Published on March 14, 2023
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UCAT Verbal Reasoning Tips, Questions & Strategies
The Verbal Reasoning Section of the UCAT is often considered the most difficult. This article will help you understand what UCAT Verbal Reasoning is, go over UCAT Verbal Reasoning practice questions, and offer useful verbal reasoning tips to be successful in this section of the UCAT.
What is UCAT Verbal Reasoning?
The UCAT Verbal Reasoning Section is the first of the subtests in the UCAT. In this section, you must critically analyze written passages and answer multiple-choice questions solely using the information provided in the text. The passages may include topics such as science, history, politics or literature. This means that none of the questions need any prior knowledge. Often, using your own prior knowledge on a topic covered in the exam can lead you to the wrong answer by distracting you from the focus of the question. Verbal Reasoning is designed to test your logical thinking and reading comprehension skills. It’s considered the most difficult section of the UCAT due to the length of the texts along with the tight time limit.
UCAT Verbal Reasoning Question Types Explained
In this section of the UCAT, you will come across two main types of questions:
True / False / Can’t Tell
You will be given a statement and asked to determine if the statement is true, false, or something that can’t be inferred from the passage (can’t tell). It’s crucial to base your answer solely off the information given in the passage. When it comes to “Can’t Tell”, you always need to think – If you were given more information, would that change the answer? Is it possible that it could be true or false, but there isn’t enough evidence to suggest either? If so, you “can’t tell” the answer based on the passage alone.
True / False / Can’t Tell Example and Answer
Example
Some people are more sensitive than others – and around half of these differences can be attributed to our genes, new research has found.
The study, led by Queen Mary University of London, compared pairs of identical and non-identical 17-year-old twins to see how strongly they were affected by positive or negative experiences — their ‘sensitivity’ level. The aim was to tease out how much of the differences in sensitivity could be explained by either genetic or environmental factors during development: nature or nurture.
Twins who are brought up together will mostly experience the same environment. But only identical twins share the same genes: non-identical twins are like any other sibling. If identical twins show no more similarity in their levels of sensitivity than non-identical twins, then genes are unlikely to play a role.
Using this type of analysis, the team found that 47 percent of the differences in sensitivity between individuals were down to genetics, leaving 53 percent accounted for by environmental factors. The research, from Queen Mary University of London and King’s College London, is the first to show this link conclusively in such a large study. The findings are published in Molecular Psychiatry.
Michael Pluess, Professor of Developmental Psychology at Queen Mary University of London and study lead, said: “We are all affected by what we experience — sensitivity is something we all share as a basic human trait. But we also differ in how much of an impact our experiences have on us. Scientists have always thought there was a genetic basis for sensitivity, but this is the first time we’ve been able to actually quantify how much of these differences in sensitivity are explained by genetic factors.”
Source
The study showed that 53% of differences in sensitivity are due to genetic factors.
- True
- False
- Can’t Tell
Answer
The first question is a True, False, Can’t Tell question, meaning that the other three questions on this passage will be the same. As we do not need to read between the lines in these types of questions, it is not necessary to have a deep understanding of the text. Therefore, the strategy to utilise here is scanning and selective reading.
The correct answer is “False”. This is backed up by the sentence, “Using this type of analysis, the team found that 47 percent of the differences in sensitivity between individuals were down to genetics, leaving 53 percent accounted for by environmental factors.”
Statement-Based
You will be given a question such as “Which of the following can be deduced from the passage?” followed by four statements. Most of these are inference questions, meaning you’re required to “read between the lines”. You’ll need to have a general understanding of the passage to answer these. These questions are more difficult and require a high level of reading speed and comprehension.
Most Verbal Reasoning passages will involve statement-based questions. No passage will have a mixture of question types – they will either be True, False, Can’t Tell or Statement-Based.
Statement-Based Example and Answer
Example
China has warned students to reconsider travelling to Australia to study because of a string of “incidents of discrimination” targeting people of Asian descent. China’s ministry of education said in a statement on Tuesday that students preparing to study abroad should do a “good risk assessment” and “exercise caution” in choosing to go to or return to Australia for study. “During the pandemic, Australia has seen multiple incidents of discrimination targeting those of Asian descent.”
The warning comes as ties between China and Australia have reached their lowest point in years. Australia led calls for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus outbreak, which was first detected in China in December before spreading to the rest of the world.
In response to Australia’s push for an investigation, China had warned its citizens could boycott Australian goods and services. China’s culture and tourism ministry issued a travel alert on Friday, warning Chinese travellers from going to Australia where they might be the target of racially motivated attacks, caused by anger over the pandemic.
Chinese experts have accused Australia of “smearing China” over the pandemic and thus encouraging discriminatory attitudes. “The Australian side should recognise the real problem rather than hiding its head in the sand,” Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Centre at East China Normal University in Shanghai told the state-run Global Times.
Australia has also criticised Beijing’s decision to force controversial national security laws on Hong Kong. China has placed tariffs on Australian barley as well as blocked imports of Australian beef, moves that Beijing has said are not related to Australia’s push for an inquiry.
According to the text, which statement can be correctly inferred?
A. Relations between Australia and China are friendly
B. China does not want its students travelling to Australia to study
C. China’s new security laws being put in place in Hong Kong were met with global support
D. Australia’s call for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus outbreak were supported by China
Answer
Based on the first question, we can tell that all of the questions from this passage will be statement-based. Further, the question is asking you to make an inference, so other questions will likely be of a similar standard. This will require a general understanding of the passage, so the general strategy for statement-based questions, i.e. reading the entire passage, should be utilised.
The answer for the question was B, as demonstrated by the first sentence.
UCAT Times – Verbal Reasoning
This section is designed to test your logical thinking skills from the written information, and it is very time-pressured. You will need to interpret 11 unique 200-400 word long passages, each accompanied by 4 questions. This gives you a total of 44 questions to complete in 22 minutes, giving you about 30 seconds per question.
UCAT Verbal Reasoning Average Score
The average Verbal Reasoning score in the 2024 UCAT testing cycle was 601. This is low in comparison to the other three sections, which averaged between 620 and 653.
Since 2018, the average Verbal Reasoning score has remained between 565 – 601. As such, this is often the section that students struggle the most with.
What is a Good UCAT Verbal Reasoning Score?
A ‘good’ Verbal Reasoning score would be above the average score. So in 2024, this would have been a score of above 601. In 2022, when the average score was 567, a ‘good’ score would have been one above this. For the purposes of university applications, usually you need a good overall UCAT score (combination of each section), and you should be aiming for around 700 as an average of each section. This kind of score will ensure that the UCAT is one of your strengths in your application.
It’s rare that universities focus on your scores in individual subsections, however, this can occur. For example, Chester Medical School (international entry only) requires applicants to have a Verbal Reasoning score equivalent to at least the average Verbal Reasoning score for that year.
Top UCAT Verbal Reasoning Tips to Improve Your Score
Verbal Reasoning can definitely be daunting, so we’ve collated the best strategies by top 1% scoring candidates worldwide to really help you tackle this section. These include:
- Strategies specific to tackling True or False Questions
- Strategies specific to tackling Statement-Based Questions
- Reading Speed and Comprehension (eliminating subvocalisation, reducing fixations, eliminating backtracking)
- Scanning Keywords
- Use of Language (subjective vs. objective statements, necessity vs. possibility, future qualifiers, negative language)
- Use of Outside Knowledge
- Drawing Conclusions (identifying premises, the best conclusions, assumptions, inferences and their types, correlation vs. causation, faulty logic)
- And more!
See our example question below to give you an idea of the general strategy for statement-based questions. We dive deeper into Verbal Reasoning strategies in our UCAT resources by top 1% scorers, such as our 2-day live UCAT course, our 175-lesson online UCAT course (bitesized video lessons), best selling UCAT book (updated for 2023), and one-to-one UCAT tutoring.
UCAT Verbal Reasoning Example Question
Example Passage
For the first time in history, NASA astronauts have launched from American soil in a commercially built and operated American crew spacecraft on its way to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley lifted off at 3:22 p.m. EDT Saturday on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Known as NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2, the mission is an end-to-end test flight to validate the SpaceX Crew Transportation System, including launch, in-orbit, docking and landing operations.
This is SpaceX’s second spaceflight test of its Crew Dragon and its first test with astronauts aboard, which will pave the way for its certification for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “Today a new era in human spaceflight begins as we once again launched American astronauts on American rockets from American soil on their way to the International Space Station, our national lab orbiting Earth,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. For operational missions, Crew Dragon will be able to launch as many as four crew members at a time and carry more than 220 pounds of cargo, allowing for an increased number crew members aboard the space station and increasing the time dedicated to research in the unique microgravity environment, as well as returning more science back to Earth. (Source)
Question
According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
A. The launch of the Crew Dragon spacecraft on Saturday was the first test of this spacecraft
B. Robert Behnken was the lead engineer for this project
C. This is the first time that NASA astronauts have launched from American soil
D. The International Space Station orbits the Earth
Answer:
The correct answer is D. This is evidenced by the statement “…on their way to the International Space Station, our national lab orbiting Earth”.
Verbal Reasoning Strategy: Read the text, then answer the questions. This is a standard example of a Statement-Based question. The text is slightly complex, and the questions ask for inferences, so it’s important to have a general understanding of the passage.
UCAT Verbal Reasoning Tips
Preparing for and taking the UCAT can be a stressful time, especially when it comes to the Verbal Reasoning section. Here are our top 5 UCAT Verbal Reasoning tips to help you be more confident and meet your Verbal Reasoning goals!
Start Early
Giving yourself as much time as possible to prepare for the UCAT Verbal Reasoning section is crucial, as it allows you to fully develop core techniques like speed reading, comprehension, and logical analysis. Since Verbal Reasoning involves processing large amounts of text quickly and accurately, early preparation gives you the opportunity to refine these skills gradually without feeling overwhelmed.
Scanning vs Reading
Learning when to scan and when to read the passages given to you is one of the most important Verbal Reasoning strategies in this section. When you are able to, scanning texts will save you so much time compared to reading them, allowing you to spend more time on difficult questions.
Remember to Infer
This is one of the core Verbal Reasoning skills required, so making sure to read into sentences and draw logical conclusions is crucial. This can’t be done by simply making observations or rewording the text given to you, but at the same time, remember not to overthink it – write out what comes naturally to you as a conclusion from the passage. Again, practicing this skill before starting Verbal Reasoning mock questions will be very helpful.
Learn When to Discard
There will be some styles of questions you’re not as good at, or some that you find more time-consuming. If you spend lots of time on a question and still struggle for the answer, sometimes the best option is to discard that question and move on. If you’re struggling on the first question out of four, it usually indicates that the other three questions are going to be of similar difficulty. In this case, you should discard this passage and move on.
Take Breaks
Taking regular breaks during your UCAT revision will help keep your mind fresh and focused. Make sure to take breaks every hour or so to give yourself time to relax and recharge before continuing your studies.
Remember, there are other sections in the UCAT – spending ample time on all sections is crucial to scoring high overall, and no university will only look at individual section scores. There is no benefit to scoring 750+ in one section at the expense of the other sections, so spending time on them all is incredibly important. That being said, remember to think about your strengths and weaknesses when preparing for the UCAT to decide how much time you want to spend preparing for each section.
We hope this article was useful for your UCAT preparation! It’s an excerpt from our popular UCAT resources, created by top 1% scoring candidates!
