BMAT and UCAT

[Sarong]

Hi there,
Just checking ideas on sitting this exam. Preparation ideas. Books, literature or tutoring.

Which exam? UCAT or BMAT? The advice will be different for each.

Also, which year? BMAT might not exist after 2023. The company that owns/delivers it is withdrawing from admissions tests after this year.

My preference for UCAT prep book, combined with Medify. BMAT past papers are v helpful, but as said it's going v soon. No need to pay for expensive course.las.x

Medify worked well for my DD. She had a subscription for that and then also a shorter subscription nearer the time for Medentry, to have a different bank of tests to try.

Also the question bank on the UCAT website.

She didn’t sit the BMAT though as she only wanted to apply to UCAT medical schools.

Same as LaFlottes's dd.

Exactly what @LaLaFlottes said.

My daughter's tutor does prep for UCAT/BMAT (they do all the university aptitude ones, so LNAT etc too - my niece used them for hers last year). They're called Tayberry.

You really don't need to pay for anything except privacy Medify, or equivalent. It's practice practice practise, and a v large lump of luck on the day.

Thanks

Medify for the UCAT and past papers for the BMAT. Don’t need anything else.

Agree Medify & Official UCAT question bank was great for my son.

Would you recommend the personal statement and interview in addition to the UCAT prep? Thanks

My son's terrible with essays and is terrified of the essay part of BMAT. Is anyone else in the same position? We don't know enough to give him good feedback and his teachers are too busy to actually mark all the practice essays and commercial companies like 6med and medify are charging quite a lot. I found a semi-reasonably priced freelancing doc on upwork who I might try.... but any other ideas or recommendations would be really appreciated!

Or just do UCAT and apply to Kings, Bart's and St George's. Why London though ? V v expensive.

To be honest, he is worried about UCAT too which is why he is choosing to do both. We have family in London and so that would probably work out a tad bit less expensive than sending him across the country for 5 years! We were considering King's and St.George's for his UCAT ones... Still waiting for him to have a sit down with his school sixth form advisor to see if it is sensible.

@JazzyminnC UCAT is a bit horrible. But if he gets a good score he could just drop the BMAT. If he hasn't any rent costs then London is cheaper, but there are parts of the country where it's possible to live on the student loan (with parental top up). Check where each Uni has its placements and if they pay for travel and accommodation costs, as these can be pricey. Many Unis pay for both.
Check if UCL and Imperial look at the essay - will be on their websites.

As long as he sticks to the bullet points he will get at least a 3.
It's worth practicing both planning and writing essays. He can use example essays eg those in the ISC medical book to compare his to marked 4.5/5A essays which should help!

Thank you @mumsneedwine & @JuanPablo for the suggestions, I will make sure he is aware of these things and go find out! Looking around, seems like the consensus is that the allocation for placements is always quite last minute so worst case we have in London family to fall back on if accommodation doesn't work out.