What is a good UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning score?

In UCAT-ANZ 2026 the mean was 619 and the median 610. A score of 680 put you at the 8th decile and 730 at the 9th, which is where the published statistics stop. VR averages run lower than Decision Making (655 in 2026) and Quantitative Reasoning (691), so compare your VR score with other VR scores. What counts as good also depends on how your target schools use the result.

What is the difference between False and Can't Tell in UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning?

False means the passage contradicts the statement: it says the opposite, or something that cannot be true at the same time. Can't Tell means the passage does not give you enough to decide either way. If you need outside knowledge or an assumption to call a statement False, the answer is Can't Tell. A statement can sound very likely and still be Can't Tell.

Should I read the passage or the questions first in UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning?

There is no single right order. One high scorer quoted by the Consortium read the answer options first and then skimmed the passage, and advises trying several techniques and settling on what works for you. Going to the question first is usually quicker when the answer sits in one or two sentences. A quick skim can help with Most likely questions, which draw on the whole passage.

Is there negative marking in UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning?

No. Each correct answer earns 1 mark and a wrong answer costs nothing, so answer every question. If you are unsure, pick your best option, flag the question and move on. If time is left when you finish, the review screen takes you back to flagged questions. A blank is the only answer that is certain to score zero.

Can you use outside knowledge in UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning?

No. The Consortium says you are not expected to use prior knowledge to answer the questions, and its Official Guide says existing knowledge will not be relevant. An option can be true in real life but still wrong because the passage does not say it. Judge every statement only against the text in front of you.

How can I improve my UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning score?

Start with the official Verbal Reasoning tutorial and the four question banks, working untimed until you are accurate. Then add the clock at 2 minutes per passage. Review every mistake by cause: outside knowledge, a missed strong word, or a misread question. Build reading speed with newspaper articles, as the Official Guide suggests, and sit the official practice tests in your final weeks.

Do schools look at the Verbal Reasoning score on its own?

It varies. For 2027 entry, UNSW offered interviews on selection rank and overall score, and Adelaide gave Sections 1 to 3 equal weight. Western Sydney says individual sections may be weighted, and Otago asks general applicants for at least the 20th percentile in Verbal Reasoning. Rules can change each year, so read the page for every course you apply to.

How long is UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning with extended time?

In the SEN10 and SEN10SA versions, Verbal Reasoning lasts 25 minutes 40 seconds. In the SEN and SENSA versions it lasts 27 minutes 30 seconds. The instruction section stays at 1 minute 30 seconds. The SA version keeps the standard 22 minutes and adds rest breaks. Access Arrangements must be approved before the test can be booked, so apply early.

UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning Guide for Australian Applicants

Overview

What is UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning?

This is one of four UCAT-ANZ section guides, alongside Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning and Situational Judgement. For the whole test, start with the UCAT-ANZ guide. UCAT-ANZ guide

Verbal Reasoning (VR) is one of the four subtests of UCAT-ANZ, the admissions test a consortium of Australian and New Zealand universities uses to help select applicants to medical, dental and clinical science degrees. It sits alongside your academic results and interviews. Medical and dental applicants sit the same test.

The UCAT ANZ Consortium, which runs the test, says VR assesses your ability to read and think carefully about passages, and to decide whether specific conclusions can be drawn from them. You get 11 passages, each with four questions, and you are not expected to use prior knowledge.

The Consortium explains why it matters. Doctors and dentists have to understand complex information and explain it clearly and simply to patients. They also read published research, judge whether its findings hold up, and apply it to their own practice.

You sit UCAT-ANZ in Year 12 or later: Australian Year 11 students are not eligible. You can sit once in each test cycle, so there is no second try at VR until the following year. That is why it pays to build your reading speed well before your test date.

UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning at a glance, as published on 7 November 2026
Questions	44: 11 passages with 4 questions each
Time	22 minutes, after a separately timed instruction section of 1 minute 30 seconds
Average pace	30 seconds per question including reading time, or 2 minutes per passage
Answer format	True, False or Can't Tell for statements, otherwise one answer from four options
Marking	1 mark per correct answer and no negative marking. Your raw mark becomes a scaled score from 300 to 900.
Calculator	None. The on-screen calculator is only available in Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning.
For notes	A laminated notebook and marker pen. Some test centres give you a laminated noteboard instead.

On 7 November 2026 the Consortium's site still showed the 2026 cycle, and nothing had been published for UCAT-ANZ 2027. Its 2020 Official Guide gave Verbal Reasoning 21 minutes, so anything still built on that figure is out of date. Recheck the official format page before you sit. UCAT ANZ Test Format

Question types

UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning question types

There are two answer formats: a statement to mark True, False or Can't Tell, and a stem with four options, where the stem is an incomplete statement or a question. You choose one answer each time.

The five Verbal Reasoning question categories in the Consortium's tutorial
Question wording	What it asks you to do	How to approach it
True, False or Can't Tell	Decide whether a statement follows logically from the passage.	Find the sentence the statement depends on, then apply the evidence test below.
Incomplete statement	Pick the option that best finishes a sentence about the passage.	Read each ending as a full sentence and check it against the passage, not against what sounds right.
According to the passage	Pick the answer the passage gives or best supports.	Go to the part of the passage the question points to. The right answer often says the same thing in different words.
Except, or cannot be inferred	Three options are supported by the passage. You pick the one that is not.	Tick off each option you can find in the passage. The one you cannot find is your answer.
Most likely	Pick the option the passage makes most probable.	Weigh the evidence across the passage. Choose the best-supported option, not a certain one.

The categories come from the Consortium's Verbal Reasoning tutorial, read on 7 November 2026, and the wordings from its practice questions. Each question is multiple choice with only one correct answer.

True, False or Can't Tell: the evidence test

Our working rule for deciding between True, False and Can't Tell
True	The passage states it, or it must follow from what the passage states.
False	The passage states the opposite, or states something that cannot be true at the same time.
Can't Tell	The passage does not give you enough to decide either way, however likely the statement sounds.

An example of the rule. A passage says a town opened a new clinic and that waiting times fell the next year. A statement says the clinic cut waiting times. The answer is Can't Tell: the passage reports both events but never links them.

Three traps in four-option questions

True in real life, not in the passage

An option can state a real fact and still be wrong, because the passage does not say it. Judge every option against the text, never against what you know.

One step too far

The option stretches the passage's claim: from a link to a cause, from one study group to everyone, or from most to always.

Half right

Part of the option matches the passage and part does not. One unsupported part makes the whole option wrong.

Scoring

How UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning is scored, and what a good VR score is

Verbal Reasoning is marked out of 44 and reported on a scale from 300 to 900. Here is how candidates scored in the last three tests.

Each correct answer earns 1 mark and a wrong answer loses nothing. The three cognitive subtests (Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning) have different numbers of questions, so the Consortium converts each raw mark to a scaled score from 300 to 900.

Your VR score is added to your Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning scores to give a total from 900 to 2700. Situational Judgement is a separate scaled score from 300 to 900 and is not part of that total. Pearson emails you within 24 hours of the test with instructions to open your score report. In the 2026 cycle, results reached universities in early September.

UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning scaled scores, 2024 to 2026 (UCAT ANZ Consortium summary statistics)
Measure	2026	2025	2024
Mean	619	620	616
1st decile (10th percentile)	510	520	520
2nd decile	550	550	550
3rd decile	570	570	570
4th decile	600	600	590
5th decile (median)	610	610	620
6th decile	630	630	630
7th decile	660	660	650
8th decile	680	680	680
9th decile (90th percentile)	730	730	720

2026 covers 17,341 candidates, 2025 covers 16,950 and 2024 covers 15,240. The statistics stop at the 9th decile. UCAT-ANZ 2024 was the last year with Abstract Reasoning, so treat its column as background.

VR has the lowest mean

In 2026 the mean was 619 in Verbal Reasoning, 655 in Decision Making and 691 in Quantitative Reasoning. VR was also the lowest of these three in 2024 and 2025, so compare your VR score with other VR scores, not with your other subtests.

Scores are tightly bunched

The middle 80% of 2026 candidates scored between 510 and 730 in VR, against 530 to 880 in Quantitative Reasoning. A score of 660 was the 7th decile and 680 the 8th, so a modest rise moves you past many candidates.

Schools use the result in different ways

For 2027 entry, Adelaide gave Sections 1 to 3 equal weight for interview eligibility and UNSW offered interviews on selection rank and overall score. Western Sydney says individual sections may be weighted. Check every course you plan to apply to.

For 2027 entry, Otago asks general applicants for at least the 20th percentile in Verbal Reasoning. It gives a percentile, not a score. The 20th percentile of all 2026 candidates was 550, so treat that figure as a yardstick only. Study Medicine at Otago

For total scores, how each school uses them and the few published cut-offs, read our guide to good UCAT-ANZ scores. What is a good UCAT-ANZ score?

Timing

UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning timing: 30 seconds a question, 2 minutes a passage

Verbal Reasoning gives you less time per question than Decision Making or Quantitative Reasoning, and the reading comes out of the same clock. Set your pace by the passage, not the question.

You have 22 minutes for 11 passages, which is 2 minutes for each passage and its four questions. The instruction section before the subtest is timed separately, so it does not use up any of the 22 minutes. The countdown timer sits at the top right of the screen and turns yellow when less than 5 minutes remain.

High-scoring candidates quoted by the Consortium describe the same habit. Work out how much time you have per question, set yourself checkpoints, and start taking educated guesses if you fall behind. One also suggests leaving a couple of minutes for flagged questions.

Pacing checkpoints for the 22-minute Verbal Reasoning subtest
Checkpoint	Questions done	Time used	Timer shows about
After passage 3	12	6 minutes	16:00
After passage 6	24	12 minutes	10:00
After passage 9	36	18 minutes	4:00
After passage 11	44	22 minutes	0:00

Arithmetic from the official 22 minutes and 11 passages. If the timer turns yellow before you have started passage 9, you are at least a minute behind.

If you fall behind

01

Answer, flag and move on

If a question is still unclear after 30 to 35 seconds, choose your best answer, flag it and go to the next one. An answered question still scores if you never get back to it.

02

Never leave a blank

There is no negative marking, so a guess can only gain marks. Make sure every question has an answer before time runs out.

03

Use the review screen last

If you finish the last question with time left, a review screen lets you go back to incomplete or flagged questions until the time runs out.

04

Click OK straight away

When time runs out, a Time Expired message asks you to click OK. The Consortium warns that if you do not move on, you lose time from other sections.

Verbal Reasoning time in each UCAT-ANZ test version (UCAT ANZ Consortium, Extended Tests)
Standard and SA	22 minutes: 30 seconds per question. SA adds pause-the-clock rest breaks, not question time.
SEN10 and SEN10SA	25 minutes 40 seconds: 35 seconds per question
SEN and SENSA	27 minutes 30 seconds: 37.5 seconds per question
Approval	Access Arrangements must be approved before the test can be booked. Our dates guide has the 2026 application dates.

Strategy

UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning strategies and tips

The Consortium says the techniques that work best depend on your own style. One of its high scorers read the answer options first, then skimmed the passage, and advises trying several methods and settling on the one that suits you.

Question first, then scan

Read the statement or question before the passage.
Pick one or two keywords: names, numbers, dates or technical terms.
Scan the passage for them, then read the sentences around them carefully.
Usually quickest when the answer sits in one or two sentences.

Skim the passage first

Run your eyes over the passage to see what each paragraph is about.
Then answer the questions, going back to the lines each one needs.
Useful for Most likely and Except questions, which draw on the whole passage.
Costs more time, so keep the skim quick.

Match the strength of the words

Words such as all, never, only and must make a claim stronger. Some, may and most make it weaker. A strong statement needs equally strong support: if the passage says most, a statement about all is not proven.

Check every detail exactly

Wrong options often copy the passage but change one detail: a number, a date, a name, or who holds a view. Check each detail against the passage itself, not your memory of it. Worked example 6 below turns on details like these.

Stay inside the passage

If you need outside knowledge or an assumption to call a statement False, the answer is Can't Tell. The Official Guide says your existing knowledge will not be relevant, and you are unlikely to know the topic anyway.

Eliminate before you choose

Rule out the options the passage contradicts or never mentions, then choose between the rest. It is often quicker than proving the right answer directly.

Drill one wording at a time

Mixed sets show your overall level. Sets of a single wording show you exactly what to fix, so spend time on your weakest type before you return to mixed practice.

Review every wrong answer

For each mistake, ask three questions. Did I use outside knowledge? Did I miss a strong word such as all or only? Did I misread what the question asked? Your most common answer shows what to fix first.

Read quickly every day

The Official Guide suggests reading newspaper articles and extracting the key facts quickly. One high scorer read short articles as fast as she could, then summarised the key points. ABC News and The Conversation are free places to start.

The Consortium publishes advice from high-scoring UCAT-ANZ candidates, including how they fitted preparation around Year 12 and how they handled the timing. UCAT ANZ Candidate Advice

Practice

UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning practice questions with answers

Eight questions in the UCAT-ANZ style. Choose an answer, check it, then read the explanation. Each label names the skill the question practises. The passages are invented for practice, so do not quote their facts or figures.

Example 1True / False / Can't Tell

Studies in Helsinki show that adolescents who consume at least one cup of unsweetened coffee per day score 3% higher on memory recall tests than non-coffee-drinking peers. The studies controlled for sleep duration but not for caffeine sensitivity.

Statement: Coffee improves teenagers’ memory.

The passage shows correlation in Helsinki adolescents - but does not establish that coffee causes the improvement (sleep was controlled, caffeine sensitivity wasn’t). Generalising to all teenagers also goes beyond what the passage states. The statement “coffee improves memory” is neither confirmed nor contradicted; you simply cannot tell. Trap: many students mark True because the data suggests improvement.

Example 2Multiple choice / theme

While solar power generation has more than tripled in Australia over the past decade, peak-hour grid prices have continued to rise in several states. The bottleneck is no longer generation but transmission - the high-voltage lines that move electricity from rural solar farms to coastal demand centres simply cannot carry it fast enough.

Which conclusion does the passage most support?

The passage explicitly states that the bottleneck is transmission, not generation - implying the fix is transmission investment. (A) is overstated (solar more than tripled - that’s not failure). (C) is unsupported. (D) is too broad. The trap is that (D) sounds reasonable but goes beyond what the passage actually argues.

Example 3True / False / Can't Tell

A 2024 survey of 1,200 Australian GPs found that 78% reported burnout symptoms. The survey was conducted by the RACGP among its membership.

Statement: Most Australian doctors experience burnout.

The passage covers GPs (a subset of doctors) and is RACGP-member-only (a non-random sample). Generalising to “most Australian doctors” goes beyond the data. The trap is the quantity word “most” combined with a passage that supports a specific claim about a specific subset. Students often mark True because 78% > 50%, ignoring the GP/doctor and RACGP-membership distinctions.

Example 4Multiple choice / inference

Microplastic concentrations in Tasmanian-caught flathead have risen by an estimated 18% since 2018. Whether this rise has any effect on human consumers remains contested - most ingested microplastics pass through the digestive system within 48 hours, but a minority lodge in tissue. Researchers at the University of Tasmania argue the long-term cumulative effect deserves urgent study.

Which conclusion would the University of Tasmania researchers most likely agree with?

The passage directly states the researchers argue the long-term cumulative effect “deserves urgent study” - that’s a call for prioritised research funding (C). (A) is far too extreme. (B) and (D) directly contradict the researchers’ stated view. Trap: (A) feels “safe” if you over-read the concern; resist.

Example 5True / False / Can't Tell

The 2024 state health report shows emergency-department waiting times in Victoria averaging 4 hours 12 minutes - 27 minutes longer than New South Wales’ average. Waits in Queensland and Western Australia were not included in the comparison.

Statement: Victoria has the longest emergency-department waits in Australia.

The passage compares Victoria to New South Wales only - Queensland and Western Australia were explicitly excluded. So we don’t know if Victoria is the longest in the whole country. Trap: students mark True because Victoria is longer than NSW, missing that the comparison left out the other states.

Example 6Multiple choice / detail

The proposed state e-scooter regulations would require all rental e-scooters to have a maximum speed of 20 km/h, a built-in GPS tracker, and indicators. Private e-scooters would remain restricted to private property. The regulations explicitly preserve the existing requirement for riders to be at least 16 years old.

According to the passage, which of the following would the new regulations require?

The passage explicitly says rental e-scooters must have a built-in GPS tracker - that’s direct retrieval (C). (A) is wrong: the existing minimum is 16, not 18. (B) is wrong: 20 km/h not 25. (D) is wrong: private e-scooters remain restricted to private property. Detail questions reward precise reading; the easiest of the question types if you scan well.

Example 7Multiple choice / vocabulary

The treatment’s success has been described as tentative - significant in early trials but not yet replicated in larger cohorts.

In this context, “tentative” most closely means:

The context - “significant in early trials but not yet replicated” - signals provisional. (A) and (D) contradict that. (C) is too negative; the passage notes early significance. Always read the surrounding clause before picking a vocabulary answer.

Example 8True / False / Can't Tell

Hospitals in regional Western Australia report 12% lower nurse turnover than the national average. The region also offers above-average rural-incentive allowances and subsidised housing for healthcare staff.

Statement: Subsidised housing is the cause of lower nurse turnover in regional WA.

The passage notes both lower turnover and the allowances/housing but doesn’t establish causation - they could correlate without one causing the other. Other factors (lifestyle, hospital culture, regional pay loadings) could explain the difference. Classic correlation-vs-causation trap.

Then move on to the four official Verbal Reasoning question banks, which the Consortium says are representative of the live test. The practice plan below shows when to use them, and when to sit the official practice tests. Official question banks

Drill

Keyword scanning drill for UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning

Finding a keyword fast is the core move of the question-first method. Tap every target word as quickly as you can: wrong taps lower your accuracy.

Keyword scan drill

A core UCAT Verbal Reasoning skill: locating keywords inside a passage at speed. Tap every target word as fast as you can. Wrong taps cost you accuracy.

4 roundsSoft target ~20s per roundScore = 70% accuracy, 30% speed

In the real test you do this in your head. Take the keyword from the question, find it in the passage, then read the sentence around it carefully before you answer.

Pocket UCAT

Liked the drill? Our UCAT app is coming to iPhone.

Five-minute rounds across all four sections, launching in March 2027. Sign up for early access and a free trial.

Get early access

Speed test

Timed UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning practice: real passages at test pace

Each set has two full-length passages with four questions on each, as in the real subtest, timed at its live pace of 2 minutes a passage. The passage stays beside every question, you can flag and go back, and a review screen comes before you finish.

Verbal Reasoning practice sets

Pick a set and work through it as you would in the test: the passage stays beside each question, you can flag anything you are unsure of, and a review screen comes before you finish.

Choose a set

Set 1Blood groups and railway timeNot tried yetSet 2Bee dances and concert pitchNot tried yetSet 3Shared pastures and city heatNot tried yet

2 passages, 4 questions on each
4 minutes: 2 minutes a passage, as in the test
True, False or Can't Tell and four-option questions

Time me at test pace

Original questions written for practice in the real format. They are not taken from the UCAT.

Preparation

How to practise UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning: official resources and a 4-week plan

The Consortium's free materials should be the core of your practice. Its 2026 presentation says to allow around 25 to 30 hours for the whole test and to start at least 6 weeks before your test.

01

Start here

Tour Tutorial

Learn the test software: answering, moving between screens, and flagging questions for review. The Consortium says knowing these tools may save you valuable time on test day.

02

The Consortium's tutorials give tips and strategies for each question type. Work through this one before the question banks, on a desktop computer.

03

Main practice

Four Verbal Reasoning question banks

Official questions to work through over several practice sessions. Your progress is not retained, so keep a note of which questions you have tried.

04

Final weeks

Practice Tests A to D

Full tests with standard timing, SEN timing or no timing. They give no score, but the final review screen shows which answers were right and the Explain Answer button shows why.

Our suggested 4-week Verbal Reasoning plan

Week 1
Learn the formats
Work through the official tutorial, then do question bank sets without a timer. Aim for accuracy, and write down why each wrong answer was wrong.
- Learn the evidence test for True, False or Can't Tell
- Try both reading methods on the same passages
Week 2
Build accuracy
Keep using the banks, one passage at a time. Sort every mistake by cause: outside knowledge, a missed strong word, or a misread question.
Week 3
Add the clock
Give yourself 2 minutes per passage and stop when the time is up. Use the keyword drill and daily reading to raise your speed.
Week 4 onwards
Full timed practice
Sit the official practice tests under timed conditions, then review every Verbal Reasoning answer, right or wrong. Spend the days between tests on your weakest question type.

Fit this around Year 12. High scorers quoted by the Consortium describe doing a little often, and doing more in the school holidays so that term time can go to schoolwork. One sat early in the test window and kept the first week of the winter holidays for final preparation. A Central Queensland University student began with 15 minutes a day and built up as her test approached, giving schoolwork priority at exam time.

Do you need to pay for help? The UCAT ANZ Consortium says it does not work with or endorse commercial preparation companies, and it advises candidates to use its free official materials. Whatever else you use, make those the core of your practice. Official preparation resources

Self-check

Are you ready for UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning? A 10-point check

Tick each statement that is true for you today. Your ticks are saved in this browser, so you can come back after each practice test and update them.

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Pitfalls

Common UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning mistakes and how to avoid them

Missing the twist in the question. Except, most likely and according to the passage each change what you are looking for. Read the whole question before you scan, and check whether it wants the supported option or the one that is not supported.

Bringing in outside knowledge. A statement can be true in real life and still be Can't Tell on this passage. Judge it only against the text in front of you.

Reading only the sentence with the keyword. A word such as however, but or only in the next sentence can change the meaning. Once you find the keyword, read the sentences either side of it too.

Playing too safe with Can't Tell. If the passage says something that cannot be true at the same time as the statement, the answer is False, even if the passage never uses the statement's words.

Confusing most with all. A passage that says most does not prove a statement about all, and a figure for one group does not prove a claim about everyone.

Reading every passage word by word. With 2 minutes per passage, a slow, full read leaves little time for four questions. Skim, or go straight to the part of the passage each question needs.

Changing method under pressure. Switching between skimming and keyword hunting mid-test costs time. Decide in practice which method you use for each wording, so the choice is made before test day.

Using the official practice tests too early. There are only four full practice tests. Work through the question banks first and keep the tests for nearer your test date, as the Consortium advises.

Practising only on a phone. The official question banks and practice tests are intended for desktop, to reflect the live test. Practise on a computer so the layout and timer feel familiar on the day.

FAQ

UCAT-ANZ Verbal Reasoning: your questions answered

Verbal Reasoning has 44 questions: 11 passages with 4 questions each. You get 22 minutes, after a separately timed instruction section of 1 minute 30 seconds. That is 30 seconds per question, or 2 minutes per passage, including the time spent reading. The instruction section does not come out of your 22 minutes. The Consortium's 2020 Official Guide gave 21 minutes, so guides quoting that figure are out of date.

On average it is the lowest-scoring of the three cognitive subtests. In 2026 the mean was 619 for Verbal Reasoning, 655 for Decision Making and 691 for Quantitative Reasoning, and VR was also the lowest of the three in 2024 and 2025. Its timing is tight too, at 30 seconds a question including the reading. Whether it is the hardest for you depends on your reading speed, so check with an official practice test.

Keep reading

Sources

Where this guide's facts come from

Checked against these sources on 7 November 2026. Rules change between cycles, so confirm anything that decides your application on the official page for your entry year.