Product Description

With over 600 UKCAT practice questions (including a full mock exam), in-depth explanations, and comprehensive tips and techniques spanning over 400 pages, this book constitutes an ideal preparation tool for the UKCAT, helping candidates save time, retain focus and optimise their score. The book shows how to approach each type of question (abstract, verbal and quantitative reasoning together with decision analysis) and helps candidates familiarise themselves with all the potential traps that can be laid by the examiners. The overwhelming range of exercises that it contains will enable all UKCAT candidates to refine and optimise their technique to answer questions under strict time constraints. This book replicates the breadth and depth of the different types of questions that can be asked in the live UKCAT test and the spectrum of difficulties that it covers (from normal to stretching), which makes it an ideal preparation tool for all those who want to achieve a high score and maximise their chances of getting into the medical school of their choice.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6054 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 420 pages

From the Back Cover
Can you analyse data and text, perform calculations, and make accurate decisions under pressure?
Do you feel confident that you can answer most of the UKCAT questions correctly within the short period of time allocated?
Do you want to familiarise yourself with key techniques which will save you a considerable amount of time on the day?

This book contains 600 practice questions, including a full mock exam, which will give you all the tools you need to optimise your score on the day. Over 420 pages, the book sets out a wide range of questions for all four major sections of the UKCAT: Quantitative Reasoning, Abstract Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, Decision Analysis.

The questions mirror the level of difficulty that you can expect at the exam, from relatively easy to stretching. Every chapter contains comprehensive techniques to help you handle each of the four sections of the UKCAT. The breadth and depth of the explanations, tips and techniques provided will ensure that you are fully prepared to answer all questions confidently, correctly and within the short period of time allocated.

About the Author
Olivier Picard is a communication specialist and head of ISC Medical, a company specialising in the coaching and tutoring of medical school applicants and qualified doctors. Over the years, he has coached thousands of medical school entrants successfully, advising both on UKCAT and medical school interview skills preparation. He is the author of a best-selling interview skills guide for medical school interviews. David Phillips is a consultant in GU and HIV Medicine and has wide-ranging experience in the training and education of medical students and doctors at all levels. Laetitia Tighlit is a teacher with extensive experience in the fields of education and testing, and Sami Tighlit is a social science graduate with comprehensive experience of psychometric and other selection tests. The book would also not have been written without the 40 new medical students who shared their recent knowledge of the UKCAT exam and tested all questions to ensure that they constituted accurate practice.

Customer Reviews

Lots of practice.The only book you need to prepare for the UKCAT
This book provides excellent guidance for all UKCAT applicants and offers loads of practice. I found the section on verbal reasoning particularly enlightening as it explains how to manipulate a number of logic rules to get to the right answer, shows where the examiners can lay traps for candidates to fall into and explains how to avoid them. Overall, it is a great book to practice for the exam, whichever section of the UKCAT you feel most uncomfortable with.

Absolutely brilliant book!
All sections in this book are absolutely excellent and provide loads of practice. I found it a great confidence builder in all aspects, and the explanations are very comprehensive and useful, without being patronising.

All in all, it is probably the best UKCAT book around.

A brilliant confidence builder with lots of practice
Having bought 4 books on UKCAT, I can honestly say that the best one so far is the book 600 UKCAT practice questions which I received following my pre-order from Amazon. Packed with loads of exercises and explanations, I have gone through almost all of the questions and am learning loads. I have found all the sections informative and good practice, particularly the verbal reasoning and abstract reasoning. The quantitative reasoning questions and decision analysis questions are also good because of the variety of techniques that they demonstrate and the sheer volume of practice that you can do.

I think that what makes the strength of this book is that it has loads of practice questions as well as a full exam. Many of the other books are either missing a mock exam, or they have fewer practice question (but still cost the same). Most have something like 1.5 times what you can expect at an exam i.e. a total of 250 questions or so (the exam has 175 questions), whether this one gives 600 questions, so nearly 3.5 times. No contest there. The explanations are also thorough (hence why it has 400 pages or so!) which makes it easier when you get things wrong to see how you could have approached the problem. Even when you get it right, they show you different ways in which you can approach a problem and that means that you can learn to reach the same correct answer in less time.

As far as the difficulty of the questions is concerned, I have not taken UKCAT before (last time I applied for medicine was 3 years ago when UKCAT did not exist - I am now reapplying as a GEP) so cannot comment but they are well in line with the difficulty of the official UKCAT website questions i.e. some easy, some harder and in fact I have a similar score when I compare both. What I particularly like about this book is how it builds your learning and your confidence by starting with easier questions and growing increasingly difficult so that you can apply what you have learnt to new questions.

Overall I find it a great confidence builder and would thoroughly recommend it to everyone.