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UCAT: Quantitative Reasoning

Apparently we get a keyboard with a keypad in the real UCAT. Will the keypads + (add), - (subtract), * (multiply), / (divide), backspace (ON/c) work in the real thing? BCos in the practice online exams the calculator opens up in a different tab and the +,- functions dont work. Im saying this bcos I am not good at accurate mental math
 

Blackjoe

Member
I can't speak for the real thing, but on medify the +, -, *, / and bksp work as long as your keyboard has a number pad, you have the numlock on and you use the buttons around the numberpad.
Considering that medify is meant to replicate the real thing, I think that it safe to assume that they will work in the real thing. I'm also sure that the real test will use a keyboard with a number pad, so practice with a similar keyboard.
 
I can't speak for the real thing, but on medify the +, -, *, / and bksp work as long as your keyboard has a number pad, you have the numlock on and you use the buttons around the numberpad.
Considering that medify is meant to replicate the real thing, I think that it safe to assume that they will work in the real thing. I'm also sure that the real test will use a keyboard with a number pad, so practice with a similar keyboard.

In the official ucat practice questions, the bkspace does not work. Also, the + (add) and - (subtract) functions only work on a numpad - so I assume we are given a numpad in the real thing on the keyboard.
 

kaelb

Lurker
Does anyone else struggle with memorising the numbers that result from subcalculations? The calculator is so primitive you have to do each calculation one at a time and keep track.

Does anyone else struggle with memorising the numbers that result from subcalculations? The calculator is so primitive you have to do each calculation one at a time and keep track.

For example, if you have a calculation involving a sum of individual products, do you guys just keep a running count by adding to the previous product?

ETA: Nevermind. Apparently you can use a white board.
 
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sloth

Member
Is it an individual room for each candidate? The slots seem to have 15 mins interval.
Otherwise we can hear others clicking away on the mouse... The white board is an actual small whiteboard with a marker? or we can write on the screen like the medentry example?
 
How is everyone finding QR? I only manage half the questions in the given time. Awful :(
I’m struggling to, I’ve gone over GCSE maths and still have trouble figuring out how to answer some questions, let alone complete them in the time frame given.

Hopefully it’ll all click closer to the exam :)
 

Jason990090

Royal College of Surgeons MBBch (grad med pathway)
Is anyone also finding QR extremely difficult especially with the on screen keyboard?

I have never really been good at maths in high school or uni (highest ever mark was 75% in year 10!). However, i did not expect to do be performing this poorly! My medify mocks have been 450, 530, 480 and 500 in this section. Are there any tips or tricks that I can use to get better?

Or am I simply doomed because of my naturally low ability with numbers?

Any help is appreciated. I am posting here because the QR thread has been dead for a while and I know there are quite a few people who are also having issues with this section.

ps: I put this same question in the normal thread but it did not get any answers. Hopefully you guys can keep this post up!
 
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medicallyblonde

Guest
What percentage of questions are you actually attempting over guessing/not getting up to? Have you been using a numberpad with the onsite calculator when needed? Have you recognised your strengths and weaknesses? I had forgotten how to compute distance and time so did a BBC bitesize GCSE refresher on it.

I think being reflective on your marks is just as important as completing as many practice questions as possible as both lead you to being more aware and confident, which leads to being more accurate and efficient, a necessary in QR from what I have read and seen. Try this video if you haven't already seen it
 

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Jason990090

Royal College of Surgeons MBBch (grad med pathway)
So I have only been able to do about 80-90% of the questions in time. The rest i have had to panic guess due to a lack of time.
 
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medicallyblonde

Guest
I was unable to get beyond around 60% completed initially because of timing...I just scored 850 on my last mock. Work on your maths in isolation to the UCAT, flag passages that you believe will cause you huge issues, and just keep on practicing.
 

ProfessorPond

Yahallo!
I have serious qualms with this section. I sometimes can get 850-900s, but other times the questions just straight up screw you over to no end.
A few 7 step calculations in the same test with a crap calculator and 40 seconds each= ded.
Personally I think this section is the second most poorly designed section. The difficulty is not in the questions, it's in the fact that you HAVE to use a terribly unintuitive calculator to trod through large masses of calculations where one mistap= BOOM you've wasted 20-30 seconds. USING THE CALCULATOR is the challenge, not the questions themselves, especially for someone who has used scientific calculators for the whole of high school.
I feel like the no-calculator policy for UCAT is better, at least you can get through it with mental maths.
 

sloth

Member
I find that the calculator is taking up too much time too. Mental calculations in the test would have been more efficient.
 

ProfessorPond

Yahallo!
Yeaaa. Like if you take mock 5 for the QR on Medify, they give you too much data and expect you process them using a calculator that can't store numbers and can only do one calculation at a time.
Either give us a better calculator, or make the numbers easy enough to allow mental calculation and do away with the calculator.
Like Ive said before, the difficulty is with the calculator, and that seriously is something wrong with an APITITUDE test.
 
Yeaaa. Like if you take mock 5 for the QR on Medify, they give you too much data and expect you process them using a calculator that can't store numbers and can only do one calculation at a time.
Either give us a better calculator, or make the numbers easy enough to allow mental calculation and do away with the calculator.
Like Ive said before, the difficulty is with the calculator, and that seriously is something wrong with an APITITUDE test.

I JUST came on here to comment on medify’s mock 5 QR. I just sat it and got a measly 550 (my average is around 670). There was way too much data in pretty much every set and each question felt like it requires at least 3-4 calculations!

I’m praying that the UCAT exam I get only has a few questions that require multiple calculations otherwise I’m going to do horrible!
 

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What mocks are 'difficult' and which ones are 'easy'? Just asking so I can compare with myself for when I complete most if them next week.
I can only comment on my own personal experience (as someone who struggles with QR)
I found Mini Mock 1 to be the 'easiest' out of the ones that I've taken so far and BY FAR Mini mock 5 was the hardest.

In saying that though for all of the mini mocks (and the one full length mock) I've taken on Medify my scores range from 550 (mini mock 5) to 800 (UCAT Full mock 1) which is a huge difference so god knows what kind of QR score I will receive when I sit the real thing.
 
Thanks for that, which full mocks would you say are the hardest/easiest?
I’ve only done one so far from medify 😂
That one was alright so far, my scores were lower than I would’ve liked. I’ll be starting to ramp up how often I take mock tests (probably like 2-3 more before the actual test) so am more than happy to keep you updated!

FYI I’m not one of those people that can score 2900+. Im just an average adult hoping to score 680 in each section!
 

cocodreams

Regular Member
For QR, do we get the money values in dollars and the questions are based on the ANZ continent?
 
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