HPAT Courses | HPAT Practice | HPAT Training

Note: the following information relates to the HPAT-Ulster.
If you are sitting the HPAT-Ireland, please click here for a summary and information on how MedEntry can help.

The Health Professions Admission Test (HPAT-Ulster) is a selection test used to assess aptitude for study in the Allied Health Professions. It is administered by ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research).

HPAT-Ulster has been designed in consultation with the University of Ulster to assess a range of attributes considered important. It is designed to complement academic achievement, by providing assessment of skills in the areas of reasoning, understanding and working with people, and written communication.

Do I need to sit the HPAT-Ulster?

You will need to sit the HPAT-Ulster if you are interested in any of the following courses:

Yes! Even high achieving students stumble in the HPAT. Some students with excellent LCE scores have missed out on places in health science courses due to their low HPAT scores.

Research shows training can significantly improve HPAT score by familiarizing you with the types of questions that will be asked and developing strategies to tackle them. Even ACER now admits that training for HPAT helps.

An all-too-common fallacy about preparing for HPAT is that all you need to do is 'familiarise' yourself with the test by doing some practice questions. That's like saying the way to become a great basketball player is to familiarise yourself with a basketball court and practice taking a few shots.

Once upon a time, people were wrong. They thought that the automobile was an electric death-trap that would never replace the horse and carriage, computers were only for academic nerds, and people who used tuition were simply cheaters. Then, cars stopped exploding every time you started the engine, people realised that you could use computers for more than just calculating the digits of pi, and the 'cheaters' with the tuition... well, they started getting it. They got better grades, got into better universities and just plain old got better. Times change, rules change.

"Kids take prep courses to ace tests that are supposed to measure inborn aptitude," (page 100, Time Magazine, December 20, 2004).

The HPAT-Ulster test is a 3 hour test consisting of three modules or sections
The table below shows the structure of HPAT-Ulster by section and time.

	Number of questions	Time in minutes
Section 1 Critical Reasoning	45	65
Section 2 Interpersonal Understanding	45	55
Section 3 Written Communication	2	60

The first two sections are in multiple-choice format. The third section, Written Communication is in the form of two essay tasks.

Critical Reasoning questions include general interest, science and social science, with materials presented as text, diagrams and tables. Some questions may require basic mathematical skills. The emphasis is on the application of skills in reasoning and problem solving. Skills tested include the ability to work with and analyse stimulus material; pose and test hypotheses; interpret and extract information; identify and evaluate evidence and lines of reasoning; identify a problem; analyse it to clarify key information; transform information into forms that can be applied to enhance problem solution, and identify, generate and evaluate possible solutions.

Interpersonal Understanding questions have a focus on working with and understanding people and consist of scenarios, narratives and dialogues with questions designed to assess the understanding of people; their motivations, behaviours and responses.

Written Communication consists of an exercise requiring synthesis of graphically presented information relating to social issues and a reflective essay. Each task is graded using a set of specifically designed assessment criteria. Assessment focuses on the way in which ideas are integrated into a purposeful and relevant response to the task. You will not be assessed on the correctness of the ideas or attitudes you display. Each of your pieces of writing will be marked by at least two assessors working independently.

How do I register for the HPAT-Ulster?

The fee to sit HPAT-Ulster is £90 (VAT inclusive). Payment is by credit card (Mastercard or VISA) and must be made at the time of registration.

If you do not own a credit card and cannot use a family member or friend's card, please contact the HPAT-Ulster Office for further instructions.

I have missed the HPAT-Ulster registration closing date. Can I still sit the HPAT?

There will be two weeks of late registrations for HPAT-Ulster, these will open after the standard registrations close. Late registrations will incur an additional fee of £25. No further registrations will be accepted after the late registration deadline.

You are strongly advised not to leave your registration until the last few days in case unforeseen problems, for example, your online access to the registration site, prevent your registration from being completed successfully.

HPAT-Ulster is available at the three University of Ulster campuses in Coleraine, Jordanstown and Magee.