The Delivery and Development of the United Kingdom Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)

Description

The UCAT Consortium is a consortium of 36 universities responsible for the delivery and development of a test used in undergraduate medical and dental selection. The purpose of the future procurement exercise is for the UCAT Consortium to appoint a supplier to deliver and further develop the test from 2025 onwards. Lot 1: The UCAT test is an aptitude exam, designed to measure innate cognitive abilities in addition to individuals’ judgement regarding situations encountered in a target role. The test is used in selection by a consortium of UK universities for entry to medical and dental training.The current exam consists of five separately timed subtests - Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning, Abstract Reasoning and the Situational Judgement Test. Items (questions) include those developed from operational items used in previous administrations and new items trialled in previous years. The Consortium owns the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in existing test content.The test is currently delivered to candidates at physical test locations in the UK and internationally from July through to October. A small number of candidates take the test online. In 2022 over 36,000 candidates sat the test. Test scores are delivered to universities in early November.The delivery of the test is underpinned by a commitment to excellent customer service including candidate access to a straightforward online booking system; provision of a wide range of accommodations for candidates with disabilities, extensive preparation advice to candidates and access to freely available preparation materials, and pre-equating of the test to allow candidates immediate access to their test scores.The Consortium wishes to appoint a supplier to develop and deliver the test within the UK and Internationally from January 2025. The supplier may also be required to provide an additional test for delivery in Australia and New Zealand.Potential suppliers are invited to contact rachel.greatrix@nottingham.ac.uk for a copy of the draft specification and further background information, which will be provided subject to receipt of a signed confidentiality agreement.The procurement is anticipated to be launched in July 2023. It is anticipated that contracts will be awarded in November 2023 with a view to delivering services from January 2025. Additional information: This notice is for information only and is not a call for competition. UCAT reserves the right not to enter into a formal procurement process and not award contracts. Accordingly, UCAT will not be liable for any bid cost, expenditure, work, or effort