UMAT (Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test) was used for over 20 years to select students into medicine and dentistry courses across Australia and New Zealand. Most universities offering undergraduate medicine were part of a group called the UMAT consortium. This group decided that UMAT should be a major component for the assessment of candidates for entry into medicine (the other two components being high school score and performance in an interview).  The UMAT consortium contracted ACER (the Australian Council for Educational Research) to develop and administer the UMAT on their behalf. ACER is a non-profit organisation, which...

UCAT (University Clinical Aptitude Test) has replaced UMAT for entry into most medical and dental courses in 2020. There are similarities and differences between the two tests, which are outlined in this blog. Similarities between UCAT and UMAT UCAT and UMAT are both aptitude tests which assess candidates’ generic competencies. The skills tested are considered relevant and important for the future study and practice of medicine. The verbal reasoning, decision making and quantitative reasoning sections of UCAT have similarities to the logical reasoning & problem solving construct of UMAT. UCAT and UMAT are both in multiple choice format. UCAT and...

UCAT stands for U niversity C linical A ptitude T est. UCAT will be an important criterion for entry into medicine and some dental courses at most Universities across Australia and New Zealand in 2020. UCAT has replaced UMAT for this purpose. UCAT is similar to UMAT, however, it includes additional constructs which are considered important and desirable for future healthcare professionals. It comprises five sections: verbal reasoning, decision making, quantitative reasoning, abstract reasoning and situational judgement.  UCAT is a computer based test that takes approximately 2 hours, and will be administered by Pearson VUE. Candidates will receive their score immediately...

Summary  The Consortium of Australian School-Leaver Entry Medical Schools has decided not to renew their contract to ACER. This means that the UMAT will now be replaced by the UCAT (University Clinical Assessment Test) in 2019, for entry into medicine in 2020. MedEntry has intimate knowledge of UCAT and will be providing high quality UCAT resources for our students.    What is UCAT? UCAT stands for University Clinical Aptitude Test. It is similar to UMAT, and assesses the same type of skills.    UCAT is a computer-based test and comprises five sections: verbal reasoning, decision making, quantitative reasoning, abstract reasoning and situational judgement. ...

Know where you’re eligible for Some students won’t be eligible to apply for all undergraduate medical schools. School leavers are eligible for most, but some schools have some odd stipulations if you’re not coming straight from school. For example, UNSW doesn’t admit students over 25, the University of Adelaide doesn’t want students who have a university academic record from anywhere but Adelaide, and James Cook only has 10 places for non-school leavers. So it really pays to know what you’re actually able to apply for! When I was applying I made myself a table and colour-coded for schools that I...

There are only two things people seem ask you about in your final year of schooling: those big exams at the end of the year and what you want to do when they’re over. It’s a stressful and busy year with plenty of studying to be done. The constant questioning can be annoying, but it’s really important that you take the time to really look at what it is you are going to do next year. For anyone considering applying to sit the UMAT and putting medicine down on your university preferences, here are just a few of the reasons...

What do the numbers on the Statement of Results mean? Your 2018 UMAT Statement of Results will display two measures of your performance: UMAT score and UMAT percentile.  Your overall UMAT score is the sum of your three section scores. The section scores are derived (scaled) from your raw score (the number of questions you got right) using statistical methods that are not made publicly available by ACER. Note that you will never know your raw score. Section scores normally, but not always, range in value from 0-20 to 100. The maximum overall score possible is theoretically 300, but in...

  This video details some suggestions in planning time for UMAT study prior to the day of the exam. Study techniques involving the MedEntry LMS will also be discussed. The video is from the perspective of a previous MedEntry and current medical student.  

Having just finished my first year of medicine at Monash University, it is clear to me that my first year studying medicine was not necessarily as I had expected. Having said that, at the start of the year I was very unsure as to what I should expect from the first of five years of my degree. As such, I am going to give you a basic outline of how the first year of the course is structured, and hopefully you can use this to help guide your decision on whether or not Medicine is the right choice for you....

UMAT is over! Congratulations on getting through the marathon that it is. While you can relax a little, now is not the time to be sitting back (sadly). Now is the time to start planning for applications and interviews! Here are some tips: Volunteer Someone once told me that if you’re not volunteering you’re not making med. I’m not sure if that’s true but a quick canvas of my year group indicates that it might be. Volunteering is interview and application gold; I almost guarantee at some point you’re going to say some variation of “I want to help people”...

What is UMAT? UMAT is the Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test. If you wish to study medicine or dentistry at most universities in Australia or New Zealand, you must sit UMAT and perform well. UMAT is a three hour long test composed solely of multiple choice questions. Questions come from three key constructs: Logical Reasoning & Problem Solving Understanding People Non-Verbal Reasoning UMAT is a skills based test and is  not  like the knowledge based exams of school or university. UMAT is a very difficult test that even high performing students find challenging. However, with quality preparation and...

Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation on the internet and on forums about how UMAT scores are calculated. Some people and companies claim that your UMAT score or percentile ranking can be calculated from your raw score (the number of questions you got right). This is naïve, simplistic and demonstrates ignorance. Not to mention it is irresponsible to provide students with incorrect information. ACER uses a complex computer program to calculate UMAT scores. Even if you buy it (it costs a few thousand dollars), you cannot replicate the results since the assumptions ACER uses to run the program is...

For the few weeks leading up to the UMAT, it can seem like the entire world revolves around it. Often you can put off worrying about day to day issues until after the day of the test. So when the test date does roll around, and you walk out of the test centre with your head held high, the first question that you are likely to ask yourself is, “What am I supposed to do now?”. One thing that it is good to organise for directly after the test is to spend an evening with friends or family, maybe at...

So the big day is nearly here and you’ve been working up to it consistently for the best part of a year. Now it’s time to put everything MedEntry has taught you into practice. Here’s some advice to help you be at your prime in the last 24 hours leading up to the UMAT. Spend the day before doing something you enjoy, something relaxing, something fun and something that will keep your mind off the UMAT. You NEED some time to let your brain and body relax the day before so that you are in perfect condition. It can be anything,...

So with all things going well you’ve arrived at the UMAT exam venue with plenty of time and well rested, ready to put all the knowledge you’ve gained from MedEntry to use. However, now you have to make it through the last short while before you sit down and start the UMAT test. Here’s five tips to help you survive. Go to the bathroom. Make sure you head to the loo not long before you are due to start the UMAT because the last thing you need is to have to take a bathroom break in an already time constraining...

When you walk into the test centre on the day of the UMAT, you shed all responsibilities of day-to-day life, and for three hours (plus ten minutes of perusal!) it is just you, your pencil and the test paper in front of you. For those 3 hours, it is vital that you stay in control of the things you can control and understand that there are some things that you can’t. It is very easy to let you mind drift when you get into the second hour of the test, especially if you can hear pencils tapping to your left,...

UMAT is well and truly close now so it’s time to streamline your study and buckle down! Here are five ways to make sure you’re using the next fortnight effectively to set you up for success on UMAT day. Use your UMAT practice exams wisely A practice exam is only a practice exam if you’re doing it in exam conditions. UMAT is a marathon and your MedEntry and ACER exams are your trial runs, so use them to recreate UMAT as much as you possibly can. UMAT isn’t just about the questions, it’s about building your stamina, working on your...

It is very important to consider the opportunity cost of anything we do.  Opportunity cost represents the benefits an individual misses out on when choosing one alternative over another. For example, the benefit you miss out on by choosing a 6 year medical program vs. a shorter 5 year program. Similarly, you should consider the benefit you miss out on by going to graduate medical program (which takes a minimum of 7 years) instead of going to a five year school leaver entry program. Keep in mind that the prestige of the university matters very little when it comes to medical degrees.  Assuming a conservative...

ACER recently released a new practice exam, called 'UMAT Practice Test 4'. Like some other UMAT practice tests released by ACER, they do not include solutions. Therefore, it is difficult for students to know why they may have got a question wrong, and how to arrive at the correct answer efficiently and accurately. MedEntry has recently made available to students high quality, fully worked solutions to all 134 questions in the new UMAT Practice Test. Furthermore, students can compare their performance against others (which is how UMAT results are calculated). Simply enter in your scores to obtain feedback and percentile...

After completing a practice exam on the LMS, we strongly recommend that you spend considerable time reviewing your answers. Since this process can take a long time, and may need to be done over multiple sessions, the LMS will now keep track of you are up to in each of your exam reviews. For example, if you were reviewing Exam 5, Question 73, and you close the LMS – the system will remember which part of the Exam you are reviewing, and the next time you continue the exam review, you will be taken directly to this question. You can...