UCAT Decision Making: Format, Timing and Technique
Decision Making gives the most time per question of any UCAT section. It covers logical puzzles, argument evaluation, data interpretation and probability, all mixed together rather than grouped by type.
What Decision Making tests
35 questions in 37 minutes, plus 1 minute 30 seconds to read the instructions. That is roughly 63 seconds a question, more than double Verbal Reasoning's pace, because several question types have multiple parts.
How it's scored
This section is scored on a scale from 300 to 900. Combined with Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning, it contributes to a cognitive total reported from 900 to 2,700.
Decision Making technique
Some Decision Making questions are pure logic: does this conclusion follow from these statements. The answer depends only on the structure of the argument, not on whether the premises sound true in real life. Treat every premise as given, even an obviously false one, and judge validity on logic alone.
Questions built around a table, chart, Venn diagram or set of probabilities are usually faster to answer by sketching a quick diagram than by tracking the numbers in your head.
Multi-statement question sets are worth up to 2 marks with partial credit, so a question you are unsure about is still worth attempting rather than skipping outright.