UCAT is a university entrance exam that is taken in New Zealand and Australia. UCAT is the acronym for the University Clinical Aptitude Test and is administered by the UCAT ANZ Consortium of universities in Australia and New Zealand.
The ISAT is known as the “International Students Admissions Test” developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). It is an equivalent examination to the New Zealand University Entrance Scholarship Test (UCAT) except that it was developed specifically for international schools in Australia and New Zealand.
The two exams are very different from each other. The main difference between them is that ISAT can be taken at any time during schooling whereas UCAT can only be taken once a year at the Year 12 level.
Other differences include:
UCAT ANZ |
ISAT |
| Developed into five sections that test different components of cognition i.e., verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, abstract reasoning, situational judgment, and decision making. | Split into two main sections: Critical Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning. |
| The test is totaled up to 225-multiple choice questions | Consists of 100-multiple choice questions |
| Takes 2 hours | Takes 3 hours |
| Scores are released on the same day the test was taken | Results are released within a week of taking the test |
| Raw scores (the number of questions you answer correctly in each section) are converted to scaled scores between 300 and 900. The total score is determined from the cognitive subsets hence ranges from 1200 to 3600. | Sections are scored on a 100-200 scale and the overall score is the average of the two which then determines the percentile rank of the applicant. |
| Score is valid for only one year | Score is valid for two years |
| Can only sit the test once in any test cycle | Can be taken once every twelve months |
| UCAT will cost A$305 for tests taken in Australia and New Zealand and A$380 for tests taken overseas. | The registration fee for ISAT is AUD413 |
More information can be found in the following resources: