UCAT Situational Judgement Tips & Practices

The Situational Judgement subtest comprises the last section of the UCAT exam. It measures your capacity to understand real world situations and to identify critical factors and appropriate behaviours in dealing with them. Luckily, the questions in this section do not require medical or procedural knowledge.  

The rationale behind this subtest is that medical professionals require high levels of integrity, perspective taking, team involvement, resilience, and adaptability. Therefore, it is important to think about the traits you are being tested on when considering each question:

• honesty and integrity
• working well in a team
• adaptability
• resilience (working successfully under pressure)
• safety
• goal-directed problem solving

Where a question asks how you would respond to an ethical dilemma regarding admitting a fault, you need to recognise that this is testing your honesty and integrity. Be aware of your role in each scenario, as this will dictate the extent of your actions. It is important to appreciate your role within a greater scheme of events and to be able to act appropriately. Your role in a clinical scenario will differ if you have been assigned the role of a student compared to the role of a doctor. Thus, learn to identify with your character and use this to guide your approach. Reading about what makes a good doctor and good medical practice (the ethics of practicing medicine) will help you refine your responses. 

Focus on the queries asked rather than the overall scenario when responding to questions; and finally… practice! I know we sound like a broken record, but practice really does make perfect. Practice working through scenarios within your study groups and under time constraints with your preparatory materials. With time and effort, you’ll see improvement!