Having worked with thousands of students over the last 14 years for UCAT and UMAT preparation, the majority of students never correctly think about this question above. Most students choose the test date that has the least impact on their school/uni schedule, rather than thinking about whether they will be fully prepared by that date to perform at their best. It’s as if students are more concerned about having no distractions during school terms/uni semesters than prioritising the single most crucial test that will determine their future career pathway. Not only is UCAT used by many medical schools as the only criterion for applicants to be invited to interviews (and if you don’t get an interview, you cannot even ‘use’ your ATAR, meaning that all the effort you put into your entire high school career is effectively useless), students forget that the UCAT is often weighted the SAME as every one of your assessments across all of your Year 12 subjects, except that it’s a single 2-hour exam. If five Year 12 subjects contribute to your ATAR, it is as if all the countless hours spent on the homework, assignments, tests and exams for one subject is worth the same as 24 mins of the UCAT exam (2 hours divided by 5). Crazy. Maybe because the UCAT is ‘still 122 days away’ from the 1st of March, students forget its importance. If you are already super worried about an upcoming assessment in two weeks that contributes to 5% of your final subject grade, not thinking about the gravity of the UCAT in the way it deserves when choosing your test date will only lead to a stressful experience beyond your comprehension.

I’ve had past students who became so stressed out due to poor decision-making that they become insomniacs, ill, or (even worse) vomited or passed out while taking transport to the exam centre. Why? These students did not prioritise the UCAT and did not think about what specific study activity and the amount of each activity needed (i.e., the time involved) to master the techniques for accurately and quickly solving each of the 14 question types according to their strengths and weaknesses. In turn, they wrongly estimate the amount of time required to properly complete preparation due to unrealistic planning, and head into the exam knowing they are nowhere near their best. 

In summary, if you want to achieve a competitive UCAT score, ONLY think about the best time to sit UCAT as a natural consequence of the type and amount of preparation to equip yourself with all the skills you need. There’s nothing more important during July and August than the UCAT exam.

However, I do recommend students sit the exam at the end of the Term 2 holidays or the beginning of Term 3 (i.e. 11th/12th/13th/14th of July) or the first weekend of Term 3 IF their preparation is on time and on point. We find sitting the UCAT in the first week of July to provide no real benefit whatsoever. Instead, students end up sabotaging themselves by having at least a week less to complete preparation. Think about it this way: would you rather have an extra week to prepare for your final school exams when you are not yet close to being ready? Here’s the thing, I have never met a student who was confident enough about their preparation that they KNEW they would score 99th percentile before going into the test. There is also a rumour that earlier UCAT exams use versions of the test (yes, there are multiple versions) that are easier than the versions used for later dates. Therefore, the idea is that sitting the UCAT earlier will allow the candidate to achieve a higher score. This rumour is nothing more than a misconception. UCAT ANZ has already publicly confirmed that all UCAT test versions will be standardised across a common 300-900 scale per section that accounts for all the different questions and ‘difficulties’ so that no test version provides an ‘extra’ advantage over any other version.