UCAT Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield UCAT facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. Which UCAT section requires knowledge of formal logic (syllogisms, Venn diagrams)? → Decision Making
2. A medical school exam question scenario: a student discovers their friend has obtained the exam paper in advance. The most appropriate action is: → Report the matter to the medical school — academic integrity affects future patient safety
3. You suspect a child on the ward may be experiencing neglect at home. What is the most appropriate action? → Raise your concern with the designated safeguarding lead immediately
4. Passage: 'Antibiotic resistance is rising globally. Doctors are prescribing fewer antibiotics.' Which conclusion can be drawn? → Reduced prescribing alone has not stopped resistance rising
5. A hospital pharmacy fills 15 prescriptions per hour. At this rate, how many prescriptions will be filled in a 7.5-hour shift? → 112.5
6. In a matrix, the number in each cell = row number × column number. What is the value in row 3, column 4? → 12
7. A ward has 30 beds. If 70% are occupied and each occupied bed generates $450 per day, what is the daily revenue? → $9,450
8. In a series, each figure is produced by connecting every third dot on a circle: 12 dots → 4-pointed star, 15 dots → 5-pointed star, 18 dots → ? → 6-pointed star
9. A sequence of figures shows a cross with one arm removed each step. Starting with a 4-arm cross, how many arms remain after 3 steps? → 1
10. Four friends — A, B, C, D — sit in a row. A must not sit next to D. How many valid arrangements are there? → 12
11. A company's profit increased by 25% in Year 1 and decreased by 20% in Year 2 from the Year 1 figure. Compared to the start, profit is: → The same as the original
12. Two clocks show different times. Clock A shows 14:37 and Clock B shows 2:42 PM. What is the time difference between the two clocks? → 5 minutes
13. A colleague confides they have been self-medicating with prescription drugs. What should you do first? → Encourage them to seek appropriate help and support, such as occupational health
14. 'Some athletes are vegetarian. All vegetarians avoid red meat.' Which conclusion is valid? → Some athletes avoid red meat
15. A scheduling puzzle: A must happen before B. C must happen before A. D must happen after B. What is a valid order? → C, A, B, D
16. A passage states vaccination rates fell and measles cases rose. Which additional piece of evidence would most strengthen a causal claim? → In regions with higher vaccination rates, measles cases remained low
17. From a frequency table: scores 1–3 = 15 students, 4–6 = 25 students, 7–9 = 10 students. What percentage scored 4–6? → 50%
18. Shapes in a series get darker each step (white → light grey → dark grey → black). A shape in step 6 of an 8-step cycle would be: → Dark grey
19. A table shows: Treatment A, B, C with costs £200, £350, £150 and success rates 70%, 85%, 60%. Which has the best cost per percentage point of success? → Treatment A at £2.86 per percentage point
20. A passage describes a hospital that increased nursing staff by 20% and saw patient complaints fall by 15%. Which statement is best supported? → More nursing staff was associated with fewer complaints
21. A student scores 640 in each of the four scored sections. What is their total UCAT score? → 2560
22. A bar chart shows monthly sales. January: 200, February: 250, March: 300, April: 280. What was the mean monthly sales over these four months? → 257.5
23. A hospital reduces its readmission rate from 12% to 9%. What is the percentage point reduction? → 3 pp
24. Which of the following is NOT one of the four cognitive subtests of the UCAT? → Critical Thinking
25. A test candidate has significant dyslexia. What reasonable adjustment may they be entitled to in the UCAT? → Extra time — typically 25% additional time per section
26. What is the score range for each of the four cognitive subtests in the UCAT? → 300–900
27. In UCAT Decision Making, what does 'Yes, conclusion follows' mean in a syllogism question? → The conclusion follows necessarily from the premises if they are assumed to be true
28. In Quantitative Reasoning, which type of data display most commonly presents information that requires extracting multiple values before calculating? → Data tables with multiple rows and columns
29. In a series of figures, a small circle appears in the top-left in figure 1, top-right in figure 2, bottom-right in figure 3. Where is it in figure 4? → Bottom-left
30. A research study shows that 3 in 200 patients experience a side effect. What is this as a percentage? → 1.5%