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If you are planning undergraduate medicine or dentistry in Australia or New Zealand, one of the first questions is usually what is UCAT? The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT ®) — often called UCAT ANZ in this region — is the computer-based admissions test used by the UCAT ANZ Consortium of universities for many undergraduate medical, dental, and clinical science programmes.
Delivered at Pearson VUE test centres, the UCAT ® exam lasts just under two hours and assesses verbal reasoning, decision making, quantitative reasoning, and situational judgement through multiple-choice questions. Universities use UCAT ® alongside academic results and interviews; it is not a science-content exam like the GAMSAT . The annual testing window usually runs from early July to early August — for 2026 dates, fees, and booking steps see UCAT ® 2026.
The UCAT ® ANZ exam is required for many undergraduate medicine, dentistry and clinical science pathways in Australia and New Zealand. Some pathways do not use UCAT ® or use different admissions processes — always confirm against the university’s current admissions guide.
Sitting UCAT ® maximises your options across undergraduate medicine pathways (including New Zealand) and UCAT for dentistry programmes. For school-by-school medicine context, see our UCAT medicine guide.
What does UCAT stand for? UCAT ® means University Clinical Aptitude Test. In Australia and New Zealand the exam is marketed as UCAT ANZ to distinguish it from the UK UCAT sitting. If you are applying to Australian medical schools (or New Zealand undergraduate medicine/dentistry that list UCAT ANZ), you need the ANZ test — not the UK version. Unless we say otherwise, “UCAT ®” on GradReady means UCAT ® ANZ.
University Clinical Aptitude Test
Verbal Reasoning
Decision Making
Quantitative Reasoning
Situational Judgement
The UCAT ® exam is just under two hours, and is a computer based exam comprising 184 multiple choice questions (MCQs). These questions are divided into three cognitive subtests ( Verbal Reasoning , Decision Making , Quantitative Reasoning ) and Situational Judgement — each designed to assess different skills. Subtests run in a fixed order; the Consortium also includes a small share of unscored trial items that do not contribute to your score. Official timings and question counts below follow the UCAT ANZ Consortium test format:
Please move to desktop to view the entire table without additional taps.
| Section Section |
Description Description |
Time Allocated* (mins) Time Allocated* (mins) |
Questions Questions |
Score Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verbal Reasoning | Assesses the ability to critically evaluate information presented in a written form. Assesses the ability to critically evaluate information presented in a written form. |
22 22 |
44 (11 passages × 4) 44 (11 passages × 4) |
300–900 300–900 |
| Decision Making | Assesses the ability to make sound decisions and judgements using complex information. Assesses the ability to make sound decisions and judgements using complex information. |
37 37 |
35 35 |
300–900 300–900 |
| Quantitative Reasoning | Assesses the ability to critically evaluate information presented in a numerical form. Assesses the ability to critically evaluate information presented in a numerical form. |
26 26 |
36 36 |
300–900 300–900 |
| Situational Judgement | Measures real world judgement, critical factors and appropriate behaviour. Measures real world judgement, critical factors and appropriate behaviour. |
26 26 |
69 69 |
300–900 300–900 |
| Timing note *
Instruction screens: VR, DM and SJT each have 1 minute 30 seconds; QR has 2 minutes.
Total sitting time is 117 minutes 30 seconds including instructions. Once a subtest starts it cannot be paused.
| ||||
Each of the three cognitive subtests is scaled 300–900; the summed cognitive total is 900–2700. UCAT Situational Judgement is reported separately from the cognitive total on a 300–900 scale.
The first three subtests are cognitive; Situational Judgement is treated separately as a non-cognitive result. Many universities use the cognitive total out of 2700 and apply their own Situational Judgement rules. For subtest order, timing, and question types, see our UCAT ® format and structure guide.
The UCAT ® is an extremely time-pressured examination, and the total time is just under two hours. Although it may seem like a lot of time, there are a total of 184 questions, leaving on average ~36 seconds per question!
In addition, each section has varying lengths in terms of UCAT ® questions, with some sections being even faster where you are completing 2 MCQs every minute.
The following table summarises typical key dates for UCAT ® ANZ. Exact deadlines move slightly each year — always confirm on ucat.edu.au and our year page for UCAT ® 2026.
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| Date Date |
Event Event |
|---|---|
| 16 February 2026 16 February 2026 |
Concession scheme and access arrangements applications open Concession scheme and access arrangements applications open |
| 3 March 2026 3 March 2026 |
Bookings open Bookings open |
| 11 May 2026 11 May 2026 |
Concession application deadline Concession application deadline |
| 15 May 2026 15 May 2026 |
Standard booking deadline / Access arrangements deadline Standard booking deadline / Access arrangements deadline |
| 29 May 2026 29 May 2026 |
Late booking deadline / Late access arrangements deadline Late booking deadline / Late access arrangements deadline |
| 5 June 2026 5 June 2026 |
Final late booking deadline Final late booking deadline |
| 12 June 2026 12 June 2026 |
Cancellation deadline (for refund) Cancellation deadline (for refund) |
| 29 June 2026 29 June 2026 |
Free rescheduling deadline Free rescheduling deadline |
| 1 July – 5 August 2026 1 July – 5 August 2026 |
UCAT 2026 testing window UCAT 2026 testing window |
| Early September 2026 Early September 2026 |
Results delivered to universities Results delivered to universities |
For 2027 university entry, UCAT ® ANZ booking typically opens in early March 2026 (3 March in the 2026 cycle). Concession and Access Arrangements applications usually open from mid-February. Book early — popular Pearson VUE centres fill quickly. Full timeline: UCAT ® 2026 dates and fees.
You can sit the UCAT ® exam across a number of Pearson VUE test centre locations in Australia and New Zealand. Most capital cities will have multiple testing centre locations. The following table shows which city/town you can take the test in Australia:
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| State State |
Cities / Towns Cities / Towns |
|---|---|
| Australian Capital Territory Australian Capital Territory |
Canberra Canberra |
| New South Wales New South Wales |
7 test centres Armidale
Newcastle Orange Parramatta Port Macquarie Sydney Wagga Wagga |
| Northern Territory Northern Territory |
2 test centres Alice Springs
Darwin |
| Queensland Queensland |
8 test centres Brisbane
Bundaberg Cairns Gold Coast Maroochydore Rockhampton Toowoomba Townsville |
| South Australia South Australia |
3 test centres Adelaide
Bordertown Port Augusta |
| Tasmania Tasmania |
2 test centres Hobart
Launceston |
| Victoria Victoria |
6 test centres Ballarat
Bendigo Churchill (near Traralgon) Geelong Melbourne Mildura |
| Western Australia Western Australia |
3 test centres Bunbury
Geraldton Perth |
In addition, you can also sit the UCAT ® ANZ overseas at any Pearson VUE testing centre worldwide. The full list internationally can be found on the booking systems when bookings for the test open in March.
You can register for the UCAT ® ANZ online via the Pearson VUE website .
There are two steps to the process - creating your account and booking your test date. You should aim to create your account in advance, and book the test dates as soon as possible when booking opens in March, as limited spots are available at each testing centre on each day. This means you may miss out and have to travel further to sit the UCAT ® ANZ examination.
For the 2026 cycle, the standard UCAT ® ANZ fee for tests taken in Australia or New Zealand is $335 AUD (concession fee lower for eligible Australian candidates; overseas sittings are higher). Late booking periods attract additional fees. Confirm current amounts on the official UCAT ANZ Test Cycle page or our UCAT ® 2026 guide.
The UCAT ® exam is scored based on the number of correct answers with no negative marking for incorrect answers. In other words, your performance on one question won’t affect the marking of any other question. With each of the three cognitive subtests having different amounts of sets and questions, the raw marks are converted to a scaled score ranging from 300-900.
The cognitive total is composed of the sum of each individual cognitive scaled score, creating a total scaled score ranging from 900 to 2700.
Please move to desktop to view the entire table without additional taps.
| Subtest Subtest |
Questions Questions |
Marking Marking |
Scale Score Scale Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verbal Reasoning Verbal Reasoning |
44 44 |
1 mark per question 1 mark per question |
300–900 300–900 |
| Decision Making Decision Making |
35 35 |
Single-answer: 1 mark. Multi-statement: up to 2 marks (partial marks for partially correct) Single-answer: 1 mark. Multi-statement: up to 2 marks (partial marks for partially correct) |
300–900 300–900 |
| Quantitative Reasoning Quantitative Reasoning |
36 36 |
1 mark per question 1 mark per question |
300–900 300–900 |
| Total Cognitive Score Total Cognitive Score
| VR + DM + QR VR + DM + QR
| 900–2,700 900–2,700
| |
| Situational Judgement Situational Judgement |
69 69 |
Full marks for correct; partial marks for close to correct Full marks for correct; partial marks for close to correct |
300–900 (separate) 300–900 (separate) |
For reference, the 2025 UCAT ® ANZ mean scores were: VR 620, DM 642, QR 679, Total Cognitive Score 1,941, and SJ 586, across 16,950 candidates.
Upon sitting the exam, your scaled score report is usually available in your Pearson VUE online account within 24 hours. Note that there is no need to provide your results to the universities you are applying to as the UCAT ® ANZ Consortium will communicate your test results to universities by early September.
What constitutes a competitive UCAT ® score depends on a variety of factors such as the difficulty of the test in any given year, which universities you’re planning to apply for, as well as other admissions factors like your academic scores and interview performance.
Broadly speaking, a competitive UCAT ® percentile is the 90th percentile (top 10% of applicants). In the 2025 testing cycle, that equated to a total cognitive score of 2310.
The exact dates of the UCAT result release often varies year by year. However, your scaled score report is normally available in your Pearson VUE account within 24 hours of completing the UCAT ® ANZ at the Pearson VUE testing centre.
Percentile information is released after the testing window, with results delivered to UCAT ANZ Consortium universities by early September.
UCAT ® 2026 results are valid for one admissions cycle only. If you sit the UCAT ® in 2026, those results can only be used to apply for university entry in 2027. Results cannot be carried over to future years.
This is a significant difference from the GAMSAT ®, where results remain valid for four years. The one-year validity of the UCAT ® means you need to sit the test in the year before you want to start university — there's no "banking" a good score for later.
If your university application is unsuccessful for 2027 entry, or you choose to defer and reapply, you'll need to sit the UCAT ® again in 2027.
For applicants from metro areas, a competitive UCAT score for entry usually sits around or above the 90th percentile (which translated to a total cognitive scaled score of 2310 in 2025). This is only a guide: university, state, rurality, ATAR/GPA and interview rules all affect the threshold.
If you’re from NSW, you may need a UCAT ® score around the 95th percentile or higher (2380 in the 2025 official statistics), as medical schools in this state are very competitive. This will also depend on a number of other factors, such as your ATAR/GPA, and your medical school interview performance, and your place of residence (rural vs metro).
Applying to interstate programs can also be more challenging, since out-of-state applicants often need higher UCAT ® percentiles than local applicants. Treat any university-specific number as a moving benchmark, not a fixed cut-off.
For rural applicants, the standard for entry is often much lower. A decent score usually sits around the 60th percentile, however it also depends on your rurality based on the Remoteness Area (RA) scale or Modified Monash Model (MMM) scale.
The UCAT ® ANZ exam is a different style of examination to the usual medical admissions test such as the GAMSAT or the old UMAT ®. It is difficult in the sense that applicants need to be adaptive and quick-thinking across skills such as comprehension, numeracy, logical reasoning and professional judgement.
Furthermore, for the UCAT ® exam, it is difficult to achieve a high percentile score, which is often needed for entry into most undergraduate medical schools. There is little room for mistake, as every question and mark can be almost a 1 percentile difference in the results.
You can retake the UCAT ® ANZ as many times as you need. The testing cycle runs every year.
Before 2019, UMAT ® was the exam that students have to take if they want to be accepted into a medical school. In 2019, UMAT ® was replaced by the UCAT ®. There are significant differences in the UCAT ® compared to the old entry examination UMAT ®. The key difference between UCAT ® and UMAT ®, is that UCAT ® is a computer based examination and has a different format and structure. The following table explores this in more detail:
| UCAT | UMAT | |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | 3 cognitive subtests, 1 situational judgement | 3 sections |
| Modality | Computer based | Paper based |
| No. of Questions | 184 | 134 |
| Timing | ~2 hours | 3 hours |
The UCAT ® ANZ is significantly more time pressured, and requires a good understanding of computer skills to be able to perform well in the examination.
The UCAT ® and GAMSAT are different exams for different pathways. UCAT ® ANZ supports undergraduate medicine/dentistry selection; GAMSAT ® supports most graduate-entry medicine applications. For a dedicated comparison (difficulty, timing, who should sit which), see UCAT vs GAMSAT.
High-level differences:
| UCAT | GAMSAT | |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | 3 cognitive subtests, 1 situational judgement | 3 sections + 2 essays |
| No. of Questions | 184 | 137 and 2 essays |
| Timing | ~2 hours | 4 hours 10 minutes |
| Testing Dates | Once a year (July–August) | Twice a year (March & September) |
| How long are results valid? | 1 year | 4 years |
| Cost (indicative 2026) | ~335 AUD (ANZ centres) | Check ACER GAMSAT fees |
| Number of applicants (2025) | ~17,000 | ~10,000 |
| No. of medical schools using test | 9 universities | 13 universities |
The UCAT ® is a different style of examination compared to the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT ®). The MCAT ® is the American version of the test you undertake for application to medical school. It consists of 4 sections, and runs for 7.5 hours, covering a wide range of content from biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, sociology, and even reading comprehension through the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS) section.
In comparison, the UCAT ® is a very time-pressured examination running for only 2 hours, with a timing of on average 36 seconds per multiple choice question. It is difficult to prepare for as the test focuses more on cognitive ability rather than knowledge.
In short, the answer is it depends on each applicant. If you find yourself with difficulties adapting to a fast paced examination, you may find the MCAT ® easier. If you find it difficult to understand science and mathematical concepts, then the UCAT ® may be easier for you.
There’s no doubt that the UCAT ® is a challenging exam, designed to differentiate the already competitive pool of medical and dental school applicants. However, one of the main reasons that students find the UCAT ® exam difficult is not always the questions themselves, but rather the sheer number of questions - 184 questions in just under two hours, or roughly a question every 36 seconds of subtest time.
Many students fail to finish the exam at all due to the intense time pressure, needing to complete 2 MCQs every minute. In addition to a high level of concentration and strong cognitive skills, the UCAT ® exam requires exceptional time-management to do well.
As such, preparation is key and preparing for the UCAT ® exam requires consistent practice over time and a targeted approach towards identifying strengths and weaknesses. Preparation can be broken down into a few key steps:
In order to properly prepare for the UCAT ® exam, it is important to first understand its importance in the medical school applications process. For many universities, the UCAT ® score carries as much weight in your application as your ATAR. To put this into perspective, the total sum of Year 12 examinations and the intense hours of study behind these scores has as much importance as the score from the nearly 2 hour long UCAT ® exam. Even with a phenomenal ATAR or even a star performance at the interview, a poor UCAT ® score could potentially outweigh these achievements.
The UCAT ® is quite a nuanced exam with specific question types and various levels of difficulty between each question type. Thus, it is important to understand the different formats of each section as well as the unique strategies and shortcuts you can use to select the correct answer and save yourself time. It’s important to acknowledge as well that students will often have varying strengths and weaknesses and it’s important to work out early which sections are going to play to your strengths, and which sections will require the most improvement.
Whilst the UCAT ® Consortium provides official question banks and timed practice tests , most students also need detailed review and repetition across weak subtests. Practice is essential towards working faster and increasing your accuracy for the UCAT ® exam. GradReady’s MCQ bank provides students with the opportunity to assess themselves and evaluate their weaknesses with our detailed explanations and test-accurate question types.
After practice, the next step is to undergo time-pressured exam simulations that evaluate a proper UCAT ® score. These mock exams allow you to assess your readiness to sit the exam under accurate conditions. This will also help to hone your exam-taking techniques such as using shortcuts, the calculator function as well as applying time-management skills.
Finally, after every practice and mock exam, it is essential to look back on what can be improved. Our detailed worked solutions provide students with the ability to quickly identify their mistakes and help reduce the chances of making the same error in the future
For further tips and advice on how best to prepare for the UCAT ® exam, start with our UCAT ® preparation guide and free UCAT ® resources.
Every person will vary in their UCAT preparation time. Some students may only need 1 month to prepare for the UCAT ® ANZ, while others benefit from starting 6 to 12 months before the exam. The useful benchmark is not calendar time alone, but whether you have completed enough timed practice, review and subtest-specific work to understand how the UCAT ® exam works and what is needed for a competitive UCAT score .
The Australia and New Zealand UCAT Consortium universities require a UCAT ® score as part of their admissions process for various medical, dental, and health science pathways. Note that the results of the UCAT ® exam are only valid for 1 year - They don’t carry over to the next year.
In other words, a UCAT ® score in 2026 can only be used to apply for courses commencing in 2027.
Whilst many undergraduate medicine and dentistry pathways require a UCAT ® score, there are exceptions and course lists change. Students should always check whether their desired programme requires UCAT ® before registering, using both the official UCAT ANZ Universities page and the university’s own admissions pages.
UCAT ® ANZ is most relevant for school-leaver and early-university applicants targeting:
If you are deciding between undergraduate and graduate-entry medicine, compare UCAT ® vs GAMSAT ® and the broader pathways to medicine in Australia.
The safest rule is simple: if a target course appears on the official UCAT ANZ Universities list, plan to sit UCAT ® in the relevant year. If the course is not listed, verify directly with that university before assuming UCAT ® is unnecessary.
The UCAT ® Consortium is the operating name for the group of universities in Australia and New Zealand that use the UCAT ® ANZ to assess applicants for medicine, dentistry and clinical science programmes. It sits within a wider international collaboration with the UCAT ® UK Consortium. The UCAT ® ANZ is the version used for Australian medical schools .
Currently, the UCAT ® ANZ Consortium uses Pearson VUE test centres to deliver the examination across Australia, New Zealand and selected international locations.
Now that you understand what the UCAT is, use these pages to go deeper without losing this overview:
Four subtests, question counts, subtest times, and scoring overview (900–2700 cognitive total).
Booking windows, concessions, and the 2026 testing period.
Scaled totals (900–2700), percentiles, and what universities treat as competitive.
UCAT preparation strategy, study plan, timelines, and tips across all four current subtests.
Free practice and reading links to start without a paid course.
Question types, timing, and preparation tips for the first subtest.
Question types, timing, and preparation tips for the second subtest.
Numerical reasoning strategy, timing, and practice approach.
Scenario-based judgement questions and how SJT is scored separately (300–900).