ArticleBMC medical education2014
Predictive validity of the UK clinical aptitude test in the final years of medical school: a prospective cohort study.
Article in BMC medical education, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Assessing the predictive validity of the UCAT-A systematic review and narrative synthesis.Medical teacher · 2022Pooled it
- Does the UKCAT predict performance in medical and dental school? A systematic review.BMJ open · 2021Pooled it
- What is the predictive validity of clinical placement sign-off forms for medical students?BMC medical education · 2025Article
- A Comparison of the Academic Achievement at the End of the Medicine Undergraduate Degree Program Between Students Who Only Used the University Admission Test and Those Who Used the University Admission Test Plus Marks from the High School National Exam (ENEM) at a Single Brazilian Center.Advances in medical education and practice · 2023Article
- UKCAT and medical student selection in the UK - what has changed since 2006?BMC medical education · 2020Article
- A comparison of undergraduate outcomes for students from gateway courses and standard entry medicine courses.BMC medical education · 2020Article
- Selection into medicine: the predictive validity of an outcome-based procedure.BMC medical education · 2018Article
- The ability of 'non-cognitive' traits to predict undergraduate performance in medical schools: a national linkage study.BMC medical education · 2018Article
- Is access to medical education improving?MedEdPublish (2016) · 2017Article
- Does the UKCAT predict performance on exit from medical school? A national cohort study.BMJ open · 2016Observational
- Predictive validity of the UKCAT for medical school undergraduate performance: a national prospective cohort study.BMC medicine · 2016Article
- A Cross-sectional Study of Current Doctors' Performance in a Modified Version of a Medical School Admission Aptitude Test: The UKCAT.Medicine · 2016Article
- Factors important in the choice of a medical career: a Finnish national study.BMC medical education · 2015Article
- Predictive value of the admissions process and the UK Clinical Aptitude Test in a graduate-entry dental school.British dental journal · 2015Article
- MBBS admission criteria as predictor of academic performance in a medical college of Pakistan.Pakistan journal of medical sciencesArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) was designed to address issues identified with traditional methods of selection. This study aims to examine the predictive validity of the UKCAT and compare this to traditional selection methods in the senior years of medical school. This was a follow-up study of two cohorts of students from two medical schools who had previously taken part in a study examining the predictive validity of the UKCAT in first year.
methodsThe sample consisted of 4th and 5th Year students who commenced their studies at the University of Aberdeen or University of Dundee medical schools in 2007. Data collected were: demographics (gender and age group), UKCAT scores; Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) form scores; admission interview scores; Year 4 and 5 degree examination scores. Pearson's correlations were used to examine the relationships between admissions variables, examination scores, gender and age group, and to select variables for multiple linear regression analysis to predict examination scores.
resultsNinety-nine and 89 students at Aberdeen medical school from Years 4 and 5 respectively, and 51 Year 4 students in Dundee, were included in the analysis. Neither UCAS form nor interview scores were statistically significant predictors of examination performance. Conversely, the UKCAT yielded statistically significant validity coefficients between .24 and .36 in four of five assessments investigated. Multiple regression analysis showed the UKCAT made a statistically significant unique contribution to variance in examination performance in the senior years.
conclusionsResults suggest the UKCAT appears to predict performance better in the later years of medical school compared to earlier years and provides modest supportive evidence for the UKCAT's role in student selection within these institutions. Further research is needed to assess the predictive validity of the UKCAT against professional and behavioural outcomes as the cohort commences working life.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.