BMAT
Cambridge Assessment
Complete guide to passing the BMAT exam on your first attempt.
£75-£130
N/A (score-based)
1 year
UK/International
Cambridge Assessment
Oxbridge medical admission
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Complete Overview
The BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT) was a two-hour written admissions test for medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and biomedical science, owned and administered by Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing, and it no longer runs. The final sitting took place on 18 October 2023 for 2024 entry, and the October 2023 registration fee was 78 pounds for candidates testing inside the EU including the UK and 104 pounds for candidates testing outside the EU. Cambridge Assessment announced in 2023 that it would leave the admissions testing market, and every UK university that had used BMAT moved to the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) from the 2024 application cycle onwards. If you have landed here while planning a medicine application, the test you now need is the UCAT, not BMAT.
This guide still documents BMAT in full because the papers remain in wide use. Physics and Maths Tutor hosts free BMAT question papers and answer keys from 2003 through 2022, and Cambridge University Press and Assessment released the 2023 papers as well. Those papers are among the best available practice for two things that did not disappear with the test: GCSE-level science recall under severe time pressure, and short written argument under a 30-minute clock. Oxford and Cambridge medicine interviews still probe both.
BMAT had three sections sat back to back with no break. Section 1, Thinking Skills, gave 60 minutes for 32 multiple-choice questions. Section 2, Scientific Knowledge and Applications, gave 30 minutes for 27 multiple-choice questions drawn from biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics at the level a student meets by age 16. Section 3, Writing Task, gave 30 minutes for one essay chosen from three prompts, written on a single side of A4. Supervisors collected each section's paper and answer sheet before handing out the next one, so you could not return to earlier questions.
Scoring worked differently in each section. Sections 1 and 2 were reported on a 1.0 to 9.0 scale to one decimal place, with roughly half marks converting to about 5.0. Section 3 produced two marks, one for quality of content on a 1 to 5 scale and one for quality of written English graded A, C or E, double marked and averaged into a combined result such as 3.5A or 4C. There was no pass mark. Universities set their own use of the numbers, and they varied widely. The University of Oxford weighted Section 1 at 40 per cent, Section 2 at 40 per cent and Section 3 at 20 per cent for A100 Medicine, converting the Section 3 letter grade to a number (A equals 5 down to E equals 1) and double weighting the content mark.
Six UK institutions required BMAT for 2024 entry: Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Imperial College London, Lancaster University, University College London, the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. Institutions in Singapore, Thailand, Spain, Hungary, Croatia, Malaysia and the Netherlands also used it. Results were valid only for the admissions cycle in which the test was taken.
Why Get BMAT Certified?
BMAT gated six UK medical schools for 2024 entry: Brighton and Sussex, Imperial College London, Lancaster, UCL, Cambridge and Oxford. All six now require the UCAT instead.
Section 2 was the only part of any UK medical admissions test that examined science content directly, with 7 biology, 7 chemistry, 7 physics and 6 mathematics questions in each paper from 2020 onwards.
Oxford's A100 shortlisting in the 2021 round ran almost entirely on BMAT, and the mean weighted score rose from 53 per cent across all applicants to 65.8 per cent among the 430 shortlisted candidates.
The free past paper archive covers 20 sittings from 2003 to 2022 on Physics and Maths Tutor, plus the 2023 papers from Cambridge University Press and Assessment, which is more free timed material than most admissions tests offer.
Section 3 forced a complete argument into 30 minutes and one side of A4, a constraint that maps directly onto Oxbridge medicine interview questions and onto UCAT-era personal statement work.
The October 2023 fee was 78 pounds inside the EU and 104 pounds outside it, and UK candidates in financial need could apply for a voucher covering the full registration and administration cost at British Council centres.
BMAT had no negative marking. Every question paper told candidates in writing that there were no penalties for incorrect responses, so the correct strategy was always to answer all 32 and all 27 questions.
Exam Format & Structure
Duration
120 minutes total, sat in one sitting with no scheduled break (60 minutes for Section 1, 30 for Section 2, 30 for Section 3)
Questions
60 items in total: 59 multiple-choice questions (32 in Section 1, 27 in Section 2) plus 1 writing task in Section 3
Passing Score
None. BMAT had no pass mark or cut score. Each university set its own thresholds and weightings, and Cambridge Assessment did not publish a recommended minimum.
Question Types
- Critical thinking multiple choice: identify the main conclusion, draw a conclusion, find the underlying assumption, expose the flaw, strengthen or weaken the argument, match parallel reasoning, identify the principle
- Problem solving multiple choice: multi-step arithmetic, spatial reasoning with cube nets, chart and graph transformation, timetable and scheduling puzzles, optimisation under constraints
- Scientific knowledge multiple choice with five options, covering biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics to age-16 level
- One extended writing task chosen from three prompts, handwritten inside a fixed answer space of one A4 side. Cambridge Assessment published no word count; the space itself was the limit, and anything written outside it was not marked.
Delivery Method
Pen and paper at authorised open centres, schools and colleges worldwide, supervised, with a soft pencil and eraser and a separate machine-read answer sheet for each section. Cambridge Assessment delivered the 2021 session on computer, and the University of Oxford's admissions report for that round records candidates who received partial scores or no score at all because of technical faults; later sessions ran on paper.
How scoring works
Score scale
Sections 1 and 2: 1.0 to 9.0, reported to one decimal place. Section 3: quality of content on a 1 to 5 scale and quality of written English graded A, C or E by each of two examiners, combined into results such as 3.5A or 4C.
Score needed to pass
None. Cambridge Assessment published no pass mark or minimum score, and BMAT results were never reported as pass or fail. Universities set their own use. Oxford's A100 composite, weighted 40 per cent Section 1, 40 per cent Section 2 and 20 per cent Section 3, averaged 65.8 per cent among the 430 candidates shortlisted in the 2021 round against an applicant-wide mean of 53 per cent.
Roughly what that means raw
Cambridge Assessment stated that a score of about 5.0 corresponded to approximately half marks on the section, meaning roughly 16 of 32 in Section 1 and roughly 13 or 14 of 27 in Section 2.
When results arrive
No unofficial score was given at the test centre and no score appeared on the day. Official results from the final October 2023 sitting were released on 24 November 2023 through the Metritests system, 37 days after the test, and were passed automatically to every BMAT institution the candidate had applied to.
How the scale is built
Sections 1 and 2 were scored one mark per correct answer with no deduction for wrong answers, then converted from raw marks onto the 1 to 9 scale. Cambridge Assessment stated that typical candidates scored around 5.0, the best around 6.0, and a few exceptional candidates above 7.0. Section 3 was double marked independently, averaged when the two marks agreed or differed by one, and sent for a third marking when they diverged further.
Pacing and time budget
60 questions in 120 minutes gives you 2 minutes averaged across all 60 items, but the real budgets differed sharply by section: 1 minute 53 seconds per Section 1 question, 1 minute 7 seconds per Section 2 question, and the whole 30 minutes for the single Section 3 essay. per question.
Section 1, minute 15 of 60
8 of the 32 Section 1 questions, with any three-step optimisation or spatial question already marked for a second pass
Section 1, minute 30 of 60
16 of 32, the exact halfway point, checked against the clock rather than against how many questions look hard
Section 1, minute 50 of 60
28 of 32, leaving 10 minutes for the last four questions plus a sweep to shade every remaining blank
Section 2, minute 15 of 30
14 of the 27 Section 2 questions, roughly two subject blocks of seven
Section 3, minute 5 of 30
Prompt chosen and plan written on the question paper, with 22 minutes left to write and 3 to check
| At this point | You should have answered |
|---|---|
| Section 1, minute 15 of 60 | 8 of the 32 Section 1 questions, with any three-step optimisation or spatial question already marked for a second pass |
| Section 1, minute 30 of 60 | 16 of 32, the exact halfway point, checked against the clock rather than against how many questions look hard |
| Section 1, minute 50 of 60 | 28 of 32, leaving 10 minutes for the last four questions plus a sweep to shade every remaining blank |
| Section 2, minute 15 of 30 | 14 of the 27 Section 2 questions, roughly two subject blocks of seven |
| Section 3, minute 5 of 30 | Prompt chosen and plan written on the question paper, with 22 minutes left to write and 3 to check |
- Sections could not be revisited. The supervisor collected each question paper and answer sheet before handing out the next, so leaving Section 1 questions for later meant leaving them blank forever.
- Shade answers as you go rather than transferring at the end. There was no transfer time built into any section, and Section 2 at 30 minutes for 27 questions gave none to spare.
- Section 2 is the section where pace collapses first. At 67 seconds per question with no calculator, a single mole calculation done the long way can cost two other questions.
- In Section 1 the fast marks are the critical thinking stems that name what they want, such as main conclusion or underlying assumption. Take those first and leave cube nets and multi-constraint optimisation for the second sweep.
- Budget exactly 5 minutes of Section 3 planning. Candidates who started writing immediately routinely ran out of page before reaching a resolution, and text outside the one-page box was not marked.
Where the marks are
Section 1 critical thinking stems
not published; 16 of 32 Section 1 questions in the 2023 paper
Seven stem types recur: main conclusion, draw a conclusion, assumption, flaw, strengthen or weaken, parallel reasoning and principle. Naming the stem before reading the options cuts errors sharply.
Section 1 problem solving
not published; 16 of 32 Section 1 questions in the 2023 paper
Multi-step arithmetic, cube nets, chart transformation, scheduling grids and cost optimisation, all without a calculator and with only the question paper for working.
Section 2 biology
not published; 7 of 27 Section 2 questions
Inheritance crosses, the cardiac cycle, negative feedback, enzymes and protein synthesis dominate. Questions apply age-16 content to an unfamiliar scenario rather than testing recall alone.
Section 2 chemistry
not published; 7 of 27 Section 2 questions
Balancing equations, mole and yield arithmetic, electrolysis products and reactivity. The marks go to speed of calculator-free arithmetic more than to breadth of content.
Section 2 physics
not published; 7 of 27 Section 2 questions
Circuits, forces and motion, waves, half-life and unit analysis. The most commonly neglected block, because many candidates stopped physics at GCSE while continuing biology and chemistry.
Section 2 mathematics
not published; 6 of 27 Section 2 questions
Percentages, probability, algebraic rearrangement, indices and geometry at roughly 67 seconds each with no calculator. Fluency, not difficulty, decides the score.
Section 3 writing task
not published; 1 task in 30 minutes, double marked
Content scored 1 to 5 and written English graded A, C or E. Essays that explained the statement, argued the counter-case and reached a genuine resolution inside one page scored above those that hedged.
| Topic | Weight | Why it scores |
|---|---|---|
| Section 1 critical thinking stems | not published; 16 of 32 Section 1 questions in the 2023 paper | Seven stem types recur: main conclusion, draw a conclusion, assumption, flaw, strengthen or weaken, parallel reasoning and principle. Naming the stem before reading the options cuts errors sharply. |
| Section 1 problem solving | not published; 16 of 32 Section 1 questions in the 2023 paper | Multi-step arithmetic, cube nets, chart transformation, scheduling grids and cost optimisation, all without a calculator and with only the question paper for working. |
| Section 2 biology | not published; 7 of 27 Section 2 questions | Inheritance crosses, the cardiac cycle, negative feedback, enzymes and protein synthesis dominate. Questions apply age-16 content to an unfamiliar scenario rather than testing recall alone. |
| Section 2 chemistry | not published; 7 of 27 Section 2 questions | Balancing equations, mole and yield arithmetic, electrolysis products and reactivity. The marks go to speed of calculator-free arithmetic more than to breadth of content. |
| Section 2 physics | not published; 7 of 27 Section 2 questions | Circuits, forces and motion, waves, half-life and unit analysis. The most commonly neglected block, because many candidates stopped physics at GCSE while continuing biology and chemistry. |
| Section 2 mathematics | not published; 6 of 27 Section 2 questions | Percentages, probability, algebraic rearrangement, indices and geometry at roughly 67 seconds each with no calculator. Fluency, not difficulty, decides the score. |
| Section 3 writing task | not published; 1 task in 30 minutes, double marked | Content scored 1 to 5 and written English graded A, C or E. Essays that explained the statement, argued the counter-case and reached a genuine resolution inside one page scored above those that hedged. |
The numbers
18 October 2023, for 2024 entry
Final BMAT test date
Source: The Uni Guide, BMAT October 2023 schedule published from Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing
78 pounds inside the EU including the UK, 104 pounds outside the EU
Registration fee, October 2023 session
Source: The Uni Guide, BMAT October 2023 fee schedule from Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing
1,786 of 1,864 UCAS applicants
Oxford A100 applicants who registered for and sat BMAT, 2021 round
Source: University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division, A100 Medicine statistics from the 2021 admissions round
53 per cent for all applicants, 65.8 per cent for the shortlisted, 68.3 per cent for offer holders
Mean weighted BMAT score at Oxford A100, 2021 round
Source: University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division, A100 Medicine statistics from the 2021 admissions round
25.7 per cent of complete applications, giving a shortlist of 430 for about 2.5 candidates per place
Oxford A100 shortlisting rate, 2021 round
Source: University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division, A100 Medicine statistics from the 2021 admissions round
6 (Brighton and Sussex, Imperial College London, Lancaster, UCL, Cambridge, Oxford)
UK institutions requiring BMAT for 2024 entry
Source: The Uni Guide list of BMAT institutions and courses for 2024 entry
If you fail
Wait before retaking
No retake exists. The test was withdrawn after the 18 October 2023 sitting and Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing has ceased operations, so there is no waiting period to serve and no future date to book.
Attempt limit
One sitting per admissions cycle while the test ran. Results were valid only for the cycle in which they were taken, so a candidate reapplying in a later year sat the whole test again rather than carrying a score forward.
Retake fee
Not applicable. For reference, the final October 2023 registration fee was 78 pounds inside the EU including the UK and 104 pounds outside it, and some open centres added their own administration fee on top.
While the test ran, candidates whose performance was affected on the day used the special considerations process through their centre rather than a retake, and Oxford's 2021 admissions report confirms it took that information into account at shortlisting. Access arrangements were requested at registration, with modified question papers for the October 2023 session due by 15 September 2023. Anyone applying to medicine now should book the UCAT through ucat.ac.uk instead, which has its own once-per-cycle rule.
Exam Domains & Topics
Cambridge Assessment reported Section 1 as a single 1.0 to 9.0 score and never split it into published percentage weights. In the 2023 paper, 16 of the 32 questions were critical thinking. Each question carried one mark and every question in the section was equally weighted.
Key Topics to Master:
- Identifying the main conclusion of a short argument (3 of 32 questions in the 2023 paper)
- Identifying an underlying assumption (3 questions in 2023)
- Drawing a safe conclusion from a descriptive passage (2 questions in 2023)
- Exposing the flaw in an argument (2 questions in 2023)
- Strengthening or weakening an argument with a new fact (2 questions in 2023)
- Matching parallel reasoning between two arguments (2 questions in 2023)
- Identifying the general principle a specific argument relies on (2 questions in 2023)
The other 16 of the 32 Section 1 questions in the 2023 paper were problem solving. Calculators were banned, so every calculation had to be done on the question paper, and no extra rough paper was permitted.
Key Topics to Master:
- Multi-step arithmetic and algebra set in a word problem, such as arithmetic-progression seed loss and share-price percentage change
- Optimisation under constraints, such as minimising the cost of a nine-square planting grid
- Spatial reasoning: which net cannot fold into a given cube, and rotation of a three by three display
- Reading and transforming charts: converting a pie chart to a bar chart, or a price series to a percentage-change series
- Timetable, schedule and league-table logic requiring an ordering to be deduced from a grid
Seven of the 27 Section 2 questions were biology in every paper from 2020 onwards, a split confirmed in a 2024 study of BMAT items published in PMC. Section 2 as a whole gave 30 minutes for 27 questions, so a biology question had to be settled in about 67 seconds.
Key Topics to Master:
- Cell structure, mitosis and meiosis, and the stages at which chromosome number changes
- Inheritance: monohybrid and dihybrid crosses, sex linkage, pedigree charts and probability of genotype
- Gas exchange, circulation, the cardiac cycle and the double circulatory system
- Nervous and endocrine control, reflex arcs, and negative feedback including blood glucose and thermoregulation
- Enzymes, digestion, and the effect of pH and temperature on reaction rate
- DNA, protein synthesis, and the relationship between base sequence and amino acid sequence
Seven of the 27 Section 2 questions were chemistry. Balancing equations and mole arithmetic without a calculator carried a heavy share of these marks, which is why practising mental arithmetic on relative formula masses mattered more than memorising extra content.
Key Topics to Master:
- Balancing chemical and ionic equations, including redox half equations
- Mole calculations, relative formula mass, empirical formulae and percentage yield without a calculator
- Atomic structure, isotopes, electron configuration and periodic table trends
- Reactivity series, displacement reactions, electrolysis products at each electrode
- Organic chemistry basics: alkanes, alkenes, alcohols, carboxylic acids and simple polymerisation
- Acids, bases, salts, neutralisation and the interpretation of titration data
Seven of the 27 Section 2 questions were physics. This was the section most candidates neglected, because many BMAT sitters had dropped physics after GCSE while continuing biology and chemistry to A-level.
Key Topics to Master:
- Electricity: series and parallel circuits, resistance, potential difference, power and the energy transferred
- Forces and motion: SUVAT relationships, momentum, moments and equilibrium of a beam
- Waves: reflection, refraction, wave speed equation, the electromagnetic spectrum and sound
- Radioactivity: alpha, beta and gamma emission, nuclear equations and half-life calculations
- Energy transfer, efficiency, work done, gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy
- Unit manipulation and derived SI units, which appeared as standalone questions
Six of the 27 Section 2 questions were mathematics, the only subject with fewer than seven. Questions were set at age-16 level but timed at roughly 67 seconds each with no calculator, so speed of manipulation decided the mark rather than depth of knowledge.
Key Topics to Master:
- Algebraic manipulation, rearranging formulae, simultaneous equations and quadratics
- Ratio, proportion, percentage change and reverse percentage
- Probability including combined and conditional events, and tree diagram reasoning
- Geometry: area, surface area, volume, Pythagoras and basic trigonometry
- Indices, standard form and surds handled without a calculator
- Graph interpretation: gradient, intercept and the shape of common functions
One essay in 30 minutes from a choice of three prompts, written inside a fixed one-page answer box. Prompts were typically a short quotation or proposition, followed by instructions to explain it, argue the counter-position and resolve the tension. Two examiners marked every script independently.
Key Topics to Master:
- Explaining what a proposition means in your own words before arguing with it
- Constructing a counter-argument that a reasonable person would actually hold
- Reaching a resolution rather than sitting on the fence
- Fitting a complete argument into roughly 550 to 600 handwritten words
- Legible handwriting, since scripts were scanned and sent as images to the universities
- Medical ethics, scientific method and public policy themes, which recurred across sittings
Recommended Study Plan
- 1Check the entry requirements page of every course on your UCAS list. If you are applying for 2025 entry or later, BMAT does not exist and you need the UCAT instead.
- 2Sit the 2022 BMAT Section 1 paper from Physics and Maths Tutor under a strict 60-minute clock with no calculator, and mark it against the official answer key.
- 3Sit the 2022 Section 2 paper in a separate 30-minute block and record your score per subject: biology out of 7, chemistry out of 7, physics out of 7, maths out of 6.
- 4Write out the Section 1 question-type tally from your paper, splitting critical thinking from problem solving, and note which of the two lost you more marks.
- 5Download the official BMAT Section 2 Assumed Subject Knowledge guide and mark every specification line you cannot explain from memory.
- 1Work through the biology half of the Assumed Subject Knowledge guide, writing one-line summaries rather than copying text.
- 2Drill inheritance problems: monohybrid, dihybrid, sex linkage and pedigree charts, 20 questions timed at 60 seconds each.
- 3Rebuild the cardiac cycle, the nephron and the reflex arc from blank paper three times until you can do it without prompts.
- 4Pull every biology question from the 2015 to 2019 Section 2 papers into one set and attempt them in blocks of 7 under a 7-minute clock.
- 5Log every biology error into a single sheet with the specification line it came from.
- 1Practise balancing 30 equations, including ionic and redox half equations, against a stopwatch.
- 2Do 25 mole calculations without a calculator, forcing yourself to round relative formula masses and check the order of magnitude first.
- 3Revise electrolysis products at each electrode for molten and aqueous electrolytes, and test yourself on ten cases.
- 4Attempt the chemistry questions from the 2015 to 2019 Section 2 papers in 7-minute blocks.
- 5Build a one-page mental-arithmetic sheet: times tables to 15, common square roots, fraction to percentage conversions, and drill it daily for five minutes.
- 1Write out every equation in the GCSE physics equation list from memory, then check against an AQA or Edexcel GCSE formula sheet.
- 2Drill 20 circuit questions covering series and parallel resistance, potential divider behaviour and power.
- 3Work 15 half-life and nuclear equation questions, including questions that ask for elapsed time rather than remaining activity.
- 4Practise unit analysis: given a quantity, state its SI base units, for 20 quantities.
- 5Attempt the physics questions from the 2015 to 2019 Section 2 papers in 7-minute blocks and compare against your biology and chemistry accuracy.
- 1Drill 30 percentage and reverse-percentage questions with no calculator.
- 2Practise probability including tree diagrams and conditional cases, 20 questions.
- 3Work indices, standard form and surds until each takes under 30 seconds.
- 4Sit a complete 27-question Section 2 in 30 minutes from the 2020 paper and record the time you spent per subject block.
- 5Review every question you got wrong and label it knowledge gap, arithmetic slip or time pressure.
- 1Learn the seven recurring question stems by name: main conclusion, draw a conclusion, underlying assumption, flaw, strengthen or weaken, parallel reasoning, principle.
- 2For 30 critical thinking questions across the 2016 to 2019 papers, write the stem type next to each before answering.
- 3Practise the negation test on assumption questions: negate each option and check whether the argument collapses.
- 4For main conclusion questions, underline the sentence that everything else supports, then check no other sentence supports it.
- 5Track accuracy by stem type and identify the two types costing you the most.
- 1Do 25 problem solving questions with a per-question timer set to 1 minute 53 seconds and stop dead when it fires.
- 2Drill cube nets and spatial rotation specifically, 15 questions, since these are the fastest questions to lose to panic.
- 3Practise chart transformation questions: pie to bar, price series to percentage-change series, 12 questions.
- 4Learn to spot the three-step questions worth skipping on the first pass and mark them for a second sweep.
- 5Sit the full 2021 Section 1 in 60 minutes and record how many questions you had answered at minute 30.
- 1Read the official BMAT Section 3 marking criteria and the published example answers, and note what separates a 3 from a 4 on content.
- 2Write four essays under a strict 30-minute clock on a genuine single side of A4, longhand, not typed.
- 3Use a fixed structure: explain the statement, argue the counter-case, resolve, in roughly 150, 250 and 150 words.
- 4Time your planning separately and hold it to 5 minutes, leaving 22 to write and 3 to check.
- 5Get one essay marked by a teacher against the official criteria and ask specifically whether your resolution is a real position or a hedge.
- 1Read the General Medical Council's Good Medical Practice guidance on consent and confidentiality so your essays reference real duties rather than opinion.
- 2Prepare positions on four recurring themes: resource allocation, autonomy against paternalism, the limits of evidence, and public trust in science.
- 3Write two essays on past prompts from the 2018 and 2019 papers, each drawing on one prepared theme.
- 4Practise writing a counter-argument you disagree with as strongly as one you accept.
- 5Cut one of your existing essays by 100 words without losing an argument, to train density.
- 1Sit the complete 2019 paper in one 120-minute block: 60, 30, 30, with no break and no calculator.
- 2Use real answer sheets and shade circles with a soft pencil, so the mechanical transfer is rehearsed.
- 3Mark Sections 1 and 2 against the official keys and estimate roughly where half marks would sit, which corresponds to about 5.0 on the reported scale.
- 4Compute your Oxford-style weighted score at 40 per cent Section 1, 40 per cent Section 2 and 20 per cent Section 3 to see where you sit against the 65.8 per cent shortlist mean from the 2021 round.
- 5Write a one-page post-mortem naming the three specific losses you can still fix.
- 1Rebuild whichever Section 2 subject scored lowest in the mock, using the Assumed Subject Knowledge guide line by line.
- 2Redo every Section 1 question you got wrong in the mock, writing why the correct option beats your option.
- 3Write two more timed essays on prompt types you have not attempted.
- 4Drill 40 minutes of pure mental arithmetic across the week in five-minute blocks.
- 5Sit the 2020 Section 1 again and compare accuracy by stem type against week 6.
- 1Sit the 2022 paper in one 120-minute block at the same time of day as your test slot.
- 2Confirm your centre, arrival time and the photographic identification your centre requires, and pack two soft pencils, an eraser and a sharpener.
- 3Reread only your error log and your one-page equation and formula sheet, not new material.
- 4Write one final timed essay and stop essay practice two days before the test.
- 5Sleep on a fixed schedule for the final five nights and do no full papers in the final 48 hours.
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Best Study Resources
Physics and Maths Tutor BMAT past paper archive
Free past papersQuestion papers, answer keys and answer sheets for every BMAT sitting from 2003 to 2022, split by section, plus the official Section 3 marking criteria. The most complete free archive of the test that exists.
Free
BMAT Section 2 Assumed Subject Knowledge guide
Official specificationCambridge Assessment's line-by-line list of the biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics content Section 2 could examine. Use it as a checklist, since anything outside it was out of scope.
Free
BMAT test specification and preparation guide
Official documentDefines the three sections, the question counts, the scoring scales and the Section 3 marking criteria. Still circulated in PDF form by schools and tutoring sites after the Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing site closed.
Free
BMAT 2023 question papers
Free past papersThe final sitting, published by Cambridge University Press and Assessment under paper code 4500. Section 1 runs 32 questions in 60 minutes and mixes critical thinking with problem solving; Cambridge never published a fixed split between the two.
Free
UCAT official practice tests
Free practiceRun by the UCAT Consortium at ucat.ac.uk. Essential if you are applying now, because the UCAT is what all former BMAT universities require. Full mocks, question banks and the official tutorial are free.
Free
University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division admissions statistics
Admissions dataPublishes shortlisting method, weighting and mean scores each cycle. The archived 2021 report documents the exact BMAT weighting formula Oxford used, including how Section 3 letters converted to numbers.
Free
GMC Good Medical Practice
Professional guidanceThe General Medical Council's standards document. Reading the sections on consent, confidentiality and raising concerns gives Section 3 essays and medical interviews real professional grounding instead of general opinion.
Free
CGP GCSE Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Maths revision guides
Revision booksThe fastest way to close Section 2 content gaps if you dropped a science after GCSE. Match each guide against the Assumed Subject Knowledge list and skip anything not on it.
Around 7 pounds each
Medical Education, Davies et al. 2022, BMAT's predictive validity for medical school performance
Peer-reviewed researchA retrospective cohort study of Imperial and Lee Kong Chian data that found no clear evidence of incremental validity for BMAT section scores over A-level grades. Useful context for why the test was withdrawn.
Free abstract
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Preparing for BMAT in the first place
BMAT was withdrawn after 18 October 2023. Every UK university that used it, including Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, UCL, Lancaster and Brighton and Sussex, now requires the UCAT. Check the entry requirements page for each course on your UCAS list before you buy any preparation material.
Leaving questions blank because you are unsure
Every BMAT question paper printed the instruction that there were no penalties for incorrect responses and that candidates should attempt all questions. Blanks scored zero, guesses scored one in five on average across five-option questions. Shade something on every line before time is called.
Revising biology and chemistry but skipping physics
Physics carried 7 of the 27 Section 2 marks, the same as biology and the same as chemistry. Candidates who dropped physics after GCSE routinely lost all seven. Rebuild circuits, half-life and the equation list before you polish biology you already know.
Treating Section 2 as a knowledge test rather than a speed test
Twenty-seven questions in 30 minutes is 67 seconds each, with no calculator and no extra paper. The content is age-16 level, so the marks go to whoever can balance an equation or run a mole calculation fastest. Drill arithmetic, not new content.
Answering Section 1 questions in printed order
The 2023 paper alternated critical thinking and problem solving irregularly, and a three-step optimisation question sat next to a one-line conclusion question worth the same mark. Sweep for the fast marks first, then return. Sixty minutes across 32 questions gives 1 minute 53 seconds each on average, and some questions genuinely need four.
Writing a Section 3 essay that refuses to take a position
The marking criteria rewarded a resolution. Explaining the statement, giving the counter-case and then stopping scored below an essay that resolved the tension. Decide your conclusion in the 5-minute planning window and write towards it.
Overrunning the one-page Section 3 answer box
The answer sheet had a fixed single side of A4 and nothing written outside it was marked. Roughly 550 to 600 handwritten words fit. Practise longhand on a real A4 sheet, not on a laptop, so you learn your own word count per page.
Ignoring handwriting legibility
Section 3 scripts were scanned and the image was sent to every institution the candidate applied to, then marked by two examiners. An illegible script could not earn content marks and the written English grade suffered as well. Slow down enough to stay readable.
Assuming a score of 6.0 was needed everywhere
There was no universal threshold. Oxford ranked applicants on a weighted composite rather than a per-section cut, and its 2021 shortlist mean was 65.8 per cent on that composite while the applicant mean was 53 per cent. Other schools scored sections separately. Check the institution, not the forum.
Bringing a calculator or a dictionary to the centre
Both were banned outright, including bilingual dictionaries for candidates testing outside the UK. The instruction appeared on the front page of every section. Bringing one into the room risked being treated as malpractice.
Exam Day Tips
- 1
Bring two soft pencils, a good eraser and a sharpener. Every section used a separate machine-read answer sheet that required shaded circles, and pens were not usable for Sections 1 and 2.
- 2
Bring the photographic identification your centre asked for. Open centres set their own requirements and typically wanted a passport or national identity card, so confirm with your exams officer or centre in advance rather than on the morning.
- 3
Leave calculators and dictionaries at home or in your bag outside the room. The prohibition was printed on the front of every section paper and applied to bilingual dictionaries too.
- 4
Fill in your BMAT candidate number, centre number, date of birth and name on each answer sheet before the section starts. Sheets missing this information could not be matched to a candidate.
- 5
Accept that you cannot go back. The supervisor collected each section's question paper and answer sheet before handing out the next, so an unanswered Section 1 question was gone once Section 2 began.
- 6
Use the question paper itself for rough working. No extra paper was allowed, and there were deliberately placed blank pages at the back of the Section 1 paper.
- 7
Shade an answer for every question before the section ends. There was no negative marking, so a blank and a wrong answer scored the same and a guess did not.
- 8
Read all three Section 3 prompts before choosing, then commit. Switching prompts at minute 12 left too little time to finish a page.
- 9
Spend the first 5 minutes of Section 3 planning on the question paper, not writing. Twenty-two minutes of writing and 3 minutes of checking is the standard split.
- 10
Stay inside the Section 3 answer box. Text outside it was not marked, and continuing on the reverse did not count.
- 11
Do not expect a score at the centre. Nothing was released on the day; October 2023 results appeared on 24 November 2023 through the Metritests system.
Career Paths & Salary Ranges
Foundation doctor (FY1 and FY2)
The first two years after graduation. Basic pay is supplemented by hours over 40 per week, a 37 per cent night enhancement, a weekend allowance and an availability allowance for on-call.
41,226 to 47,610 pounds basic (NHS England, from 1 April 2026)
Doctor in specialty training
Runs from three to eight years depending on specialty. Progression is by training year rather than performance, with the same out-of-hours supplements applying on top of basic pay.
55,355 to 77,348 pounds basic (NHS England, from 1 April 2026)
Specialty doctor
A senior non-training grade for doctors who deliver specialist care without holding a consultant post. The scale is wide because it spans the whole of a career at that grade.
63,696 to 102,689 pounds basic (NHS England, from 1 April 2026)
Specialist grade doctor
Introduced as a senior grade above specialty doctor, requiring substantial post-registration experience in the relevant specialty. Narrower band than the specialty doctor scale.
104,401 to 115,341 pounds basic (NHS England, from 1 April 2026)
Consultant
Pay rises with length of service. Consultants can apply for local Clinical Excellence Awards and national Clinical Impact Awards, and many supplement NHS pay with private practice.
113,565 to 150,569 pounds basic (NHS England, from 1 April 2026)
Salaried general practitioner
Employed by a practice or directly by a primary care organisation. GP partners are independent contractors instead and take a share of practice profit rather than a salary.
78,699 to 118,759 pounds (NHS England, from 1 April 2026)
Prerequisites & Requirements
- No qualification prerequisite existed. Cambridge Assessment set no minimum grades, age or nationality requirement to sit BMAT.
- You had to be applying to a course that required BMAT. For 2024 entry in the UK that meant Brighton and Sussex Medical School A100, Imperial College London A100, Lancaster A100 and A104, UCL A100, Cambridge A100, and Oxford A100, A101 and BC98.
- You could not register yourself directly. A school, college or authorised open centre had to register you, which is why the exams officer was the first point of contact.
- Registration for the final October 2023 session opened on 1 September 2023 and closed at 18:00 BST on 29 September 2023.
- Requests for modified question papers had to be submitted by 15 September 2023, earlier than the standard registration deadline.
- Science and mathematics knowledge to age 16, meaning GCSE in the UK or IGCSE internationally, was assumed for Section 2. Nothing beyond the published Assumed Subject Knowledge guide was examinable.
- Results were valid for one admissions cycle only, so an applicant reapplying in a later year had to sit the test again.
- None of this applies now. The test was withdrawn after October 2023 and there is no route to sit it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the BMAT still exist?
No. The final BMAT sitting was on 18 October 2023, for 2024 entry. Cambridge Assessment announced in 2023 that it would withdraw from the admissions testing market, and Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing subsequently closed its website and support site. There is no registration route and no future test date.
What replaced the BMAT?
The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) replaced it at every UK university that had used BMAT. The UCAT has four subtests: Verbal Reasoning with 44 questions in 22 minutes, Decision Making with 35 questions in 37 minutes, Quantitative Reasoning with 36 questions in 26 minutes, and Situational Judgement with 69 questions in 26 minutes, giving a test just under two hours long. Each cognitive subtest scores 300 to 900 for a total of 900 to 2700, and Situational Judgement is reported in bands 1 to 4.
Can I retake the BMAT, and how long do I have to wait?
There is no retake, because the test no longer runs. When it did run, you could sit it only once per admissions cycle, and there was no shorter waiting period available. An applicant reapplying in a later year sat the test again from scratch, because results were valid only for the cycle in which they were taken.
What did the BMAT cost, and did the fee vary by region?
For the final October 2023 session the registration fee was 78 pounds for candidates testing inside the EU including the UK, and 104 pounds for candidates testing outside the EU. Some open centres charged an additional administration fee on top. UK candidates in financial need could apply to Cambridge Assessment for a voucher code covering both the registration fee and the administration fee at British Council authorised centres in the UK.
What happened if you failed the BMAT?
Nothing, because there was no pass mark. BMAT reported scaled scores rather than a pass or fail, and each university decided how to use them. A weak score reduced your chance of being shortlisted at institutions that weighted the test heavily, such as Oxford, but did not disqualify you from applying anywhere or from applying again in a later cycle.
How did the 1 to 9 score scale work?
Sections 1 and 2 were each marked out of the number of questions in the section, 32 and 27 respectively, with one mark per correct answer and no deduction for wrong answers. The raw total was then converted onto a 1.0 to 9.0 scale reported to one decimal place. Cambridge Assessment stated that roughly half marks converted to about 5.0, that strong candidates scored around 6.0, and that a small number exceeded 7.0.
How was the Section 3 essay scored?
Each essay received two separate marks: quality of content on a 1 to 5 scale and quality of written English graded A, C or E. Two examiners marked every script independently. If their marks agreed or differed by no more than one, the average was reported, producing results such as 3.5A. A larger discrepancy triggered a third marking, with the final mark checked by a senior Cambridge Assessment staff member.
Was there a penalty for wrong answers?
No. The instructions on the front page of each BMAT question paper stated plainly that there were no penalties for incorrect responses and only marks for correct answers, and told candidates to attempt every question. With five options per question, guessing every remaining item was strictly better than leaving blanks.
Were calculators or reference material allowed?
No. Calculators were prohibited in all three sections, and dictionaries including bilingual dictionaries were prohibited as well. No formula sheet, periodic table or data booklet was provided. Candidates could use the question paper itself for rough working, but no extra paper was allowed.
How did online proctoring work for the BMAT?
It did not. BMAT was never offered as a remotely proctored home test. It was sat under supervision at schools, colleges and authorised open centres, with a supervisor collecting each section's paper before issuing the next. Cambridge Assessment ran the 2021 session on computer at test centres, and the University of Oxford's admissions report for that round records candidates who received partial scores or none at all because of technical faults during delivery.
What identification did you need on the day?
Requirements were set by the centre rather than centrally, so candidates confirmed with their exams officer or open centre before the day, and photographic identification such as a passport or national identity card was the norm at open centres. Separately, every candidate had to write their BMAT candidate number, centre number, date of birth and name onto each section's answer sheet.
Were adjustments available for disabilities or additional needs?
Yes. Access arrangements were available to candidates with a disability or special requirement who were entitled to support in their other examinations. Candidates had to tell their centre about any requirement at the point of registration, and requests for modified question papers for the October 2023 session had to be submitted by 15 September 2023, two weeks before the standard registration deadline.
When did results arrive?
Results from the final October 2023 sitting were released on 24 November 2023, 37 days after the 18 October test date, through the Metritests system. There was no unofficial score at the test centre and no same-day feedback. Results were sent automatically to every BMAT institution the candidate had applied to.
What score did Oxford actually want?
Oxford did not publish a cut score. For A100 Medicine it built a weighted composite at 40 per cent Section 1, 40 per cent Section 2 and 20 per cent Section 3, converting the Section 3 English letter to a number (A equals 5, B equals 4, C equals 3, D equals 2, E equals 1, X equals 0) and double weighting the content mark. In the 2021 round the mean composite was 53 per cent across all applicants, 65.8 per cent among those shortlisted and 68.3 per cent among those who received offers.
Was the BMAT harder than the UCAT?
They tested different things rather than sitting on one difficulty scale. BMAT examined science content directly through 27 Section 2 questions and required a handwritten essay, so revision moved the score. The UCAT has no science content, no essay, and no negative marking, and rewards speed on verbal, decision-making and quantitative items. The practical difference now is that only the UCAT exists.
Are BMAT past papers still worth doing?
Yes, for two purposes. Section 2 papers are a strong timed drill on age-16 science under 67 seconds per question, which is useful preparation for A-level science and for Oxbridge science interviews. Section 3 prompts are close in shape to medical school interview questions on ethics and evidence. Physics and Maths Tutor hosts papers from 2003 to 2022 free of charge, and Cambridge University Press and Assessment released the 2023 set.
Which universities outside the UK used the BMAT?
Institutions in Singapore, Thailand, Spain, Hungary, Croatia, Malaysia and the Netherlands used BMAT at various points, including Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in Singapore from 2011, Leiden University in the Netherlands from 2014, the University of Navarra in Spain from 2015 and the University of Malaya from 2016. Several Thai medical and dental faculties adopted it from 2017 within the TCAS admissions system. All of them had to move to other assessments once Cambridge Assessment withdrew the test.
Why was the BMAT withdrawn?
Cambridge Assessment announced in 2023 that it was leaving the admissions testing market, and Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing ceased all of its tests and closed its website. A 2022 study in Medical Education by Davies and colleagues, using data from Imperial College School of Medicine and Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, reported no clear evidence of incremental validity for any BMAT section score over A-level grades, and concluded that BMAT appeared less useful than comparable tools.
Success Stories
“Section 2 revision was key - I'd forgotten lots of GCSE content. CGP books plus past papers. Started 10 weeks before, 1-2 hours daily.”
Oliver T.
Cambridge Medicine
“Essay practice made the biggest difference. I wrote 10+ practice essays. The structure becomes natural. Don't neglect Section 3.”
Sophie M.
Oxford Medicine
“Science background helped Section 2. Section 1 needed most practice - different from anything at A-level. Medify questions were useful.”
Raj P.
Imperial Medicine
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