How UCAT ANZ situational judgement is marked

The Situational Judgement Test, or SJT, is the part of the UCAT ANZ that feels least like an exam. There are no formulas or passages of facts to learn. It gives you realistic scenarios and asks how you would respond. Because it is marked differently from the other subtests, it is worth understanding how.

What the subtest is

The Consortium's test format page describes the SJT as measuring how well you grasp real-world situations and pick out the key factors and suitable behaviour when dealing with them. The hypothetical scenarios are set in a clinic or in a medical or dental training environment, and each can carry up to six questions. The themes it assesses are integrity, resilience, adaptability, team involvement and perspective taking.

It has 69 questions in 26 minutes, after an instruction section of 1 minute 30 seconds. That is under 23 seconds a question on average, so scenarios need to be read efficiently. The Consortium says no medical or procedural knowledge is needed. It also notes SJTs are widely used in postgraduate medical and dental selection.

How it is scored

On the scoring page, the Consortium states:

• Marks come from counting correct answers, with no deduction for wrong ones.
• The SJT result is reported as its own scaled score between 300 and 900.
• You receive full marks when your answer matches the key, and partial marks when it lands near the key.

The important consequence is that the SJT is not added to the total. The total scaled score from 900 to 2700 adds together the Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning scores only. The SJT stands apart, and how a university uses it differs. Each university explains on its own website how it uses the UCAT ANZ score, so check the universities you are considering.

What partial marks mean for you

Partial credit rewards judgement that is close to the intended answer, though how close counts as close is not something the Consortium spells out. We do not know the marking key, and the Consortium does not publish it, so be wary of any resource that claims to.

What this means in practice is that you should answer every question, since there is no negative marking, and that the quality of your thinking matters more than agonising between two neighbouring options. If you are torn between "appropriate" and "very appropriate", pick one and move on.

How scores are spread

The Consortium publishes summary statistics each year. For 2026, based on 17,341 candidates, the SJT scaled score had a mean of 580. The median (5th decile) was 589, the first quartile 539 and the third quartile 630. The 1st decile was 486 and the 9th decile was 664. Numbers like these are only context. A university decides what, if anything, it does with an SJT score, and the statistics describe the whole candidate group, not what any university requires.

Reading scenarios quickly

With under 23 seconds a question, reading is where time goes. Scenarios can have up to six questions, so one careful read pays for several answers. A practical method is to read the scenario once for the people involved and what has just happened, glance at the question to see what it asks (for example, what the person should do or how important a consideration is), and then answer from the scenario rather than rereading it from the top. Use the instruction section before the subtest to breathe and settle; one of the Consortium's profiled candidates describes using that gap between subtests to reset and to focus only on the subtest in front of them.

Practising it sensibly

Because the answer key is about judgement, the most valuable practice is learning why an answer is right:

1. Read the tutorial first. The Consortium's SJT question tutorial explains the question formats and offers strategies. Start there.
2. Do a set of questions untimed and write a one-line reason for each answer. Reasons help you see patterns in what is rated appropriate.
3. Think about whose perspective matters. The subtest assesses perspective taking and team involvement, so ask what the patient, the colleague and the team would each need.
4. Notice the themes. Integrity, resilience and adaptability recur. A response that is honest, respects others and takes sensible responsibility tends to fit them.
5. Then time yourself. At about 22 seconds a question, practise reading a scenario once, thinking, and answering.
6. Review your mistakes in categories. Did you misread the scenario, apply medical knowledge you were told you did not need, or choose the dramatic response over the measured one?

Three candidates profiled on the Consortium's candidate advice page had situational judgement scores in the top decile, and what they described was steady practice, not tricks: working through the free question banks, learning the keyboard shortcuts and reviewing their mistakes.

Do not overthink it

It is easy to treat the SJT as a personality quiz and try to guess what the "right kind of doctor" would say. A more helpful approach is to read the scenario closely, identify what matters most, and choose the response that a thoughtful, honest and considerate person would think best.

Where to go next

• What is a good UCAT ANZ score?
• Decision Making: how it works
• UCAT ANZ situational judgement practice is part of our full set, with a free taste on the samples page.

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Not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the UCAT ANZ Consortium.