UCAT Scores Explained: What Is a Good UCAT Score?

Medicine is one of the most competitive university courses and a strong UCAT score is essential to stand out to the most prestigious medical schools. But what counts as a strong score and what exactly are universities looking for?

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How the UCAT is scored

Scores are scaled because each section has a variable number of questions, meaning it is difficult to compare your raw marks. The test also varies in difficulty and scaling allows universities to compare different candidates fairly.

Your three subtest scores are added together to give a total scaled score somewhere between 900 and 2,700: your UCAT score.

The Situational Judgement Test (SJT) works differently. Rather than a 300-900 score, you receive a Band from 1 to 4, where Band 1 is the highest, and it does not add anything to your numerical total. Universities consider it separately (we will explore this further later on).

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Percentiles and deciles

A decile is the same idea but instead grouped into 10 bands of 10 per cent each. The 1st decile covers the lowest-scoring 10 per cent, and a score on the boundary of the 1st decile sits at the 10th percentile. The 9th decile boundary sits at the 90th percentile, and so on.

Here is the point that matters most: because the test is scaled and the cohort changes a little every year, you should think in percentiles and deciles rather than a raw total. According to official UCAT statistics, a score of 2010 was the 7th decile in 2025, but the same number could fall in a slightly different position next year. The decile tells you where you stand against everyone else, which is what universities care about.

As quick reference points, the average score lands around the 5th decile and reaching the 8th decile (the top 20 per cent of candidates) is widely regarded as a strong result. In 2025, the 8th decile sat at exactly 2,100.

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Official UCAT 2025 decile table (out of 2,700)

Decile rank	Total score	VR	DM	QR
1st (10th percentile)	1,580	500	520	520
2nd (20th percentile)	1,680	540	560	570
3rd (30th percentile)	1,760	560	590	590
4th (40th percentile)	1,820	580	610	630
5th (50th percentile)	1,880	600	630	650
6th (60th percentile)	1,950	620	650	680
7th (70th percentile)	2,010	640	670	710
8th (80th percentile)	2,100	670	700	750
9th (90th percentile)	2,220	700	740	820

Source: UCAT Consortium, Test Statistics 2025. Subtest mean scores in 2025 were VR 602, DM 628, and QR 661.

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What counts as a good, average, or low score

Band	Total (out of 2,700)	Roughly	What it means for you
Excellent	2,300 and above	Top few per cent	Competitive anywhere, including the most selective schools.
Strong	2,100 to 2,290	8th to 9th decile (top 10 to 20%)	Opens up the great majority of UCAT-using schools.
Above average	1,950 to 2,090	6th to 7th decile	A workable score; consider choices carefully.
Average	1,820 to 1,950	4th to 6th decile	Around the 2025 mean of 1,891; apply strategically.
Below average	1,700 to 1,820	2nd to 4th decile	Lean towards universities that view applications holistically/prioritise other academic results.
Low	Below 1,700	1st to 2nd decile	Still viable; pick schools that de-emphasise the UCAT.

If your score is below the 2025 mean of 1,891, the door isn’t closed to a Medicine application. It just means you have to be strategic. Some schools weight academics heavily, others take a genuinely holistic view, and a handful barely use the UCAT as a discriminator at all. The sensible move is to match your score to the schools where it counts for least.

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How universities use the UCAT

1. A threshold or cut-off

Some schools set a minimum score that you have to clear before your application goes any further. The University of Sheffield, for example, applies a UCAT threshold (1800 in last year’s application round) and then ranks the candidates who clear it, stating plainly that strong academics will not compensate for a weaker UCAT. Newcastle has long published its threshold scores so applicants can gauge the likely bar.

2. Ranking by score

Other schools sort eligible applicants by UCAT and invite the strongest down the list until interview places fill. Bristol, for example, gives the cognitive score full weight at the shortlisting stage once academic requirements are met and does not take the SJT into account. Bristol deliberately does not publish a fixed cut-off, because the effective threshold is set by how competitive the applicant pool turns out to be that year. This is the clearest illustration of why deciles matter more than any single raw score.

3. Hollistic Scoring

A third group folds the UCAT into a wider score alongside grades, contextual data, and sometimes the personal statement. Birmingham, for instance, builds a pre-interview score weighted roughly 45 per cent academic, 40 per cent UCAT, and 15 per cent contextual, and brings the SJT in at the interview stage. At a school like this, a middling UCAT can be carried by strong GCSEs and A levels in a way it never could at a pure ranking school.

Watch the individual subtests and the SJT

Two details catch people out. First, some universities set a minimum on a single subtest, not just the total. City St George's, University of London, for example, requires a minimum of 500 in each section, which means one weak subtest can undermine an otherwise healthy total. Second, the SJT band is used in its own right: many schools prefer Band 1 or Band 2, and some will screen out Band 4 candidates entirely. According to the UCAT Consortium, in 2025, 21 per cent of candidates achieved Band 1, 39 per cent Band 2, 29 per cent Band 3, and 10 per cent Band 4, showing how most candidates pool in the middle two bands.

Because a single weak subtest or a low SJT band can cost you an interview at a ranking or threshold school, focused, well-targeted preparation really earns its keep. This is one of the many reasons families come to our UCAT tutors for a structured plan rather than scattered, last-minute practice.

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How to improve your UCAT score

• Start early. Give yourself a runway of two to three months so you can build speed gradually rather than cramming question banks in the final fortnight.
• Practise under timed conditions. The test is brutal on time, so most of your gains come from doing questions at, or faster than, exam pace rather than slowly and perfectly.
• Target your weakest high-yield subtest. A jump from the 4th to the 7th decile in one section can lift your overall percentile more than polishing a section where you are already strong.
• Drill the SJT on its own. It uses different kinds of judgement from the cognitive sections and treating it as an afterthought is how able candidates end up in Band 3 or 4.

From what we see at Ivy, the same avoidable mistakes come up year after year. Alastair, one of our senior admissions consultants, puts it simply: ‘The students who underperform are rarely the ones who lack ability. They are the ones who left preparation too late, treated the SJT as a box to tick, or never practised against the clock until test week.’ Fixing those three habits early is usually worth more than any single technique, and it is the part of preparation most candidates neglect because it feels less urgent in the spring than it does in August.

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Conclusion

Think in percentiles and deciles, not in a single magic number. Aim for the 8th decile and above, apply strategically so your score matches the admissions policy of each university, and do not forget that the SJT band carries weight of its own. A score that looks ordinary at one school can be perfectly competitive at another, so your choice of universities matters as much as the number itself.

If you would like a clear, realistic plan for your UCAT or help shape a university list around the score you are likely to get, our team is happy to talk it through. Book a free consultation with our university admissions team and we will help you build a strategy that fits.

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FAQs

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