How do I actually improve my verbal reasoning score before the UCAT?

Jordan L.OP

May 27, 2026

So I've been grinding UCAT prep for about six weeks now and my verbal reasoning is just... not moving. I started at around 550 and I'm still hovering there after doing what feels like hundreds of practice passages. Everything else — quantitative, abstract, decision making — has crept up slowly, but verbal is killing me. I keep running out of time with like 4-5 questions left unanswered every section.

I've looked at the MedEntry UCAT prep courses 2025 details and I'm seriously considering signing up, mostly for their verbal reasoning modules, but I don't know if it's worth the cost at this stage (sitting in August). A friend mentioned their timed passage strategy actually helped her jump almost 80 points in VR alone. Has anyone done it recently? Also tried the UCAT Decision Making Test #1 on here which was really useful for pacing — curious if there's an equivalent approach for verbal.

My goal is 2800+ overall, which feels doable if I can get VR to at least 650. Any advice from people who've actually been through this would be massively appreciated. Feeling a bit stuck and the test date is creeping up fast.

Tyler B.

May 27, 2026

VR was my weakest too — what actually shifted things for me was stopping trying to "read" the passage and just scanning for keywords from the question first. Sounds backwards but you're not being tested on comprehension, you're being tested on whether a statement is true/false/can't tell based on the text. Once I internalized that, my pace improved dramatically. Went from 560 to 660 in about three weeks of deliberate practice.

Alex G.

May 28, 2026

I did the MedEntry course earlier this year and honestly the verbal reasoning section alone was worth it for me. They break down the true/false/can't tell logic in a way that finally clicked. That said, I also spent a lot of time on free resources — the practice tests on this site are solid. The UCAT Quantitative Reasoning Test #3 helped me realize I was also losing time on QR that I didn't need to lose, which freed up mental bandwidth overall.

Sarah M.

May 28, 2026

Don't sleep on doing verbal under strict timed conditions from day one. I wasted two weeks doing untimed practice thinking I was building skills — I wasn't, I was just building slow habits. Set a timer for 28 seconds per question and stick to it ruthlessly. Harsh, but it works.

How do I actually improve my verbal reasoning score before the UCAT?

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