Advice & Insight From UCAT Specialists
Achieving Band 2 in Situational Judgement is by no means bad, but we believe that aiming to achieve as high as possible will optimise your chances of securing an interview and being awarded a place at the Medical School of your choice. Candidates who achieve Band 1 demonstrate performance well-above average, reflecting that they show similar judgement in most cases to panels of experts. Indeed, certain Universities show a greater preference for candidates who achieve Band 1. These include: Hull York Medical School, King’s College (London), Queen Mary (University of London) and the University of St. Andrew’s.
That being said, achieving Band 2 will still demonstrate an above-average performance, showing appropriate judgement for most cases, with many responses matching model answers. Achieving Band 2 is therefore clearly better than achieving Band 4 which excludes you entirely from being apply to certain Universities such as: Anglia Ruskin, Dundee, Hull York Medical School, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester and Nottingham. In addition, it also clearly gives you an advantage over applicants who only achieve Band 3.
Needless to say, performance of different cohorts tends to vary from year to year. For example, in 2017, 70% of students achieved either Band 1 or 2, whilst in 2018, it was 55%. In 2019, 57% of students achieved either Band 1 or 2, and in 2020, this increased to 66%. Evidence therefore shows that in recent years the vast majority of students are awarded either Band 1 or Band 2. Furthermore, Band 2 often represents the mean Situational Band achieved by students, and therefore will not make you stand out from other candidates.
The aim for all of our students should therefore be to achieve Band 1, something which we at BlackStone Tutors believe is entirely achievable using our trusted techniques.
If, despite all of your preparation and hard work, you do only achieve Band 2, it does not mean that you won’t be accepted at the Universities you apply to. You will still hold an important advantage over candidates who have achieved Band 3. Also, remember that there are certain Medical Schools that do not even take into account the results from the Situational Judgement Bands including: Bristol, Buckingham, Glasgow, Peninsula Medical School, Southampton, St George’s (University of London) and Warwick.
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