After Your UCAT

Results

You will receive your results when you leave the test centre. Remember that no score guarantees entry or means failure. The UCAT is only part of the admissions process; some schools and universities see it as a minor part.

Here are three ways the UCAT is employed:

• Borderline cases: The score may be used to distinguish between two very similar candidates, or to offer interviews to students with high UCAT scores but low-quality applications.

• Weighting: The result may be used as a contributory factor towards an interview or formal offer. Weighting in such decisions varies from 4 to 33%.

• Threshold score: This may involve evaluating students’ average scores, or by looking where a student has scored highly or unfavourably.

Find out about each university's UCAT entry requirements.

You now still have to complete your UCAS applications, so think carefully about how your score relates to where you are applying.

If you get a low UCAT score, do not be discouraged. We have known students who have gained a place with an average score of 550.

Find out how to get into university with a low UCAT score.

What does your score really mean?

You can understand results by looking at the average UCAT scores, but as an overview, UCAT scores fall between 300 (minimum) and 900 (maximum).

Your score depends on two factors:

1. The answers you give

2. The ‘raw’ score agreed by UCAT testers

While point 1 is straightforward enough, point 2 involves some explanation.

Each year, new UCAT questions are created by experts in assessment. These questions are tested for validity and reliability and to remove any bias, for example, a question that is based on a particular ethnic group.

When the questions are agreed, the planned UCAT is taken by a group of Pearson VUE professionals. Their scores are aggregated in a way that pinpoints where the average, modal and mean, score is 600. This is then used as the standard against which your answers are measured. Because this varies each year, any mock exam you do will only ever suggest what your UCAT score will be.

Appealing against your score

If you report an incident and are unhappy with the findings, you can appeal to the UCAT Board:

• Be as clear as possible in explaining your appeal.

• Include any supporting evidence.

• Mention any contact you have already had with Pearson VUE.

• Submit your appeal within 5 days of receiving a final decision from the UCAT Office.

Appeals should be sent via email to ucat@nottingham.ac.uk.

If you need to retake the test the following year, consider carefully how to approach UCAT preparation better and create a solid plan. This means working out where you went wrong and what can be built on.

Drill down into each UCAT section and most of all - don't worry! A year is nothing, so learn about all your Plan B options (this also includes alternatives to getting in with the UCAT!)