Situational Judgement Practice Flashcards
6 cards from real UCAT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Situational Judgement Practice flashcards as text
You are a medical student on placement. You notice a senior doctor consistently addresses a patient by the wrong name despite the patient gently correcting them twice. How appropriate is it for you to politely mention the correct name to the doctor privately after the consultation?
Answer: A very appropriate thing to do
Raising a respectful, private observation that protects patient dignity and helps a colleague correct a genuine oversight is a highly appropriate, professional action.
During a busy shift, a fellow student on your placement asks you to falsify their attendance log because they left early for a personal emergency without telling the supervisor. How appropriate would it be to agree to falsify the log?
Answer: A very inappropriate thing to do
Falsifying official records is a serious breach of academic and professional integrity, regardless of the sympathetic circumstances, making it a very inappropriate action.
You are part of a group project and one teammate has not contributed for two weeks despite reminders, risking the group's deadline. How appropriate is it to email the module coordinator directly, without first speaking to the teammate again or raising it with the whole group?
Answer: Inappropriate, but not awful
Escalating immediately to authority without exhausting reasonable internal steps (group discussion, a further direct conversation) skips proportionate, collaborative problem-solving, making it inappropriate, though not disastrous since deadlines are genuinely at risk.
A friend studying for the UCAT asks to see the exact questions you remember from your own sitting last week so they can prepare. How important is it to refuse, explaining that sharing live exam content violates confidentiality agreements?
Answer: Very important
UCAT candidates sign non-disclosure agreements; sharing live content is a serious breach that can lead to disqualification and undermines fairness for all candidates, making refusal very important.
You witness a classmate mocking another student's accent during a group study session. The mocked student looks visibly uncomfortable but says nothing. How appropriate is it for you to say nothing and continue the session as normal, assuming it is not your place to intervene?
Answer: A very inappropriate thing to do
Staying silent in the face of visible mistreatment of a peer fails a core professional value (respect for others and challenging poor behaviour), making inaction very inappropriate.
How important is it for a future doctor to be able to acknowledge and learn from their own mistakes rather than deflecting blame onto colleagues?
Answer: Very important
Self-reflection and accountability are foundational to patient safety and professional development, making this very important, not merely a nice-to-have trait.