How to Interpret Your UCAT Scores
1 year ago by Chris
If you have just sat UCAT, congratulations! You have made it through one of the toughest and most gruelling tests of your career. This blog contains information on how to interpret your 2025 UCAT UK score report.
How do I access my UCAT score report?
After sitting UCAT, you will receive a copy of your UCAT score report before leaving the test centre. Your score report will also be available through your Pearson VUE online account within 24 hours of sitting your test.
How do I interpret my UCAT Score Report?
Your UCAT Score Report will provide you with a scaled score ranging from 300 to 900 for each subtest, as well as a total score for the cognitive subtests, ranging from 900 to 2700. The cognitive subtests are Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, and Quantitative Reasoning.
Subtest Scores are derived (scaled) from your raw score (the number of questions you got right) using statistical methods that are not made publicly available. You can find more information about UCAT scoring and scaling in our blog series.
A separate score is provided for UCAT Situational Judgement, which is a ‘non-cognitive’ UCAT subtest. Your score for Situational Judgement will be expressed as a band between band 1 and band 4, with band 1 being the highest. You will be given an interpretation alongside your band indicative of your performance, for example: "Band 1 - Those in Band 1 demonstrated an excellent level of performance, showing similar judgement in most cases to the panel of experts."
What UCAT score is required to get into medicine?
Universities generally use your UCAT score alone or a combination of your UCAT score and academic performance when making interview offers.
The UCAT score and percentile required to obtain an interview or offer depends on several factors, including: the university you are applying to, your academic performance (GCSEs, A-levels or a combination of the two), and what type of place you are applying for (for example, required scores are lower for Foundation/Widening Access Places).
Most universities shortlist candidates using the total UCAT cognitive score with or without the Situational Judgement component. A few may set additional minimum cut-off scores per subtest. Some medical schools determine threshold scores each year and may give an indication of what these have been in previous years on their website.
In general, a UCAT percentile of about 90 will secure a medical interview at most universities, provided academic performance is also high.
UCAT preliminary test statistics are published near the end of the UCAT testing cycle in mid-September. Final statistics are made available after UCAT testing ends, usually in the first week of October. You can find UCAT test data here.
You can also find more information in our blog on what is a good UCAT score.
What should I do now?
Now it’s time to celebrate the fact that UCAT is over!
After taking a well-deserved break, you should continue to remain focussed on your school or university studies, as these are important factors in medical entry.
Do some research into how each university will use your UCAT score and start shortlisting universities that you can apply for strategically based on your UCAT performance. Consider carefully where your applications should go to increase the chances that you will get an offer.
Don’t forget to write your UCAS Personal Statement. Your Personal Statement shows medical schools why you want to study medicine and become a doctor. Some medical schools don’t consider your Personal Statement, whilst others use it as a criterion selector for interviews. Personal Statements need to be submitted by the UCAS deadline in mid-October. Note that the Personal Statement has been updated for the 2026 entry cycle.
You should also consider commencing interview training, as interviews are a very important (and often overlooked) element of the entry process If you get shortlisted and a university invites you for an interview, you might not get much notice, so it’s a good idea to start preparing for interviews right after you’ve submitted your UCAS application.
Congratulations once again on your motivation in preparing for UCAT this year, and best of luck!
