Maybe your child has just sat the UCAT, and you are holding a score and wondering what it means for a Medicine application. This guide explains the UCAT for Oxford or Cambridge Medicine in plain terms: what the test now involves, how each university uses the score, and what the 2026 figures do and do not tell you. It is written for 2027 entry, with the test already taken.
The key points
- Both Oxford and Cambridge require the UCAT for their standard Medicine course. It is the same test for both.
- The UCAT changed in 2025. It now has four sections, and Abstract Reasoning has gone.
- Both universities use the overall score from the three thinking sections. Oxford does not use Situational Judgement when shortlisting for interview, while Cambridge says it will not use it in its assessment for 2027 entry.
- They use it differently. Oxford ranks GCSEs and the UCAT together with a set weighting. Cambridge uses it in a wider mix with no minimum score.
- Neither publishes a cut-off, so there is no single good Oxbridge score. The 2026 figures only help you place a result.
Your child has sat the UCAT. What happens now?
Maybe your child has already sat the UCAT and you are looking at a score. By the time you read this, the 2026 test window has closed. The last test day was 24 September 2026, so this is no longer about booking a slot. It is about what the result means and what to do next.
Your child does not send the UCAT score anywhere. The UCAT sends results straight to the universities your child applied to, in early November. Oxford goes one step further and asks applicants not to put the score on the UCAS form at all, because the tutors who interview do not see UCAT scores.
The date to keep in view is the UCAS deadline. For 2027 entry, applications to Oxford, Cambridge and Medicine courses are due by 15 October 2026, at 6pm UK time. So the job now is to finish a strong application, with the test already done. If your child is still choosing subjects, our guide to what A levels you need for medicine is a good place to start.
What the UCAT for Oxford or Cambridge Medicine involves
The UCAT is the same test for both universities. It changed in 2025, when Abstract Reasoning was taken out. So if you read an older guide that still lists it, that part is gone.
The test now has four sections, sat on screen in just under two hours. Three are thinking sections: Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning. The fourth is Situational Judgement, which looks at how your child responds to work situations. There is no negative marking, so a wrong answer costs nothing and it is worth answering every question.
The four sections
- Verbal Reasoning: 44 questions in 22 minutes.
- Decision Making: 35 questions in 37 minutes.
- Quantitative Reasoning: 36 questions in 26 minutes.
- Situational Judgement: 69 questions in 26 minutes.
Each of the three thinking sections is scored from 300 to 900, and they add up to a total from 900 to 2700. Situational Judgement is reported in four bands instead, with Band 1 the highest. You can see the full format on the official UCAT test format page.
How Oxford uses your child’s score
Oxford and Cambridge both require the UCAT, but they do not use it in the same way, so it helps to take them one at a time. Here is Oxford. You can also see our Oxford admissions consulting page.
For shortlisting, Oxford looks at the overall score from the three thinking sections. It does not use the Situational Judgement score at that stage. It puts GCSE results and the UCAT score together into a numerical ranking to decide who to invite to interview.
For a child with a full set of GCSEs, Oxford gives GCSEs and the UCAT equal weight at that first stage. For a child with five or fewer GCSEs, or GCSEs taken in summer 2020 or summer 2021, it gives the UCAT double weight. Oxford is clear that there is no fixed cut-off, because the score needed shifts with the strength of each year’s applicants. You can read this on the Oxford shortlisting page.
How Cambridge uses it differently
Cambridge also requires the UCAT for its standard Medicine course, and it too looks at the overall score from the three thinking sections, not the Situational Judgement score, for 2027 entry.
The difference is in how it fits the rest. Cambridge says there is no minimum score. It uses the UCAT as part of choosing who to invite to interview, and it may use it again when it makes offers. Cambridge describes its choice as a mix of academic record, the UCAT and the interview. You can read this on the Cambridge Medicine page, and our Cambridge admissions consulting page sets out how we support applicants.
So the same score can sit differently at the two universities. At Oxford it goes into a GCSE-and-UCAT ranking with a known weighting. At Cambridge there is no set weighting published, and the score sits alongside the academic record and the interview. It is worth not assuming one number means the same thing in both places.
What a 2026 score tells you, and what it does not
If you have a number in front of you, the 2026 figures help you see roughly where it sits. Across 42,359 tests in 2026, the average total for the three thinking sections was 1918 out of 2700. The top tenth of candidates scored about 2250 or above, the next tenth about 2140, and the one after that about 2050.
Use those figures only to place a score within the 2026 group. Do not turn them into an Oxford or Cambridge target. Neither university publishes a cut-off, and both say the score is read alongside the rest of the application. There is no single good Oxbridge score, and we will not invent one. The honest answer to “is this good enough?” is that it depends on the year and the whole application. Source: the official UCAT test statistics.
This clip shows a maths lesson recorded in Pencil Spaces, the online classroom used by Greenhill Academics.
Not sure how your child’s score sits for Oxford or Cambridge?
Send us the number and the course, and we can put it in context.
Ask about a tutorHow a tutor can help with the part your child finds hard
The UCAT runs its own free practice materials, and Oxford says there is no need to pay for a preparation course. So it is fair to ask what a tutor adds. A tutor does not have secret questions and cannot promise a score. What a good tutor can do is look closely at where your child loses time or picks the wrong answer.
The useful work is diagnosis. Is the problem the thinking itself, the timing, or the way a decision is made under pressure? Each one needs a different fix. A tutor can set timed practice in the current four-section format, watch which section drags, and plan around that one weakness instead of going over everything again.
Try this timed number check at home this week
You can do this in about eight minutes. It is our own short exercise, not a real UCAT question. You need a small table of numbers your child can read in a few seconds, like a train timetable, a shopping receipt or a page of prices. You also need a timer and a pen.
- Minutes 0 to 1: Pick the table and write three quick questions from it. For example, the difference between two prices, the total of three items, or which option is cheaper per unit.
- Minutes 1 to 4: Start the timer. Your child answers all three by hand, with no calculator. Give them three minutes and no longer.
- Minutes 4 to 6: Mark the answers together. For each one, ask where the time went: reading the table, deciding which sum to do, or doing the sum.
- Minutes 6 to 8: Write down the slowest step for them, and keep the page for a first lesson.
What should you look for?
Watch whether the hold-up is reading the table, choosing the method, or the arithmetic. Quantitative Reasoning gives about 43 seconds a question, so speed at this everyday level matters. The step that slows your child is the step worth practising.
What this cannot tell you
This is a warm-up, not a mock. Three home-made questions cannot give a UCAT score, show whether your child is ready, or compare them with other applicants. It uses everyday numbers, not real test questions.
Bring the page to a first lesson. A tutor can take a larger set of timed questions, see the same pattern, and set practice on the exact step that needs it.
Want a tutor to work on the section that slows your child down?
Tell us which part feels hardest, and we can start there.
Send an enquiryWhich tutors have medicine-admissions experience?
The profiles below show each tutor’s background and what they support. Tell us your child’s situation and we can talk it through. You can also see our wider admissions consulting.
Mirsab is studying Medicine at the University of Cambridge (St Catharine’s College). He supports students with the UCAT and with Medicine and Dentistry admissions, including interview preparation.
Jessica is in her fourth year of Medicine at the University of Cambridge, having completed a BA in Psychology. She supports students applying to Medicine, including interview preparation.
Questions about the UCAT for medicine
Does my child still send their UCAT score to Oxford or Cambridge?
No. The UCAT sends results straight to the universities your child applied to, in early November. Your child does not add the score to the UCAS form. Oxford also asks applicants not to include it, because its interviewers do not see UCAT scores.
What is a good UCAT score for Oxford or Cambridge?
There is no published cut-off at either. Oxford says the score needed changes with each year’s applicants, and Cambridge says there is no minimum. The 2026 average for the three thinking sections was 1918 out of 2700, which helps you place a score, but it is not a target.
What is actually in the UCAT now?
Four sections in just under two hours: Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning, and Situational Judgement. Abstract Reasoning was removed in 2025. There is no negative marking, so a wrong answer costs nothing.
Do Oxford and Cambridge use the UCAT the same way?
No. Both use the overall score from the three thinking sections. Oxford does not use Situational Judgement at the interview-shortlisting stage, while Cambridge says it will not use it in its assessment for 2027 entry. Oxford puts GCSEs and the UCAT into a ranking with a set weighting, while Cambridge uses the score in a wider mix with no minimum.
Does my child need a paid UCAT course?
Not necessarily. The UCAT offers free official practice materials, and Oxford says there is no need for a formal preparation course. A tutor is there to find the one section that costs time and work on that, rather than going over everything.
Not sure what your child’s UCAT result means for Oxford or Cambridge?
Tell us the score and the course, and we can talk through what it means and what to focus on next.
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