Advice & Insight From UCAT Specialists
In this article I will outline how you can tackle Venn diagram questions in the decision-making section of the UCAT. Venn diagrams are usually quite easy to tackle, and you must have come across them in your studies before. Generally, all they involve is looking at the number inside a certain shape. The shape will represent something, and the number is the value. If two shapes overlap, the number in the overlapping section is relevant to both categories.
Interpretation of the simple Venn diagram above:
6 people are only dog owners
4 people are only cat owners
3 people own cats and dog
Overall, 9 people own dogs
Overall, 7 people own cats
In the UCAT, you will either have to interpret Venn diagrams or you will be given a piece of text and the answers will contain different Venn diagrams and you have to say which one represents the text.
Now I will do some worked examples of questions provided by the UCAT consortium from practice test A. Try and work it out on your own first.
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Look at which numbers are sections where there are three or more shapes overlapping: 9, 26, 32, 12. Now add them together to give you 79. A quick way to get the answer instead of adding all the numbers is by just adding up the last digits of the numbers: so 9+6+2+2= 19. So you know that the answer has to end in 9, giving an answer of 79.
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All you need to do in this type of question is interpret the question and use process of elimination to get the correct answer. Read the question first.
A – This question is saying that everything in the circle, that is not in the parallelogram must overlap with the rectangle or the triangle. This is not true as there are 50 dogs with short fur and over 40 pounds that have neither a loud bark nor spotted fur.
B – Question is saying the number outside the circle and triangle (72) is less than the number outside the rectangle and parallelogram (67). This is not true.
C – The question is saying that the number in the section where the circle and rectangle overlap (6) is equal to the section where the rectangle and the triangle overlap (20). This is not true.
D – The question is saying the number in the circle but not overlapped with the triangle (54) is three times the number where the circle, triangle and parallelogram overlap (18). This is true.
This question is a bit different as it does not involve any numbers. The circles represent sections. The statements give you a scenario that the Venn diagrams must represent. You can try and draw your own Venn diagram and see which one is most similar.
“All humans are mammal” – the human circle must be inside the mammal circle
“All birds lay eggs”. The birds circle must be inside the egg circle. From only the information above, we don’t know if the birds are mammals or not. So, the answer must look like the Venn diagram we drew above, with another circle inside the egg circle. Look at all the answers and see which one resembles what we are looking for. Therefore, the answer must be C. B looks similar too, but this is not the answer as the bird circle must be completely within the egg circle not just overlapping it.
I hope this article has made Venn diagram questions easier to solve. The most important thing to remember are to mind the wording when drawing or interpreting Venn diagram questions. Also, ensure you do not panic when you see a question you don’t understand. Flag, then come back if you have time and try to solve it with a clear mind.
