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UCAT PlaybookChapter 4 of 8

Situational Judgement

You read a scenario about a student or a junior clinician and rate what they could do. There is no trick knowledge. There is a way of thinking, and it can be learned.

questions
69questions
minutes
26minutes
each, about
23 seach, about

The order the test reasons in

The same few priorities sit under most scenarios. Check them in this order and a lot of ratings fall out on their own.

  1. 1

    Could anyone be harmed?

    A patient, a classmate, the person themselves. Safety comes first, before kindness, before convenience, before getting the task done.

  2. 2

    Is it honest?

    Owning a mistake quickly, telling a patient the facts, not covering for a friend. An option that bends the truth is rarely appropriate, however gentle it is.

  3. 3

    Does it respect the person?

    Ask before you assume. Listen before you blame. Keep private things private. An option that decides what someone else is thinking usually rates low.

  4. 4

    Is it the next right step?

    The person in the scenario should do what their role allows, now, and no more. Not hand the whole thing to someone else, and not go over everyone’s head before speaking to the person.

1Harm?2Honest?3Respect?4Next step?check harm first, every time

The two question types

Appropriateness

How appropriate is this action? Four points, from a very appropriate thing to do down to a very inappropriate thing to do. Judge the action as written, not a nicer version of it you can imagine.

Importance

How important is this consideration when deciding what to do? Four points, from very important to not important at all. Ask whether the thing should change the decision, not whether it is interesting.

A scenario can have up to six questions, and you have about 23 seconds per question. Read the scenario once, carefully, then rate quickly. A close rating still earns partial credit, so a fast and nearly right answer beats a slow blank.

1Very appropriate2Appropriatenot ideal3Inappropriatenot awful4Very inappropriatenear the key still earns part marks

Where the score counts

Situational Judgement is scored on its own, from 300 to 900, and is not part of the cognitive total. Universities decide separately whether to use it.

In New Zealand, Otago asked general applicants for 2027 entry to reach at least the 10th percentile in Situational Judgement, alongside the 20th percentile in Verbal Reasoning. In Australia it varies: UNSW leaves it out, and Monash uses it only to split equal UCAT totals. Chapter 8 has the list.

Four traps, and how to dodge them

Each one has a name, an example and a fix. The scenarios are made up for this page.

Safety missedConvenience was weighed before harm.

Tama, a fictional medical student, is shadowing a ward round. He notices a patient’s drug chart shows a dose that looks ten times higher than the one the doctor just said aloud. The round is running late.

How appropriate is it for Tama to wait until the round has finished, then mention it to the doctor?

  • AA very appropriate thing to do
  • BAppropriate, but not idealthe trap pickTrap
  • CInappropriate, but not awful
  • DA very inappropriate thing to dothe right answerRight

A possible ten fold dose error could reach the patient before the round ends. Waiting puts the schedule ahead of safety. Raising it quietly now, even as a student, is the right next step.

FixAsk who could be harmed, and when, before you weigh anything else. If harm is possible soon, waiting is not polite, it is unsafe.

Passing it onThe problem was handed away instead of taken a step.

Priya, a fictional pharmacy student on placement, is asked by a worried customer whether a cold remedy is safe with the blood pressure tablets they take. The pharmacist is with another customer.

How appropriate is it for Priya to tell the customer to look it up online when they get home?

  • AA very appropriate thing to do
  • BAppropriate, but not ideal
  • CInappropriate, but not awfulthe trap pickTrap
  • DA very inappropriate thing to dothe right answerRight

The customer asked a safety question in a pharmacy. Sending them away to the internet hands the problem off with no next step. Asking them to wait a moment for the pharmacist, or checking with the pharmacist herself, keeps it in the room.

FixTake the next responsible step your role allows. Handing the whole problem to someone else, or to no one, rates low.

Escalated too earlyWent over someone’s head before speaking to them.

Jonah, a fictional dental student, notices a classmate has twice turned up to clinic without washing their hands between patients. No patient has been harmed. Jonah has not spoken to the classmate about it.

How appropriate is it for Jonah to report the classmate to the dean of the school straight away?

  • AA very appropriate thing to dothe trap pickTrap
  • BAppropriate, but not ideal
  • CInappropriate, but not awfulthe right answerRight
  • DA very inappropriate thing to do

Hand hygiene matters, so doing nothing would be wrong too. But the first step is a word with the classmate, and if that fails, the clinic supervisor. Jumping to the dean skips both and is out of proportion to what Jonah knows.

FixWhen it is safe, speak to the person first. Escalate one step at a time, to the nearest person who can act.

Middle bandCould not decide between the two middle ratings.

Mele, a fictional nursing student, is asked by a patient’s relative for an update by phone. Mele cannot confirm who the caller is.

How appropriate is it for Mele to say she cannot share details by phone, and offer to pass a message to the nurse in charge?

  • AA very appropriate thing to dothe right answerRight
  • BAppropriate, but not idealthe trap pickTrap
  • CInappropriate, but not awful
  • DA very inappropriate thing to do

It protects the patient’s privacy and still helps the caller by offering a route. There is no flaw to point to, so it is not merely appropriate but not ideal. The middle bands are for an action with a real but small problem.

FixBefore you pick a middle rating, name the flaw. If you cannot name one, go to the top. If the flaw is a harm, go to the bottom.

Try one

One clinic scenario, four responses to rate. Check the harm question first.

Set 1

01:32

Whetu is a dental student in a dental school clinic. During a follow-up visit, a patient says they stopped following the home care plan agreed at their last appointment because it was hard to keep up. The patient still has discomfort. Whetu's supervisor has asked for any changes to that plan before discussing what to do next with the patient. The patient asks Whetu to leave this detail out of the handover because they feel embarrassed. The supervisor is nearby, and there is time to speak with the patient privately before the review.

Question 1

How appropriate are each of the following responses by Whetu in this situation?

Offer to arrange a private conversation with the supervisor about the change, without explaining why the detail matters today.

Choose an answer

Question 2

How appropriate are each of the following responses by Whetu in this situation?

Tell the supervisor that the patient followed the home care plan so the missed steps stay hidden.

Choose an answer

Question 3

How appropriate are each of the following responses by Whetu in this situation?

Tell the patient there is no reason to feel embarrassed and they should just tell the supervisor.

Choose an answer

Question 4

How appropriate are each of the following responses by Whetu in this situation?

Explain without blame why the change matters, then offer the patient a choice to tell the supervisor privately or have Whetu do it.

Choose an answer

The trap method for Situational Judgement

1

Name the trap

For every miss, pick which of the 4 above caught you. Never careless. The name.

Safety missed
2

Write your rule

One line, in your words, that would have saved you. Keep it on one sheet.

Who could be harmed, and when, before anything else.

3

Dodge it three times

On new questions. When it has not caught you three times running, cross it off.

Retired

The whole method, in chapter 7

In Cutline UCAT this happens on its own: almost every miss gets its trap, the Train tab says Fix safety missed, and the trap retires after three clean, in-time dodges.

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Chapter 5 of 8TimingA pace for each subtest, when to flag, and what to do with the last two minutes.Keep reading

Written and checked by Edwin Tie, an Otago medical student, with the Cutline team. Last checked 31 October 2026. The examples on this page are invented for it, not taken from a real UCAT paper.

Situational Judgement: UCAT Playbook chapter 4 | Cutline