UKCAT quantitative reasoning tips
The quantitative reasoning section introduces tough and witty questions, but you must understand that they all rely on quite basic mathematical concepts. It is primarily the time pressure and question phrasing which turn this section into an exhausting one. How can you improve your quantitative skills?
- Make sure to review the basic mathematical operations (addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication), including the concepts of fractions, percentages, and ratios.
- Practice on a daily basis to get your mind set into reading and analyzing information in top speed.
- Make sure to review as many question types as possible, including all sorts of data representations such as graphs (bars, pies, areas etc.), tables, and combining information from separate sets of data.
- Practice with our quantitative reasoning questions, to get useful solving tips and track your progress.
UKCAT decision analysis tips
Although the decision analysis section is considered to be difficult, when you work through it properly, it becomes quite simple.
1. Generally, the correct answer would be the one most suitable with the code.
2. One of the best strategies for solving a decision analysis question is top to bottom, that is, to divide the code to smaller sequences, and translate one at a time:
A. After translating the first sequence you should then look at the answers and eliminate irrelevant ones.
B. Keep translating the code till 4 answers were eliminated and you're left with the correct one.
3. It is highly recommended to make a list that includes basic codes for each specific test. Thus, when you recognize a basic code that might repeat itself, write it down on the side of your whiteboard.
4. In case you have two or more very similar answers, it is likely that one of them is the correct one. In that case, try to find the difference between them and compare the difference to the code in order to eliminate the wrong one.
5. Try to identify common distracters:
· Wrong tense
· Wrong referent - Singular\plural
· Introduction of critical information – Are there important parts of the sentence that don't have any counterparts in the code?
· Disregard of parts of the code - Are there parts of the code that haven't been used at all?
· Redundancy - Are there parts of the code that have been used more than once?
· Incorrect attribution
· Interpretation of the code that ignores commas, parentheses, and the combination of related words.
· Answers that ignore the word "opposite"/"negative".
· One of the most common distracters are answers that use an interpretation of the code that is too literal (e.g: 'dark,today' might be misleadingly interpreted as "it was dark today" instead of "tonight").
6. When the word "combine" appears before parentheses, it usually means that the code parenthetically should be interpreted together as a word or a phrase.
7. When the word "generalise" appears before parentheses, it usually refers to a larger, more abstract concept than the one parenthesised. For example, "generalise" (book) may mean 'literature'.
If there are two or more words in the parenthesis, they are usually special cases or examples of the intended general concept. For example, "generalise" (car train) may mean 'transportation' or 'vehicles'.
8. Please notice that many times a sequence of codes without any commas between them may indicate that these codes represent a phrase rather than seperate words.
9. Although time is short, some people prefer to translate the whole code and write down the words on their whiteboard. You should consider it according to you own preferences.
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