UMAT replaced – everything you need to know

For students hoping to enter courses in medicine, dentistry and other clinical science courses, the UMAT (Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admissions Test)  has long been a thorn in their side.

But the UMAT is no longer…

… because the UMAT has been replaced by the UCAT (University Clinical Aptitude Test) – and this is relevant for all students sitting the test in 2019 and beyond.

Whilst the basic premise of the UCAT is the same as the UMAT (to provide tertiary institutions informations about applicants), the two tests are not the same.

So what is the UCAT?

The UCAT is widely used overseas, serving a similar purpose to the UMAT up until 2018.  Despite this there are some major differences.  For one, the UCAT is computer based and, unlike the UMAT, there is no specific date when you must sit the UCAT.  Instead you simply need to sit the test within a period of multiple weeks.

Those who have sat the UMAT before would be familiar with the horrible wait between test day and results day.  This is no more.  You will receive your UCAT results on the day – definitely a plus of a computerised test.  But those results aren’t in the same format as UMAT results, because the structure of UCAT is different.

You can get an idea of what the UCAT looks like here, covering sections in Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitive Reasoning, Abstract Reasoning and Situational Judgement.

What Should I Do Now?

The first thing you should do?  Try not to panic. At this point in time there are many unknowns. There are many things that will become clearer with time, from test structure, to expectations, to advice and resources for those wishing to site the UCAT in 2019 and beyond.

Fort Street’s Career Advisor Kylie Salisbury will be presenting information sessions about UCAT at Year 11 and Year 10 year meetings, and is available for one-to-one interviews about the new format and how to prepare for the UCAT.

You will doubtless see groups and organisations try to position themselves as UCAT leaders.  Those that have previously offered UMAT services may even try to masquerade their previous UMAT products as applicable to the UCAT, but again you should be mindful that he UMAT and UCAT are entirely independent.  Be vigilant, and do not get sucked into those trying to sell to unsure students!