Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test

The Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test (UMAT) is a test administered in Australia and New Zealand to help determine who is fit to study and practice medicine, dentistry, physiology or pharmacy. As its name suggests, only those wishing to study undergraduate medicine or health sciences degrees are required to sit the test (mostly school leavers).

Before the introduction of the UMAT as a component of university entrance requirements, the sole criterion was that of year 12 results. A selection of universities found that this criterion was too restrictive, and did not reflect all the qualities required to successfully study medicine. Consequently, the UMAT was introduced to test logic, interpersonal skills and spatial reasoning – components not prevalent in the current year 12 curriculum. This additional layer of assessment has been so useful in the scrutiny of medical applicants, that it is now required in the vast majority of Australian and New Zealand universities.

However it is the opinion of many that the UMAT is a bad measure of one's suitability to study medicine, often resulting in random ostricizing of candidates.

The UMAT is created and administered through the Australian Council of Education Research (ACER) and is sat once a year, typically in late July or early August.

The UMAT consists of three sections: logic and reasoning, understanding people and spatial reasoning. In 2005, section 1 (logic) contains 44 questions to be completed in 65 minutes; section 2 (interpersonal) contains 36 questions to be completed in 45 minutes; section 3 (spatial) contains 30 questions to be completed in 40 minutes. The UMAT is significantly different from most academic examinations students will experience in high school; academic brilliance may not equate to an outstanding UMAT result.

There exist various preparation courses available for UMAT training, such as MedEntry, AMEPP, Icarus College, NEI, and UMATology. The cost of attending these courses may vary from $265 to more than $1000 (in Australian dollars). It is important to notice, however, that ACER does not endorse any of the preparation courses; preparation is not necessary for achieving high scores/percentiles in the UMAT.

Most of the universities which include the UMAT scores/percentiles in the admissions procedure will require applicants to attend an interview before medical/dental places are offered.

Applicants sitting the UMAT must read the UMAT Information Booklet.

Offical UMAT Information Page – ACER