BMAT Study Tips

There’s only a small number of universities that require the BMAT, but those that do are often very high-achieving competitive medical schools. So you have to put in the prep-work! You can sit the BMAT either in September or late October, unless you’re applying to Oxford Medical School in which case you have to sit the October exam.

Our team of medical students have put together some helpful tips that got brought them success in the BMAT!

Do your research!

Find out if the medical school’s you’re interested in need the BMAT and what their usual cut-off scores are. Also, it may be worthwhile finding out if your school is familiar with registering and administrating the test.

Make a plan.

The BMAT comes round in a very busy time when you may be busy with the UKCAT, going back to school and writing your personal statements. So make a plan in the summer where you have created time for yourself to revise and prepare.

Brush up on your GCSE knowledge.

Get out your old notes, you may have dropped one the sciences or maths at A-levels so be sure to spend extra time revising on it.

Learn to work without a calculator.

Life without a calculator is hard but it’s got to be done. Keep your mind sharp and practice your mental maths because unlike the UKCAT there’s no calculators allowed.

Practise makes perfect – or in this case, good enough!

Get your hands on practice questions and past papers. Don’t leave it till the last minute to get used to how the questions are formatted and phrased. Timing is key, everyone finds the BMAT very time pressured so get used to it!

Prioritise.

People rarely answer every single question on the BMAT. Answer the questions you know you can figure out but if there’s one which you are spending way too much time on it’s better to move on and make progress on the rest of the test. If you have time at the end of section you can always come back to it.

Read the topical medical news.

Essay titles are often based around medical issues brought up in the media so keep yourself up to date. Essay writing can be difficult if you don’t do it regularly so practice writing essays, and as with anything make a plan before starting!

Do you need help preparing for the BMAT? Our BMAT essay marking service and one-to-one tuition gives you the knowledge and skills required to boost your BMAT performance.