Section 1 tests generic skills often used in undergraduate study, including Problem Solving, Understanding Arguments and Data Analysis and Inference abilities.

Section 2 is restricted to material normally encountered in non-specialist school Science and Mathematics courses (i.e. up to and including National Curriculum Key Stage 4, Double Science and Higher Mathematics).

Section 3 consists of a choice of three short-stimulus essay questions of which one must be answered.

Everything that you need to prepare for the BMAT is on, or mentioned, on this website, and you can practise the test with the specimen papers available for download.

Furthermore, there is an official guide to the BMAT which has everything you need to prepare and practise for the test in a single book.

‘Preparing for the BMAT’ is available from harcourt.co.uk or alternatively from amazon.co.uk and is the official guide to the BMAT, as it:

• has plenty of specimen questions and answers to ensure you get maximum practise for the test;
• is written by Cambridge Assessment who set the tests, so you know the information is concise, relevant and useful;
• gives you the confidence that you will know what to expect in the test.

The BMAT does not require a great amount of extra study - it has been designed not to add to the work that candidates are already doing for A levels or similar qualifications.

An approach to developing the thinking skills* (Paper 1 of the BMAT) can be taught - the skills will improve with familiarity and practice. We encourage this because we think these skills are worthwhile: they are useful skills in many walks of life, and very important for success in higher education. But what you cannot do is be taught to answer as if you were a performing seal. There are no simple short cuts - you really do have to think the answers through.

Please note - companies offering help with BMAT do not have a special insight into the nature of the test and indeed the logic of some of the claims published on their websites is basically faulty. While a candidate's performance at any test will improve with some familiarisation or practise, anyone looking to pay for such practice should consider very carefully about whether they are wasting their money.

There are separate pages of this website that provide background to the development of the BMAT (Background to BMAT) and a discussion of the results from 2003.

*A list of references that are relevant to the development of Thinking Skills is available below.