UCAT Guide For Students

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STEP-BY-STEP

GUIDE
On How To Excel On The
UCAT & Get Into Medicine

Contact information
www.ucatsecrets.com
Dear (and
Students

INTRODUCTION
future doctors),
I’m Shanaka Jayakody, the founder of UCAT Secrets, and I’d like to
personally thank you for purchasing my “Step-By-Step Guide On
How To Excel On The UCAT & Get Into Medicine”.

I am grateful for the faith you’ve shown in me by purchasing this


book and will make sure that you finish this book with complete
certainty about how you can excel in your final few years of high-
school and win a coveted place into Medicine.

Just 8 years ago, I was in your position - trying to win a place into
Medicine so I could fulfil my vision of becoming a doctor.

Now, I’ve scored in the top 1% on the medical admissions exam


myself, allowing me to win scholarships into virtually every single
Medical School in Australia.

Since then, I’ve worked with hundreds of students to help them


win places in Medicine too - with 310 of my students now studying
in Medical Schools across Australia.

In my time as a teacher and tutor, I have seen students from


almost every single imaginable background, ethnicity, personality
and type rapidly transform themselves to win a place in Medicine.

“One of my favourite
stories was from a
student named .” Jack
Jack came to me after having failed the medical admissions
exam the previous year. He came from a rural environment and
didn’t have access to any materials, teaching or support in his
local area making it very difficult to prepare. He had scored in
just the 27th percentile (when you needed to score in over the
90th percentile to have any chance of getting into Medicine).

In the space of 15 months, Jack, his parents, and I worked


together closely for 2, 3, sometimes even 4 times per week -
ensuring he was 100% prepared for his medical admissions
exam. This time he walked out of his exam with a score in the
91st percentile and he actually won a scholarship into Medicine!

Quite a remarkable improvement.

2 UCAT SECRETS VOLUME 1


This kind of transformation hasn’t just happened to Jack, but of students who have used these exact strategies in the last 8
hundreds of my other past students too. years to get into Medicine (with many of them now practising as
doctors).
Don and his parents were worried that he wasn’t gifted enough to
get into Medicine - and yet he was accepted straight into Monash I hope you enjoy this book, and once again, I am grateful for
Medicine in 2019. the faith you’ve shown in me and my company UCAT Secrets by
purchasing this book.
Kusal was worried that he wouldn’t have time to prepare for the
medical admissions process because he was a high achieving One of our core values as a company is service. We are here to
sportsman - and yet he was accepted straight into UNSW serve you and your family to the highest possible level, not just in
Medicine in 2019. helping you excel in the medical admissions process, but to live
a life that is fulfilling and brings you true happiness.
Ashwin was overwhelmed with school work as he was school
captain of a prestigious school - and yet even he was accepted Once you go through this book and gets into Medicine, we
straight into Monash Medicine in 2018. hope you too will be driven by service and to give back to future
generations of students and the patients that need your help and
Georgia was constantly stressed, anxious and worried support everyday.
throughout her schooling life and got terribly nervous before
each assessment - and yet even she is now studying Medicine It is students like you that are the next generation of doctors
at Curtin. that will help to improve our healthcare system and improve the
quality of patient care into the future.
No matter what adversity, disadvantage or struggles your child
has in their way - I have seen a student break through these If you have any questions whatsoever, feel free to contact me
obstacles and win a place into Medicine. personally at shanaka@ucatsecrets.com

Over the last few weeks I’ve received hundreds of emails, calls
and messages from students asking me about how the medical
admissions process works and what they can be doing to excel
on the UCAT and get into Medicine - and so that’s why I’ve created
Good Luck!
this book.
Shanaka
I’ve created this book to explain to you everything there is to
know about the medical admissions process (because it can be
quite tricky and complex to understand) - saving you the hassle
of trawling the internet for hours and hours trying to figure it out
for yourself.

“This is what I want


for you - to give you
the greatest chance of
getting into Medicine.”
I’ve also made it to show you what you can do to excel in the
medical admissions process and really stand out - these are the
things that you can even do from Years 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 to gain
a big headstart on everyone else!

Most of all, I have made this book to give you the confidence and
certainty that you’re doing everything you can to excel on the
UCAT and get into Medicine - following in the path of hundreds

VOLUME 1 UCAT SECRETS 3


WHO IS THIS BOOK FOR?
Before we start exploring how you can to excel in the medical
admissions process and get into Medicine, I wanted to make sure
that the right students are reading this!

This book was created for students in Years 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12


that know that they are passionate about getting into Medicine
and want to do whatever they can to make this dream become
a reality.

If you are looking to apply to study Medicine at Monash


University, The University of New South Wales, The University of
Queensland, Curtin University, The University of Adelaide, The
University of Western Australia, University of Tasmania, Charles
Sturt University, Flinders University, La Trobe University, The
University of Newcastle / University of New England, Western
Sydney University or even The University of Auckland and
University of Otago - this book is for you!

But then specifically, I created this book for students who don’t
know anything about the medical admissions process and how it
works and even students who have already done a lot of research
about the medical admissions process and are looking to find a
way to get a real edge to stand out.

Basically, if you are passionate about getting into Medicine and


you’re serious about excelling in the medical admissions process
- this is the book for you!

HOW THE MEDICAL ADMISSIONS UNIVERSITIES INITIALLY LOOK


PROCESS ACTUALLY WORKS TO JUST 2 ASSESSMENTS
A lot of the students I speak to are committed to working hard The First Assessment:
and trying to excel in the medical admissions process - but Your ATAR - this makes up 50% of the initial application.
understandably, they haven’t been told how this process works.

The Second Assessment:


The problem is that the process has changed drastically over
Your UCAT - this makes up the next 50% of their
the last 20, 10, even 5 years and so unless you have access to
initial application.
people within the universities admissions boards, it’s very hard
for anyone to find information about the medical admissions
process - let alone understand it!
Let’s look at each of these
Luckily, after working alongside 468 students in 2019 alone, I’ve assessments and explore
what they are and what
now gathered information on how all of the Medical Schools in
Australia conduct their medical admissions process. Let’s see
how it works.
they mean!

4 UCAT SECRETS VOLUME 1


THE ATAR

THE ATAR
The ATAR is a ranking of Year 12 results that measures your
overall academic achievement in your school subjects compared
with all other final year students in Australia.

The ATAR is not a score out of 100 – it is a rank. This means that
your score between 0 and 99.95 tells you where you ranks in their
state.

E.g. an ATAR score of 70 means that you are in the top 30% of
your state.

E.g. An ATAR score of 99 means that you are in the top 1% of


your state..

The ATAR allows Medical Schools to compare the overall


achievements of you school subjects against every other student
who is finishing Year 12.

HOW THE ATAR IS SCORED?


The ATAR is calculated by combing your scores in all your school
subjects together.

This means that if you studies for example: Maths, Chemistry,


English, Biology and Physics - these scores are combined together
into one single ATAR score between 0 and 99.95 (in intervals of
0.05).

The highest rank is 99.95, the next highest 99.90, and so on. The
lowest automatically reported rank is 30.00, with ranks below
30.00 being reported as ‘less than 30’.

You will want to be aiming for an ATAR score of over 98 to be


competitive.

VOLUME 1 UCAT SECRETS 5


ATAR SUBJECTS YOU MUST STUDY TO GET INTO MEDICINE
VICTORIA WESTERN AUSTRALIA AUCKLAND&OTAGO
MONASHUNIVERSITY CURTIN UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITYOFAUCKLAND
(Medicine) (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) (Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery)

• VCE: • WACE: Chemistry ATAR; First-year applicants need to complete the


• English (study score 30+) or English as an • or equivalent 8 required courses in the first year of either
Alternate Language (study score of 35+) • or IB: Chemistry at HL Grade 4; the Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) or the
• and Chemistry (study score of 30+) • or CHEM1003 Introduction to Chemistry Bachelor Science (BSc) Biomedical Science at
• and Biology (recommended; however, and CHEM1005 Introduction to Biological the University of Auckland
students who are accepted into the Chemistry with a grade of 60 or higher in
program but have not completed this may both units, offered through Curtin • First Year BHSc courses:
choose to undertake the optional Biology University; • CHEM 110, BIOSCI 107, MEDSCI 142,
bridging program that commences in late • or completion of the chemistry ATAR POPLHLTH 111, POPLHLTH 101, POPLHLTH
January each year) course with a final scaled score of 50 102, HLTHPSYC 122, and General Education
• or IB: through North Lake Senior Campus or Cyril (excluding BIOSCI 100G, MEDSCI 100G,
• at least a 5 in Standard English or a 4 in Jackson Senior Campus MEDSCI 101G, POPLHLTH 103G, POPLHLTH
Higher Level English or 6 in Standard 104G)
English B (ESL) or 5 in Higher Level UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA • First Year BSc (Biomedical Science) courses:
English B (ESL): (Medicine - direct pathway) • CHEM 110, BIOSCI 107, MEDSCI 142,
• and a 5 in Standard Chemistry or a 4 in POPLHLTH 111, BIOSCI 101, PHYSICS 160,
Higher Level Chemistry • Must meet the standard English language BIOSCI 106, and General Education
competency level; and (excluding BIOSCI 100G, MEDSCI 100G,
• The following ATAR or equivalent subjects MEDSCI 101G, POPLHLTH 103G, POPLHLTH
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY are recommended, or may be taken as 104G)
(Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Medical)) Level 1 university units:

• VCE:
• Chemistry UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO
• Biology or Human Biology (Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery)
• English as an Alternate language (study
• Math Applications or above
score of 30+) or English other than EAL HSFY applicants must pass all the papers
• Physics
(study score of 25+) prescribed for HSFY at first attempt, with a
• or HSC: minimum of 70% in each paper
• One of English (Standard), English
UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
(Dental Medicine - direct pathway)
(Advanced) (Band 3), or English as a UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO
Second Language (Band 4) • Must meet the standard English language (Bachelor of Dental Surgery)
competency level; and
HSFY applicants must pass all the papers
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY • The following ATAR or equivalent subjects
prescribed for HSFY at first attempt, with a
(Bachelor of Dental Science - Honours) are recommended, or may be taken as
minimum of 70% and no paper grade less
Level 1 university units:
• English as an Alternate language (study than 65%
• Chemistry
score of 35+) or English other than EAL • Biology or Human Biology
(study score of 30+) • Math Applications or above
• and Biology (study score of 25+) or overall • Physics
grade of at least 60% in Unilearn Biology;
• and Chemistry (study score of 25+)

6 UCAT SECRETS VOLUME 1


NEW SOUTH WALES QUEENSLAND SOUTH AUSTRALIA
CHARLES STURT UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITYOFQUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
(Bachelor of Dental Science) (Doctor of Medicine - provisional entry) (Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery)
None • Year 12 or equivalent English
• SACE Stage 2:
Biology or Chemistry or Mathematical
UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE / UNIVERSITYOFQUEENSLAND Methods;
UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND (Bachelor of Dental Science - Honours) • or IB
(Joint Medical Program) • Year 12 or equivalent English; Biology (SL grade 4/HL grade 3) or
• and Chemistry Chemistry (SL grade 4/HL grade 3) or
None
Mathematics (SL grade 4/HL grade 3);
UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY • or equivalent (i.e 1st year Human Biology
(Bachelor of Medical Studies / (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) as part of the Bachelor of Health and
Doctor of Medicine) • English (4,SA) Medical Services program)
None • and Maths B (4,SA)
• and Chemistry (4,SA) UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY (Bachelor of Dental Surgery)
(Doctor of Medicine) JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY
(Bachelor of Dental Surgery) • SACE Stage 2: two Science subjects
None
• English (4,SA) • one chosen from Chemistry, Mathematical
• and Maths B (4,SA) Methods, Specialist Mathematics, Physics;
UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
• and Chemistry (4,SA) and
(Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Medicine)
• One chosen from Biology, Geology,
• Mathematics (not Mathematics Standard) UNIVERSITY OF THE SUNSHINE COAST Chemistry, Physics
(Band 4) or Mathematics Advanced (Bachelor of Medical Surgery) • or IB: two Science subjects
(Band 4); • English (4,SA) • One of Chemistry, Mathematics (SL or HL)
• or Mathematics Extension 1 or 2 (Band E3); or Physics; and
• or similar result in equivalent interstate • One of Biology, Chemistry or Physics
• or equivalent university courses (i.e. 1st year
Year 12, IB or GCE A Level subjects
TASMANIA Human Biology as part of the Bachelor of
UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY health and Medical Sciences program)
UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA
(Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine)
(Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery)
• Mathematics (not Mathematics Standard)
FLINDERS UNIVERSITY
• Year 12 English Communications (Clinical Sciences/Medicine)
(Band 4) or Mathematics Advanced
(ENG315117 or equivalent); None
(Band 4);
• or Year 12 English literature
• or Mathematics Extension 1 or 2 (Band E3);
(ENL315117 or equivalent);
• or similar result in equivalent interstate
• or Year 12 English Writing
Year 12, IB or GCE A Level subjects
(ENW315114 or equivalent);
• and Year 12 Chemistry
UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
(CHM415115 or equivalent);
(Bachelor of Science and Doctor of
• and UTAS Chemistry Foundation Unit
Dental Medicine)
(KRA001)
• Mathematics (not Mathematics Standard)
(Band 4) or Mathematics Advanced
(Band 4);
• or Mathematics Extension 1 or 2 (Band E3);
• or similar result in equivalent interstate
Year 12, IB or GCE A Level subjects

THEUCAT
The UCAT is an aptitude test designed to find students with the abilities of a successful doctor or dentist. These abilities include: critical
analysis, problem solving, pattern recognition, decision making, medical principles. You will have to sit this test when you are in Year 12 (for
entrance into Medicine next year). You cannot sit the exam until then - but you can prepare for it! You should be aiming to score in at least
the 90th percentile score to be competitive (this means you’re in the top 10% of students sitting the test).

VOLUME 1 UCAT SECRETS 7


HOW ISTHE UCAT SCORED?
There are 5 sections on the UCAT exam - Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning, Abstract Reasoning and Situational
Judgement. Students are given a score of between 300-900 for each section, with students overall scores ranging between 1200 (minimum
possible score) and 3600 (maximum possible score).

1 2 3 4 5
VERBAL DECISION QUANTITATIVE ABSTRACT SITUATIONAL
REASONING MAKING REASONING REASONING JUDGEMENT

AFTER SITTING THE UCAT EXAM, STUDENTS RECEIVE SEVERAL SCORES

300-900 1200-3600 All universities consider Some universities choose


Your score for An aggregate candidates’ aggregate score, not to consider Section 5,
each of the five score for the first although they may also as skills it examines may
sections. four sections. apply minimum elegibility be incorporated into other
thresholds to certain assessments such as the
sections (e.g. Section 1) interview.

One week after the final UCAT exam, an official UCAT calculator is released for students to enter their aggregate UCAT score and find out
their percentile.

In 2019, the average UCAT score for all students was 2481 (50th percentile).

The average UCAT score required for admission into Medicine was ~2800 (90th percentile).

Our students scored 2803 on average (91st percentile) - which is enough to get accepted into Medicine.

I scored in the 99th percentile with an aggregate score of 3520.

8 UCAT SECRETS VOLUME 1


WHAT HAPPENS IF I EXCELS of those who enter the professions with the ultimate aim of
improving patient care”
ON THE ATAR AND UCAT?
And so every question on this exam has been created with the
If you achieves a high ATAR and UCAT score, then universities purpose of testing you to see you have the skills they’re searching
may invite you for an interview which is the final component of for, the skills that they’ve found good doctors to have.
your application.

YOUR UCAT SCORE IS JUST AS BUT SADLY, YOUR SCHOOL


IMPORTANT AS ALL YOUR SCHOOL IS NOT GOING TO HELP YOU
SUBJECTS (ATAR) - COMBINED PREPARE FOR THE UCAT
As you would have noticed, the UCAT exam counts for as much Whilst your school is constantly helping you with your ATAR from
as all 5 or 6 of your ATAR subjects combined. This means that 9AM-3PM… Monday to Friday… for 221 days of the year...
you could score in the top 1% for each subject at school (Maths,
English etc.) and still get rejected from Medicine with a poor They’re totally ignoring the UCAT, and failing to provide any sort
UCAT score. of guidance, teaching or help with it!

Why? Despite it making up 50% of your Medicine application!

This is because only a small fraction of the most ambitious and


It’s because the UCAT exam is the medical school’s way of high achieving students from each school sit the UCAT each year
checking to see if you have the potential to become a great and so it doesn’t make sense for schools to provide any sort of
doctor in the future. guidance with this exam.

The ATAR is a good indicator of your intelligence and work ethic They don’t want to waste time teaching the UCAT, and focus all
but it’s the UCAT that indicates your ability to become a good their attention and energies on helping everyone with their ATAR.
doctor.
Especially because schools are judged by their ATAR results, not
This is why universities look at both your UCAT and ATAR scores. by the UCAT scores they produce.

It says it on their website: And so this is why schools don’t provide any sort of guidance
whatsoever with the UCAT exam, let alone the structured
“UCAT seeks to identify the characteristics in applicants which curriculum, regular assessments and monitoring, and ongoing
will make them good clinicians and thus to improve the quality support that they provide for your ATAR subjects.

VOLUME 1 UCAT SECRETS 9


HOW DOES THIS IMPACT

HOW DOESTHIS IMPACT


STUDENTS UCAT SCORES?
For a lot of students, they’re left worried, confused and stressed -
uncertain of how they’re supposed to prepare for this vital UCAT
exam that counts for 50% of their application.

And without the structured curriculum, regular assessments and


monitoring, and ongoing support that they’re used to with all
their regular schools subjects that count towards their ATAR.

Some students try and make this curriculum themselves, scouring


the internet for resources and materials, but for most students,
they fall back on their parents.

They’re looking for guidance, support and information from their


parents on how to prepare.

Which makes it very hard for most parents as being such a new
exam to Australia, it’s very hard to find proper guidance for it,
let alone detailed information on how you should structure your
preparation.

And so this is why 91% of students fail this exam.

91% of students fail the UCAT, giving them no chance of getting


into Medicine (because as we saw before, this exam is worth just
as much as all of your other school subjects combined).

This is why a lot of students have realised that prioriting their


UCAT prep and seeking help outside of their parents and school
is essential to increasing their chances of excelling on the UCAT
and getting into Medicine.

Is this 91% failure rate much of a surprise?

I don’t think it is!

After all, students are left totally in the dark about what the UCAT
exam is and how to prepare for it.

With many of them left wondering what is it and how do I prepare


until there’s only a few months (or even weeks) left and they have
to try and cram everything together.

Cramming for 2, 3, 4 hours a night in an attempt to make-up for


lost time!

A tactic that may work for a subject like Maths where we can
probably just hire a tutor and do thousands of practice questions
in the nights before the exam.

But unlike Maths… (and all their other subjects)... where if they
just do a stack of practice questions with a tutor they’ll get good
marks.

This doesn’t work on the UCAT! This was the trap I fell into!

10 UCAT SECRETS VOLUME 1


HOW I LEARNT THAT THIS And so I did pretty well in my Year 11 subjects, mainly getting As
and A+s, with only the occasional B, and so I took this mantra of
EXAM WAS DIFFERENT TO outworking everyone with me into Year 12. It’d worked in Year 11,
so surely it would work again in Year 12, wouldn’t it? And so for
EVERYTHING ELSE Year 12, I was ready to outwork everyone again.

This time I’d even planned out how I’d prepare for my ATAR
You see, for a lot of my schooling, I was someone who never had
subjects, and then how to balance that with my medical
much trouble with my work. My marks were always good, and so
admissions prep (which is the UCAT for you). So basically I bought
I thought I was one of those kids who could just get away without
10,000 odd practice questions from Medentry and decided to
having to do much work. But all this was changed when I moved
churn them out each day. 4.30pm to 7pm every single day would
schools in Year 9.
be dedicated to this exam, pumping out practice questions and
hoping that one day it’d just click and I’d start getting them all
I was at a new school and all of a sudden, I was up against all
right.
these kids who were actually smarter than me. And I started
failing things. It was weird, but for the first time in my life I didn’t
And so after struggling for months and months and months
feel like I was “smart guy” anymore that could just get good
trying to answer these questions, and going to every single free
marks without doing anything. And I actually started doing pretty
workshop I could find, surfing the forums for secret tips and
poorly.
watching heaps of videos on YT, I thought I was ready for the
exam. I walked in, a little nervous, but confident, even a little bit
I went from being that kid that watched Netflix all day and played
arrogant, knowing that basically no one would have spent as
games constantly in class and then walked out of exams with
much time studying for this exam as me. 4.30-7pm every single
90s, to now I was walking out of the exam hall with the fear and
day. And yet as I walked out of the testing centre in Carlton, I
anxiety cripplying my body as I realised I would have to show my
knew my dream was over.
parents the marks I’d gotten.
I’d failed the medical admissions exam (it’s called UCAT for you),
And so it dawned on me pretty quickly that this whole no
really badly. In fact, I’d scored in just the 31st percentile. I’d
studying thing was fun while it lasted, but I actually had to study
missed out on a place into Medicine, and was left having to take
for a change before my parents noticed my results. My exam
a bus, two trains and an 18 minute walk through bushland and
scores were showing me that I couldn’t just rely on natural talent
scrub to get to the god damn university where I was studying
or being “smart” anymore, I actually had to work hard.
Biomedicine. And the degree was a bit of a joke. I still remember
how red I went when I had to tell the boys at lunchtime what I was
doing. They didn’t even laugh, it was that bad.

And so when I started Year And so when I started this course, it felt like the place to be for

11, I knew I had to become a students that didn’t get into Medicine. I saw a lot of my school
friends heading off with their swanky textbooks and “Med School

workhorse. I knew that just 2012” hoodies to uni and yet I was left with all the deadbeats that
never made it. And I think it was only on the 3rd or 4th day of uni

relying on mynatural talent, that I came across this guy that was 8 years out of school, and
STILL trying to get into Med School.

one on one, versus everyone He’d failed the medical admissions exam in Year 12, tried again in
first year and done thousands of practice questions like me and
else would mean I’d always failed, and then he tried it again, and failed, and so then he tried
the GAMSAT, trying to get into postgrad Med in his 4th year, 5th
get destroyed… year and 6th year, and he never got in, so he took a year off and
failed, did an honours year and failed, took another year off, and
then he finally got into Medicine 8 years after he finished school.

And so if I was to have any chance of doing well at school, I knew I


I looked at him, and I knew that because I wanted to get into Med
had to work 10 times harder than every single other person at my
so badly, I wasn’t going to be the type of guy that would give up.
school. And so this is what I did. And it actually worked out quite
I was going to be like him, and for the next 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 years or
well for me in Year 11, purely because I worked 10 times harder
whatever it takes, I was going to try and get into Medicine.
than everyone else.
And so it was at this point that I realised I didn’t want to be around
I came home from school at 4.30. Studied from 4.30-7pm. Took
these students that never made it into Medicine anymore, and so
an hour break for dinner and to chat to my family, and then
I decided to try for this exam again. I just had to get out of here.
worked non-stop from 8-9pm until I fell in a heap onto my bed
And because I’d had such a terrible experience the first time I
and dozed off to sleep.
did it, I just resorted to going on the exams website and started

VOLUME 1 UCAT SECRETS 11


reading everything. I read 2000 pages of their research, 80 of
their publications, all their references, and literally for about 2 And so every question on this exam has been created with the
months, that’s all I did. And out of pure dumb luck, I realised what purpose of testing us to see if we have the skills they’re searching
they actually cared about. for, the skills that they’ve found good doctors to have. And so
rather than doing 2000, 5000, or even 10000 practice questions,
The medical admissions exam wasn’t like any of the other and preparing for months and months and months like I did, all
subjects I’d done before, because it was like an IQ test. And so we have to do is:
this meant I couldn’t prepare for it in the same way that I could
for all my other subjects like Maths and English and Chemistry. 1. Figure out what skills we’re being assessed on in each question,
and then
Basically, outworking everyone, like I’d done with all my Year 11
subjects so well, didn’t work on this exam. It was an IQ exam, and 2. Learn these skills, so we can prove to our examiners that we
so for exams like this, it didn’t matter how many questions you would make good doctors.
did, or how hard you worked.
You can think of the exam as if it was a job interview, where if you
Like I’m sure you guys have heard that it doesn’t matter how many knew what questions you were going to be asked, and exactly
times you take an IQ test, you will keep getting the same results what they wanted us to, it would be incredibly easy to prepare
again and again, and you’ll keep getting the same questions answers you know they’d like, wouldn’t it?
wrong, as our natural IQ doesn’t really change that easily.
And so just like how a job interview would be dead easy if we knew
And this is why no matter whether it’s your 1st IQ test, or your what questions they’re going to ask, and the types of answers
20th, you’ll probably get around the same score, and you’ll show they’re looking for, if we know what skills they’re assessing us on
little to no improvement at all. If your IQ is 140 on your first test, it in each question, and how to demonstrate that we know these
will probably be 140 on your fiftieth test. Likewise, if your IQ is 80 skills, answering any UCAT question in seconds becomes very,
on your first test, it will probably be 80 on your fiftieth test. And very simple. And it was only when I realised this that everything
this is exactly the same with the UCAT exam. started to change for me.

Unlike every other subject like Maths or Chem or English, where It was like getting the answer to what is the meaning of life
we can just do a stack of practice questions and prepare for straight from god. I’d got the answer to how to prepare straight
months and months in advance and see some improvement... from the people who made the exam. I’d literally pulled it straight
this doesn’t work on medical admissions exams like the UCAT. out of their very own documents.

If we just do thousands of practice questions, we won’t see any And so from that point onwards, I said to myself, I’m going to
improvement, just like we wouldn’t if we sat hundreds of IQ tests. blatantly ignore every single person, how my friends are studying,
And so instead, the only way we can improve our UCAT score is how my parents say I should study, and all I’m just going to focus
to understand why the creators of the exam, which is the UCAT on working out exactly what skills I’m being assessed on in each
Consortium right now actually made this exam. question.

Why were they forcing And so I spent virtually all my time figuring out which
characteristics the examiners were assessing me on in each type

19,000students to sit this of question, and this meant I did like 10% of the questions I’d
done the year before.

damn exam? But what was the payoff of this?


And the weird thing was, I realised they were actually only making
us sit this exam for one reason. They wanted to find the students
who had the potential to become good doctors.
Not only did I do just 10% of the practice questions I’d done the
That’s it. year before, going to tons of uni parties and 18ths, but I scored in
the top 1% on the exam, and won scholarships into virtually every
It literally says it here on their website. single Medical School in Australia.

“UCAT seeks to identify the characteristics in applicants which And so for the next 7 years I tutored for thousands and thousands
will make them good clinicians and thus to improve the quality of hours, helping hundreds of other students who were just like
of those who enter the professions with the ultimate aim of me, wondering how to pass this exam and get into Medicine,
improving patient care” And so basically what this means is that achieve remarkable UMAT scores.
they want to identify the students who have the characteristics,
which is just a fancy way of saying the skills, that will make them 310 of my students won places into Medicine, and I sat this exam
good doctors in the future. every year, scoring in the top 1% 7 years straight.

12 UCAT SECRETS VOLUME 1


SO THE UCAT IS VERY DIFFERENT 1 KEY TIP TO HELP YOU
TO ALL YOUR OTHER SCHOOL EXCEL ON THE UCAT
(ATAR) SUBJECTS
1. Develop The Skills The UCAT Exam Is Assessing
As you just saw, we can’t just cram for the UCAT with a whole Every question on this exam has been created with the purpose
bunch of practice questions and a tutor because the UCAT exam of testing you to see if you have the skills they’re searching for,
assesses skills not content and skills cannot be crammed. the skills that they’ve found good doctors to have. And so rather
than doing 2000, 5000, or even 10000 practice questions, and
Just think about it.
preparing for months and months and months like I did, all we
have to do is:
Do you remember the first time you tried to ride a bike?

You probably fell off, graze your knee, stacked it completely, 1. Figure out what skills we’re being assessed on in each question,
ridden slowly with much trepidation, but you kept getting back and then
up on your bike, and each time you did, you got better and better.
2. Learn these skills, so we can prove to our examiners that we
Over the course of a few months, you will eventually become so would make good doctors.
good at riding your bike that you didn’t even have to think about
it. The steering, peddling, keeping balanced, all that, just became Here’s an example of how we can do this for Verbal Reasoning.
natural after months of diligent practice. Did you expect to be
able to just get on the bike and ride off easily straight away?
We’ll be doing this using a method I like to call “idea extraction”

Nope.
which allows you to “draw conclusions from complex written
stimuli” and answer any type of Verbal Reasoning question in
23 to 26 seconds flat, instead of the 5, 6, 7 minutes that most
Learning this skill takes hours of consistent practice for months students take as they slowly read through the entire passage
on end… we can’t just learn it overnight! This is the case with all sitting in front of them, taking up precious time that you can’t
skills - they take time to develop. afford to waste on the UCAT exam.

Especially the skills the UCAT Consortium is assessing you for Not only will they dramatically cut down the amount of time you
on in the UCAT… they take time to develop and so we can’t just
spend answering these questions, from minutes and minutes,
“cram” our way to success... just like we couldn’t cram our way to
but to well under 30 seconds, but you’ll actually find it far easier
learning how to ride a bike!
to answer these questions as this is the exact approach that the

It takes consistent, diligent daily practice for 6-12 months to build UCAT Consortium, these are the people who actually make the
the skills necessary for UCAT success! And so you now know you exam, want you to take. Just imagine going from struggling with
should be preparing consistently over the next 6-12 months to questions, doing question after question after question, only to
build these skills but how can you best prepare from here? see little to no improvement, and your marks fluctuating up and
down, and all of a sudden, with astonishing speed, being able to
answer any UCAT question in a few seconds.

This is the power of playing to the in built biases of the UCAT


Consortium and ethically hacking this exam. You’re going to find
Verbal Reasoning questions very, very easy after this section,
having no trouble getting them right, or finishing them in time.

So as you can see, this is a sample verbal reasoning question


that I found on the internet and so lets run through how we can
use the “idea extraction” to demonstrate the skill of being able
to “extract info from complex written stimuli” and answer this
question in just 28 seconds or even less, instead of the minutes
and minutes that it will take students who just try and figure
out how to answer these questions using their own gut instinct
and guesses after doing thousands and thousands of practice
questions.

VOLUME 1 UCAT SECRETS 13


So let’s work through this one together. I’m just going to talk
through the thought process first before I get into the actual
teaching itself.

Now when the UCAT Consortium gives you Verbal Reasoning


questions, they way they do it is they present the passage, and
then they give you 4 questions that stem from this passage, so
they give you a little bit less than 2 minutes to read this passage
and then answer the four questions. And so the first thing a lot
of people do wrong, is they read and analyse this passage so
deeply. They spend all this time, actually more than 2 minutes
reading and breaking this passage down.

But the interesting thing is, and this is what the UCAT Consortium
has actually documented for is that, that’s not what they’re
testing for. They don’t want to know how well you interpret and
understand the information in the passage. They don’t want you
to read the passage. Yes, sounds crazy. But they don’t want you
to read the passage.

The skills they’re testing you on is your ability to draw conclusions


from complex written stimuli, which basically means they want to
see how well you can extract the key bits of information from this
passage as quickly and easily as possible. And so in other words,
it doesn’t matter what this passage is actually talking about.
I don’t care, and you shouldn’t either. And so what we do care
about is how do we get the right information out of this passage
as quickly as possible.

And so this question here, ‘Solar energy is now useful because…’.


So I’m just going to outline the way we use the “idea extraction”
mechanism to get it right. And so we know that the skill they’re
assessing us on is our ability to extract information as quickly as
possible. And so let’s let that dictate our approach, right? And so energy is now useful. And so even after just reading the first
the first thing I like to do is take 2 or 3 seconds and very quickly, sentence, I think we know the answer. The first sentence told us
read the start of the passage. I’m just going to quickly do it, ‘the that ‘solar panels were important because of rising energy costs’.
importance of solar panels in Australia was highlighted as a So my guess is that solar panels are useful because energy costs
response to rising energy costs in the early 2000s’. are going up.

Okay Stop. So lets quickly look at the answers here now, and again, this is
what the other video did wrong, they went through each answer

That’s all I’ve read. And with a fine tooth comb proving why it was correct or incorrect,
whereas it takes a very small amount of common sense to realise

the reason I’ve done that


that if they’re talking about energy cost over here, it’s not going
to be (a), it’s got nothing to do with the ‘environment’. I don’t need
to read the rest of this passage to realise that it has nothing to do
is that it’s given me some with the ‘environment’.

context as to what the Answer (b), ‘it reduces the setup cost’. So it has the word cost
in there, so we’ll put an asterisk next to this one, but it has the

passage is about. words ‘set-up’ in there, which I’m not sure about.

Answer (c) says it’s ‘publicly known to be better than coal’. But
I know that they’re talking about the importance of solar panels again, even after just reading the first sentence, we know it’s not
because of rising energy costs. That’s all I’ve done, and now I’m about what’s better or worse, but it’s about rising energy costs.
going to the question over here, and it says ‘Solar energy is now And so I’m sure you’d agree, but it’s not C either.
useful because…’
And so (d) says ‘it costs less to produce energy’. Okay, so do you
And so now having read the question, the question is telling us see how similar that sounds to the first sentence of the passage
exactly what we need to find. It wants us to figure out why solar that said ‘solar panels are important because of rising energy

14 UCAT SECRETS VOLUME 1


costs’. Now that to me seems like the right answer. That very first verbal reasoning questions, just like the ones you’d done today,
sentence confirms that yes, ‘solar panels are now useful because in my Amazon Best-Selling Practice Questions that I’m giving you
it means it costs less to produce energy’. And just like that, we as a free bonus with this book, and so at the end of this book
know that must be the right answer. I want you to do these questions straight away, and begin to
really ingrain this approach to answering questions into yourself.
And so I want you to think about what we did there. You probably This is how you’ll start to make “idea extraction” something you
noticed how we never actually went back to the passage and instinctively do when you see questions like this on the exam.
read anymore of it. We just read the first sentence as know that
the UCAT Consortium is assessing us on our ability to extract And what this will mean is that for Verbal Reasoning questions,
information, not sit around carefully reading this passage for 5, you’re never going to be worried about the time limit as you know
6 minutes. you’ll be able to answer these questions in well under 30 seconds
using “idea extraction”.
And only if we had two answers that we were a bit unsure about,
then we might quickly trawl through the passage and try to very This is going to give you a huge advantage on everyone else
quickly extract a snippet of information that narrows it down for who’s slaving away using the technique based approach we
us to a single answer. talked about before, sucking up their precious time and leaving
them less time to tackle the section, and it’s because they’re not
Otherwise, we want to avoid reading the passage at all costs. If answering questions in the way the UCAT Consortium wants
we can figure out the answer after just reading the first sentence them to be answered.
like we did here, that’s what we want to do. And I’m sure you’ll
find that in most cases, you actually will be able to answer the And this is why they give us so little time on this exam, because
questions after reading just the first sentence. they don’t want to encourage students who use their own gut
instinct and just guess how to answer each question, or try
And this might sound a bit strange when you think about it on and figure it out themselves after doing millions and millions
its own, but when you understand that the UCAT Consortium is of practice questions. No they want to know if we possess the
assessing us on the skill of being able to “draw conclusions from characteristics they’ve found good doctors to have.
complex written stimuli” which is what they were assessing us
on here, it just makes so much sense to extract only the relevant And so as you just saw, when we worked out what characteristic
pieces of information from the passage very quickly, rather than the UCAT Consortium was assessing us for, in the questions we
getting bogged down reading through this whole passage and just tried it was the ability to “draw conclusions from complex
sucking up so much of your time. written stimuli”, we could figure out how to answer these Verbal
Reasoning questions quickly and easily, with very little trouble.
So what I want you to do is whenever you see a Verbal Reasoning So just like we saw with Verbal Reasoning, for Decision Making
question, remember that the skill you’re being assessed on your questions, when we work out what skill the UCAT Consortium is
ability to draw conclusions from complex written stimuli. So what assessing us on in Decision Making, we could figure out how to
I want you to always do is firstly read the first step of the passage answer these Decision Making questions quickly and easily.
just like I did, then quickly read the question, and see if you can
instantly find an answer, which just like when we tried it before, Again, with Quantitative Reasoning, or Abstract Reasoning, or
you usually can, and only after doing this, if an answer isn’t clear, Situational Judgement, or any section of the UCAT exam. When
and you need some more information, then you quickly scan we work out what skills the UCAT Consortium is assessing us for
the passage looking for nuggets of information you need like we could figure out how to answer these questions quickly and
we just saw. And so what I’ve done is I’ve included another 20 easily, no matter what section of the exam it is.

VOLUME 1 UCAT SECRETS 15


1 KEY TIP TO HELP YOU HOW CAN YOU BEST PREPARE
EXCEL ON THE ATAR FOR THE UCAT FROM HERE?
Most students come to me at the start of the year worried that During this book, we’ve discovered how the medical admissions
they’re not smart enough or capable enough to get a 99+ ATAR process works, learnt about the two big assessments: the UCAT
but the truth is that if you want to get into Medicine, you must and the ATAR, delved into why 91% of students fail the UCAT, and
overcome this barrier of belief. You won’t be capable of getting finished off with 2 quick tips that you can use to improve your
into Medicine until deep down you believe you can get accepted. performance in the medical admissions process right away.

You must believe that you can get a 99+ ATAR score, you must For some students, you might feel like you’ve learnt enough to
believe you can score in the 91st percentile on UCAT like my past go and prepare for the medical admissions process on your own.
students have, and you must start acting like the student that If this is you and you feel confident enough to take what you’ve
would get these kind of results. learnt today and go at it alone… please do!

But you can’t just blindly believe you’re going to do well - you But I will leave you with a question…
have to start thinking, behaving and acting like a student that will.
Think about the students you’ve seen get amazing results and get How do you know if you are doing the right things now to get into
into Medicine. I want you to think about the way these students Medicine?
act and what do they do differently.
Do you have the right study skills? Are you organised enough?
Find one of the students at your school who you think will get into Disciplined enough? Focused on the right parts of your UCAT and
Medicine and start copying how they approach each day. ATAR preparation? What if you get stuck?

What time do they wake up? When do they study? How do they These are all the kinds of things you might be wondering.
study? Look at what they’re doing and copy these how they think,
act and behave. This is how you become a 99+ ATAR student Well over the last 7 years we’ve helped 100s of students get into
overnight - you copy their key habits, the way they think, act and Medicine and eventually become doctors via our best-selling
behave. program called the “UCAT Crash Course”.

One of the top students in Australia last year - Kusal - picked a role This program books out months before it launches every year
model from his school that had got 99.5 and copied everything he because it is Australia’s #1 UCAT preparation program by results.
did. Kusal ended up with a 99.5 ATAR and got into Medicine.
Last year, whilst the average UCAT score in Australia was 2481
Before you finish this book, decide on who your role model will (50th percentile), the average UCAT score from students in this
be and how you will copy their thoughts, actions and beliefs to set program was a remarkable 2803 (91st percentile). This is enough
yourself up to become a 99+ ATAR student overnight. to get accepted into any medical school in Austalia.

16 UCAT SECRETS VOLUME 1


SO HOW CONFIDENT WOULD
YOU BE IF YOU WERE PREPARING
FOR THE UCAT IN THE UCAT
PLATINUM PROGRAM?
Youwould be following the exact proven formula that has already
helped hundreds of students to excel on the UCAT and become
doctors - taking away all tne guesswork and uncertainty!

You could literally copy


these strategies to
transform the way you
study and in the space
of a few days set yourself
up to become a doctor
from Year 8, 9,10 or 11.

If you are interested in giving yourself the best chance of getting


into Medicine, then you may be interested in applying for the
next cohort of the UCAT Crash Course that has a few places left.

If you are certain that Medicine is your #1 preference and are


willing to do whatever it takes to make your dream of becoming
a doctor a reality then they may be a good fit for the program and
you should attend a free online masterclass I have put together
that reveals the 1 hack that students in our program use to excel
on the UCAT and runs through exactly how the program helps
you to score 99+ on both the UCAT and your ATAR.

Places in this training are limited, and even if you don’t think
you’re interested in the UCAT Crash Course at this time, make
sure you register to watch the training as it gives you behind-the-
scenes access to the exact hack that my students and I use to get
such incredible results!

Click here to get started:

https://www.ucatsecrets.com.au/ucatmasterclass-v1

VOLUME 1 UCAT SECRETS 17

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