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Are you worried about running out of time in the UCAT exam?
We understand that timing is a huge challenge in the UCAT exam and wasting time moving the mouse to click on buttons is not a good use of your time in an exam like the UCAT. So to solve that we’ve listed a few of the handiest UCAT keyboard shortcuts you need to use to beat the clock on the day.
These keyboard shortcuts could help save you a couple of seconds per question giving you a couple of extra minutes per section, so you can go back through questions and make sure you’re satisfied with your answers.
For more information on the UCAT exam, get in touch with MedView today. Our team are here to help you prepare and succeed in this exam.
So how do you use these shortcuts?
Next & Previous Questions
These two shortcuts are super simple but are an essential time-saver, as you can easily flick between questions.
Alt + N = Next Question
Alt + P = Previous Question
The best part about this shortcut is you can easily skim over a question flag it for later and move on to the next all in a few buttons.
Flagging a Question
Firstly, what is flagging a question? This feature allows you to mark specific questions so that you may easily reference them once you’ve completed the section.
This allows students to keep going at the desired fast pace and prevents students from wasting precious time being stumped on questions they don’t know.
Alt + F = Flag a Question
Once you’ve finished the section, you can then review all the questions you’ve flagged and give them a go with the time you have left.
Reviewing Questions
So you’ve finished the section and you have a few questions flagged to review later and a couple of minutes up your sleeve. Hit Alt + S to go to the review screen to see all the questions in the section.
Alt + V will allow you to review only the questions you flagged to answer later. Alt + I allows you to review only the questions you haven’t answered.
**Alt + A **means you can review all the questions in the section. I would highly recommend only doing this if you have the spare time to do so. If you only have a couple of minutes left in the section use that only on the flagged or incomplete questions!
Having multiple-choice questions you have a chance of guessing it and getting it right, but if you don’t answer it… the probability of you getting it right is 0%
Calculator or Close Pop-ups
In the UCAT exam, there is an on-screen calculator you can use for the Quantitative Reasoning and Decision Making sections. This calculator is super clucky so I would recommend making sure you’re mental maths is strong.
However, if you decide you want to use this calculator, hitting Alt + C will get your an on-screen calculator to pop out. If something else pops up on your screen or you want to close the Calculator just hit Alt + C.
To use the calculator you first will need to activate the keypad to do this you press Num Lock.
Calculator Hacks
Using the on-screen calculator is very similar to using a normal calculator or keyboard calculator. We’ve broken it down below:
Numbers are Numbers
Plus sign (+) is +
Minus sign (-) is
Forward Slash sign (/) is divide
Asterisk sign (*) is multiply
Equals Sign (=) is Enter
Percentage sign (&) is %
The full stop (.) is a decimal point
On or C is backspace
M+ is Save as a Positive Number
M- is Save as a Negative Number
MRC is Clear Memory
SQRT is Square Root
In Summary
- Alt + C = Calculator or Close Pop ups
- Num Lock = Activate Number Keypad
- Alt + N = Next Question
- Alt + P = Previous Question
- Alt + F = Flag a Question
- Alt + V = Review Flagged
- Alt + A = Review All
- Alt + I = Review Incomplete
Important Note
The exam is completed on a Windows computer at a designated testing centre, so I would make sure you’re comfortable and familiar with the shortcuts on a Windows computer.
If you’re practising on a Mac you can still use the shortcuts just replace Alt with Control + Option.
Here at MedView, we offer UCAT workshops that replicate the actual exam, 3000+ practice questions and exams with progress tracking and 1:1 private tutoring to make sure you have the speed, skill and knowledge to ace this exam. You can book a free consultation with one of our Academic Advisors to learn more about how MedView can help you today!
