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Abstract
BackgroundThe UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) was introduced in 2006 as an additional tool for the selection of medical students. It tests mental ability in four distinct domains (Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, Reasoning, and Decision Analysis), and the results are available to students and admissions panels in advance of the selection process. As yet the predictive validity of the test against course performance is largely unknown.The study objective was to determine whether UKCAT scores predict performance during the first two years of the 5-year undergraduate medical course at Nottingham.MethodsWe studied a single cohort of students, who entered Nottingham Medical School in October 2007 and had taken the UKCAT. We used linear regression analysis to identify independent predictors of marks for different parts of the 2-year preclinical course.ResultsData were available for 204/260 (78%) of the entry cohort. The UKCAT total score had little predictive value. Quantitative Reasoning was a significant independent predictor of course marks in Theme A ('The Cell'), (p = 0.005), and Verbal Reasoning predicted Theme C ('The Community') (p < 0.001), but otherwise the effects were slight or non-existent.ConclusionThis limited study from a single entry cohort at one medical school suggests that the predictive value of the UKCAT, particularly the total score, is low. Section scores may predict success in specific types of course assessment.The ultimate test of validity will not be available for some years, when current cohorts of students graduate. However, if this test of mental ability does not predict preclinical performance, it is arguably less likely to predict the outcome in the clinical years. Further research from medical schools with different types of curriculum and assessment is needed, with longitudinal studies throughout the course.
Highlights
The UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) was introduced in 2006 as an additional tool for the selection of medical students
The authors found only weak correlations and suggested that the UKCAT may be measuring different traits or aptitudes to the conventional selection processes in their medical school. Together with another (Dundee) in which UKCAT scores were used only to determine offers in borderline decisions, has examined UKCAT scores in relation to the Year-1 progress of students[18], and found no significant relationships. Against this background we have investigated the relationships between UKCAT scores and the progress of a single entry cohort of students, in the first two years of the 5-year undergraduate course at Nottingham
The study group Nottingham medical students who had taken the UKCAT and given written consent for their data to be used in anonymised research were designated as the study group
Summary
The UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) was introduced in 2006 as an additional tool for the selection of medical students. It tests mental ability in four distinct domains (Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, Abstract Reasoning, and Decision Analysis), and the results are available to students and admissions panels in advance of the selection process. The need for a new admissions test for medicine in the UK There has been on ongoing debate for many years concerning the best ways of selecting medical students. Various medical schools have tried to develop new structures for their admissions processes in order to meet these aims [9,10,11], but huge individual variations remain[12]
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