future medical professional. Good luck! 🍀 You’ve got this – with practice and the right mindset, you can boost your SJT score and impress those admissions tutors.
Stay calm, stay focused, and go get that Band 1! 🏆
References and Further Reading
UCAT Consortium – Test Format & Timing: Official information on UCAT subtests, including Situational Judgement (69 questions in 26 minutes)ucat.ac.uk.
UCAT Consortium – Scoring and Band Descriptions: Explanation of SJT scoring (Bands 1–4) and partial marking for near-miss answersucat.ac.ukucat.ac.uk.
UCAT Consortium – How Universities Use SJT: Many UK medical schools consider SJT bands in admissions; some exclude candidates with low SJT bandsucat.ac.uk.
General Medical Council – Good Medical Practice (2013): Core guidance detailing doctors’ duties and professional standards. Essential for understanding the principles behind SJT questionsthemedicportal.comthemedicportal.com.
The Medic Portal – “8 UCAT Situational Judgement Tips”: Tips from a medical education website, emphasizing Good Medical Practice, key traits (honesty, safety, teamwork), focusing on responses over scenarios, and understanding rating scalesthemedicportal.comthemedicportal.com.
Medic Mind – “UCAT Situational Judgement: 6 Tips for Success”: Advice on not neglecting SJT, using proper resources, maintaining stamina, and not overthinking answers (noting you get 0.5 marks for being on the right side of appropriate vs inappropriate)medicmind.com.aumedicmind.com.au.
MedEntry – UCAT Guide (Situational Judgement): Overview of the SJT section structure, question types (Appropriateness, Importance, Most/Least), and reaffirming that SJT is generally less time-pressured, though identifying the correct answer can be challengingmedentry.edu.au.
BluePeanut Medical – UCAT and Admissions Guide (2025/26): Insights into how various medical schools handle UCAT SJT scores, noting that most will not consider applicants with Band 4 and are cautious with Band 3bluepeanut.com. (Useful for understanding the stakes of SJT performance.)
