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Pre-UCAT Discussion 2026
- Thread starter DrDrLMG!
- Start date
Hussain Ali
Member
Hmm. What section is your strength or which section do you feel like is easy but you cannot acheive high marks in. Also do you know the keyboard shortcuts such ALT N for next question or ALT C for calculator? Also for questions requiring calculations do you use a num pad to caliberate the calculator? These little things can save precious seconds, which can help in maximizing your score. Also how often do you do practice drills (Not Mocks) and how many hours do you spend on them?
so pretty much my worst subtest is vr because thats the test i get in the 500s, qr and dm are in the 600s and personally qr would be my easiest because i know how to do all the calculations but some stimuli seem very overwhelming for me so I usually just skip it and plan on coming back but never get the time to. For dm aswell sometimes I do great in syllogisms like the ones at the start but every now n then I get a few wrong and I feel the inference based syllogism scare me and are very confusing for me. I use all the shortcuts and practice on a desktop so i can use the number pad too. Also what i was planning on doing for the rest of the month was just to do a full mock daily and review then do some drilled practice based on the review...i do around 20mins for each subtest in sets of 5mins each. You think its possible to get in the 2300s in a month
Hussain Ali
Member
Ok I will start with QR. In qr as you told in those type of questions you quickly just do a guess and flag and move on which you are doing. The simple questions can be done faster because you dont always need to read the whole info given in a question maybe that can be restricting you. I always try to read the question not the info so i get the idea of what i am looking for. Regarding DM, syllogisms can be very tricky and overwhelming sometimes so for them you need to do practice. The inference based questions are basically like vr, you have to read the statement and find if it is (true) yes or (false or cant tell) No. This technique helped me a lot for inference. Doing a mock every single day can be tiring maybe try 3 or 4 mocks a week and for your practice drills give more time to these sections and instead of doing 5 mins each time do around 15 or 20 minutes because 5 mins is too short and 20 mins each section per day is not enough, but do as much as it is easy for you to do. You do not want to a whole day on this. Also for VR I gave a few tips and tricks above I can share them again for all sections as well.
Hussain Ali
Member
Also be familiar with the question types in each subtest and make sure to highlight your weaknesses and strengths and work on them as soon as you can.
Hussain Ali
Member
VR -
1. Many ppl have different approaches for example some may read the whole text first or some may just go straight to the questions. What works for me is that for reading comprehension questions, I quickly skim the paragraph first and try to understand what it’s actually talking about. Then read the question and it’ll be easier to locate. Adding on another technique is reading the first and last line of each paragraph. This gives you an idea about what will be in a paragraph
2. Simplify the text into easier words in ur head as u read
3. For tfc don’t bother reading the paragraph just read the question and find it in the text.
4. Big problem with vr is the time so what I think is a good tip is to set mini checkpoints. For example 22 mins for 44 questions so aim to get at 22 questions at 11 mins. This will help prevent you from spending too long on one stem. If you do js choose a random one and skip.
5. Another one of my tip would be to try to understand what type of text it is before reading. Is it sciencific, historic, personal text. Over time you will see they have a similar structure for example all biographies abt ppl will start with birth, early life, achievements etc. This will makw it easier for you to see where stuff is.
6. Also with questions that say “Which one of these are false”. You basically have to check each one but first try to rule out any that are obviously or more likely to not be the answer e.g some that use strong wording NEVER, WONT. This isn’t always the case but sometimes its easier. Also try to rule out the ones that have numbers e.g “he died in 1979” you can easily skim through and see if that number is in the text or not.
7. Reflect - So important to check each question you got wrong and male notes on what your getting wrong yo improve
1. Many ppl have different approaches for example some may read the whole text first or some may just go straight to the questions. What works for me is that for reading comprehension questions, I quickly skim the paragraph first and try to understand what it’s actually talking about. Then read the question and it’ll be easier to locate. Adding on another technique is reading the first and last line of each paragraph. This gives you an idea about what will be in a paragraph
2. Simplify the text into easier words in ur head as u read
3. For tfc don’t bother reading the paragraph just read the question and find it in the text.
4. Big problem with vr is the time so what I think is a good tip is to set mini checkpoints. For example 22 mins for 44 questions so aim to get at 22 questions at 11 mins. This will help prevent you from spending too long on one stem. If you do js choose a random one and skip.
5. Another one of my tip would be to try to understand what type of text it is before reading. Is it sciencific, historic, personal text. Over time you will see they have a similar structure for example all biographies abt ppl will start with birth, early life, achievements etc. This will makw it easier for you to see where stuff is.
6. Also with questions that say “Which one of these are false”. You basically have to check each one but first try to rule out any that are obviously or more likely to not be the answer e.g some that use strong wording NEVER, WONT. This isn’t always the case but sometimes its easier. Also try to rule out the ones that have numbers e.g “he died in 1979” you can easily skim through and see if that number is in the text or not.
7. Reflect - So important to check each question you got wrong and male notes on what your getting wrong yo improve
Hussain Ali
Member
DM -
1. Practise each subsection separately at first as they are very different and need different approaches
2. First syllogisms are easy and you should do them but make sure to understand what each term means like some is different to few etc
3. I usually skip logiv puzzles for the end because in dm the syllogisms are marked twive so i try to fo them first but when you do them its important to write it out you canr rlly do it in ur head
4. Probabilty has only a few different types so practise it and soon youll get 100%
5. Venn diagram is the easist one so quick do those
6. Lastly the opinion ones “should … “. Make sure to never think abt your personal belief just choose the one that includes both the problem and the solution
1. Practise each subsection separately at first as they are very different and need different approaches
2. First syllogisms are easy and you should do them but make sure to understand what each term means like some is different to few etc
3. I usually skip logiv puzzles for the end because in dm the syllogisms are marked twive so i try to fo them first but when you do them its important to write it out you canr rlly do it in ur head
4. Probabilty has only a few different types so practise it and soon youll get 100%
5. Venn diagram is the easist one so quick do those
6. Lastly the opinion ones “should … “. Make sure to never think abt your personal belief just choose the one that includes both the problem and the solution
Hussain Ali
Member
QR
1. Practise as much as you can.
2. Use keyboard shortcuts e.g Ctrl + c opens the calculator without needing to move to ur mouse. There’s many of those i don’t remember exactly but you search up it’ll be there
3. As you practise try to see what calculations you can do in your head for example in percentages if you want 60% of 50 just do 50 x 0.6. Instead of first 60/100 then times by 50
4. Memorise common fractions 1/2 is 0.5, 1/6 is 0.167 just stuff like that which will make it quicker
5. Don’t waste time writing stuff on paper
6. If you see a hard or more complex stem, skip and come back to it later finish the easier ones first
1. Practise as much as you can.
2. Use keyboard shortcuts e.g Ctrl + c opens the calculator without needing to move to ur mouse. There’s many of those i don’t remember exactly but you search up it’ll be there
3. As you practise try to see what calculations you can do in your head for example in percentages if you want 60% of 50 just do 50 x 0.6. Instead of first 60/100 then times by 50
4. Memorise common fractions 1/2 is 0.5, 1/6 is 0.167 just stuff like that which will make it quicker
5. Don’t waste time writing stuff on paper
6. If you see a hard or more complex stem, skip and come back to it later finish the easier ones first
Hussain Ali
Member
A "qualifier" in the reading programme refers to the small words that limit, soften, or set conditions on a claim, and they're crucial because they're precisely where a True statement silently becomes False or Can't Tell in UCAT Verbal Reasoning.
The idea is that the main facts in a sentence are easy to spot, but the qualifier attached to them quietly controls how strong the claim actually is. A careless reader skips over the qualifier and reads the sentence as a stronger, simpler version than what was written—and that's the trap. For example, if a first-class travel passage said first-class seats offer "up to twice as much legroom," and a question almost certainly tested whether that means "twice as much." It doesn't; "up to" is a ceiling, a maximum, not a fixed amount. The legroom could be twice as much, or only slightly more. So a statement claiming "first class offers twice the legroom" would be False, even though the passage clearly talks about double legroom.
The reading programme groups qualifiers into a few families. There are *amount qualifiers* like "up to," "as much as," "at least," "no more than": these set limits rather than fixed values. There are *frequency and proportion qualifiers* like "most," "generally," "usually," "some," "often," "can": these never mean "all" or "always," so any statement that says "all" or "always" is then False. There are *time qualifiers* like "originally," "then," "later," "formerly": these decide whether a fact applied before or after a change. And there are *condition qualifiers* like "only," "except," "unless" — strict limits that are easy to read past but decisive for the answer.
The idea is that the main facts in a sentence are easy to spot, but the qualifier attached to them quietly controls how strong the claim actually is. A careless reader skips over the qualifier and reads the sentence as a stronger, simpler version than what was written—and that's the trap. For example, if a first-class travel passage said first-class seats offer "up to twice as much legroom," and a question almost certainly tested whether that means "twice as much." It doesn't; "up to" is a ceiling, a maximum, not a fixed amount. The legroom could be twice as much, or only slightly more. So a statement claiming "first class offers twice the legroom" would be False, even though the passage clearly talks about double legroom.
The reading programme groups qualifiers into a few families. There are *amount qualifiers* like "up to," "as much as," "at least," "no more than": these set limits rather than fixed values. There are *frequency and proportion qualifiers* like "most," "generally," "usually," "some," "often," "can": these never mean "all" or "always," so any statement that says "all" or "always" is then False. There are *time qualifiers* like "originally," "then," "later," "formerly": these decide whether a fact applied before or after a change. And there are *condition qualifiers* like "only," "except," "unless" — strict limits that are easy to read past but decisive for the answer.
Hussain Ali
Member
Yes I am giving ucat this year