How is UCAT score calculated

Advice & Insight From UCAT Specialists

In the first four sections of the UCAT exam (Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning and Abstract Reasoning), students are awarded raw scores based on how many questions they answer correctly. For these sections, no partial marks are awarded. There is no negative marking, in other words, points are not deducted for incorrect answers.

Scaled Scores

The raw scores for each section are then converted into scaled scores which range from 300 – 900. A student can be awarded the maximum scaled score of 900 without necessarily answering every single question; this is because the scaling system takes into account the difficulty of the exam and how well the entire cohort of students has performed in a particular year. A total scaled score between 1200 and 3600 is then obtained by combining the scaled scores of the four subtests. You won’t know in advance exactly how your raw score will be converted into a scaled score, because as mentioned, factors such as the performance of other candidates as well as the difficulty of the test will be taken into account. However, it is possible to predict approximately how many marks you will need in order to achieve a set scaled score, based on historical estimations and UCAT experience.

Raw scores and scaled score conversions

The number of marks available for each subtest are as follows, together with an approximate indication of how raw scores might be converted into scaled scores, although exact conversions vary from year to year:

Subtest	Number of marks available	Approximate conversions: raw/scaled scores
Subtest	Number of marks available	600	700	800
Verbal Reasoning	44	23	29	35
Decision Making	29	15	19	23
Quantitative Reasoning	36	21	25	29
Abstract Reasoning	55	28/29	36/37	44/45

An example score

A candidate who scores 700 in Verbal Reasoning, 650 in Decision Making, 830 in Quantitative Reasoning, and 680 in Abstract Reasoning, would have a total UCAT scaled score of 2860 and an average scaled score of 715.

Situational Judgement Section

A maximum raw score of 69 can be obtained for this section. Full marks are awarded for correct answers and partial marks for what is considered the second best answer. Based on historical estimations and UCAT experience, a score of 57 marks or above is likely to be enough to achieve Band 1.