How Is the UCAT Marked? Partial Marks, Negative Marking and Scoring by Subtest

How is the UCAT marked?

The UCAT (University Clinical Aptitude Test) is marked on correct answers only, and there is no negative marking. Each subtest has its own marking rule: one mark per question in Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning, one or two marks in Decision Making, and full or partial marks in the Situational Judgement Test (SJT).

Each subtest also has a short instruction section before the timer starts (1 minute 30 seconds, or 2 minutes for QR). Every subtest contains a few unscored trial questions, which UCAT uses to test new material; you cannot tell which ones they are, so treat every question as if it counts.

Does the UCAT have negative marking?

No. The UCAT Consortium states there is no negative marking for incorrect answers, so a wrong answer scores the same as a blank one: zero.

That makes a blank answer the one choice that can never earn a mark. If you run out of time on a question, eliminate what you can, pick an answer, flag it and move on. Before each subtest ends, use the review screen to fill in anything left unanswered.

Do you get partial marks in the UCAT?

Yes, but only in two places: the multiple-statement questions in Decision Making, and the Situational Judgement Test. Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning questions are right or wrong, worth one mark each, with nothing for a near miss or for correct working.

• Decision Making: a multiple-statement question is worth 2 marks, and a partially correct response earns 1.
• SJT: full marks when your response matches the correct answer, partial marks when it is close to it.
• Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning: no partial credit.

These are the rules for the real UCAT. If a practice platform marks differently, its scores will not match how the real test would mark the same answers.

How is UCAT Verbal Reasoning marked?

Every Verbal Reasoning question is worth 1 mark, with no partial credit. That holds for both formats: True, False or Can't Tell statements and multiple-choice questions.

The 44 questions come as passages with four questions each. UCAT's 2025 Technical Report shows 40 of the 44 were scored and 4 were unscored trial items. Because a hard inference question and a quick fact-check are worth the same mark, pace matters more than perfection: see the UCAT Verbal Reasoning complete guide and the True, False, Can't Tell strategy.

How is UCAT Decision Making marked, and which questions are worth 2 marks?

Decision Making single-answer questions are worth 1 mark. Multiple-statement questions, where you drag Yes or No against each of five statements, are worth 2 marks, and a partially correct response earns 1 mark.

Question types are as grouped in the UCAT 2025 Technical Report, which says the multiple-choice items are "scored out of one" and the drag-and-drop items "scored out of two". Across the five 2025 test forms, 55 of the 155 scored Decision Making questions were drag-and-drop, roughly 11 per sitting, so the section carries more raw marks than it has questions.

Because a two-mark question is worth double, and a partly right answer still scores, never leave a statement blank. Strategy for each type is in the UCAT Decision Making complete guide, with worked examples for syllogisms, interpreting information, Venn diagrams and probability questions.

How is UCAT Quantitative Reasoning marked?

Each Quantitative Reasoning question is worth 1 mark, and only the answer you select counts. There are no marks for working, and an answer that is nearly right scores zero.

The 36 questions mostly come in sets of four built on one table, chart or scenario; the 2025 Technical Report shows 32 scored and 4 unscored. Since only the final choice is marked, estimating and eliminating options is often quicker than exact calculation. See the UCAT Quantitative Reasoning complete guide and our on-screen calculator tips.

How is the UCAT SJT marked?

The SJT gives full marks when your response matches the correct answer, set by a panel of experts, and partial marks when your response is close to it. Your SJT marks are then converted into one of four bands, with Band 1 the highest; you do not receive an SJT number.

The 69 questions sit in scenarios of up to six questions each, and a question can carry more than one mark: the 2025 Technical Report counts 246 raw score points across the SJT and notes the maximum can change from year to year. For the most and least appropriate format, aim to get both choices right; our guide to SJT most and least appropriate questions covers the method, and the UCAT SJT complete guide covers the rating formats.

UCAT does not publish the raw marks needed for each band. What each band means for your applications is covered in UCAT SJT bands 1 to 4 explained.

How do raw marks become your UCAT score?

Your raw marks in each cognitive subtest are converted to a scaled score from 300 to 900, and the three are added to give a total from 900 to 2700. The SJT is reported separately as a band.

• Scaling exists because the subtests have different numbers of questions, so raw marks cannot be compared directly between them.
• Several versions (forms) of the test run each year. They are statistically equated, so the same scaled score means the same level of performance whichever version you sat. Two candidates with identical raw marks on different forms can get slightly different scaled scores.
• The conversion can be adjusted between years. In 2025, when Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning each gained a minute, UCAT scaled both down by 10 points to keep scores comparable.
• UCAT does not publish an official raw-to-scaled table, and it cannot change scores after testing. You see your scores before you leave the test centre.

To estimate your scaled score from practice marks, use our UCAT raw score to scaled score calculator.

This page covers how questions are marked. For what your score means, see what is a good UCAT score, UCAT deciles, UCAT scores and scoring and how universities use the UCAT.

What the marking rules mean on test day

• Answer every question in every subtest: there is no penalty for a wrong answer.
• In Decision Making, give multiple-statement questions their due time: they are worth 2 marks, and 1 mark for a partly right answer is still worth having.
• In Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning, every question is worth the same, so skip and flag a slow question early.
• In the SJT, commit to a rating: a close answer still earns partial marks.

Our guides to UCAT timings per section and handling UCAT time pressure turn these rules into a pacing plan. For help applying them to your own mocks, our 1-to-1 UCAT tutoring runs online. More guides are on the UCAT guides hub.

Checked against ucat.ac.uk on 24 October 2026. The marking rules above are those UCAT publishes for the current test format, used since 2025.