MedEntry Blog

One thing I found extremely useful on the days coming up to, and the day of the HPAT was the knowledge that I was confident with my exam timing. Whilst you have no control over the questions that will appear on the HPAT on the day, you have complete control over your timing. This sense of control can help to ease your nerves on the day of the exam, and prove extremely useful in keeping calm throughout the HPAT. Time management also increases the chance of you finishing the HPAT exam… remember, if you do not attempt a question you...

Many students use the holidays to finally relax after a several months of hard work. For those sitting the HPAT next year, the road ahead can look especially challenging and instil feelings of anxiety. However, after taking a long-deserved rest, the holidays can actually be used efficiently and effectively to get ahead in the HPAT and obtain the score you need to get into your dream course. With the HPAT exam fast approaching in February, students often use the holidays as an opportunity to start practicing full length exams under timed conditions. Enormous amounts of mental energy, determination and positivity...

In life, we are told that ‘practice makes perfect’. The more you practice a particular skill, whether it be playing the piano, swimming or writing essays, the better you become at it. So, in theory, it should be the same in HPAT – the more practice questions you do, the better you are at HPAT – right? Not necessarily. Just like any skill, to do well in HPAT you first need a basic understanding of what it is, what it tests and how to approach the various types of questions. Without this understanding, you may still be able to improve...

Be under no illusions: the HPAT is the single hardest and most important test you will ever sit. This is a scary (and for some maybe terrifying) thought. So what can you do to make it less daunting? The answer may seem counter-intuitive: the best way to make HPAT seem do-able is to face it over, and over, and over again. How? By completing high quality, full length trial exams under timed conditions. HPAT is scary because it is so different to any other test you have done in school – it is much harder, much longer and much more...

In addition to viewing your exam results by section (Logical Reasoning and Problem Solving, Understanding People or Non-verbal Reasoning), you can now view more detailed results by specific question types. There are 2 ways to view your feedback: 1. Go to the  Check Progress  page to see a summary containing all of your drill/exam question attempts:   2. On each exam page, you will now see a more detailed explanation of your responses to each question type:   We have also revamped our exam page, to include:   A fresh, more interactive design  Up to 4 retries of incorrectly answered...

Some students who are preparing for HPAT wonder if they should get a private tutor for HPAT or attend weekly HPAT classes. Often this is because that is what they are used to doing in high school. But HPAT is very different to school and therefore requires a different approach. Here we suggest a much more effective (and much cheaper) way of preparing for HPAT: group study. The benefits of group study are well known: it is more social, more enjoyable and more effective, particularly for tests such as HPAT.  Extensive pedagogical research has shown that group study is far...

You may have heard that stress negatively impacts on performance. You may have been told that if you are too stressed in the lead up to an important exam such as HPAT, you won’t do well. You may have been advised to look for ways to relieve your stress. While this may be true, in some cases trying to get rid of stress can actually cause you to become more stressed. A different approach, which might sound crazy at first, is to embrace your stress. The following three strategies will not only help you manage stress, but will also boost...

At MedEntry, we are committed to continuous improvement and constantly strive to improve the services we offer our hard working students. Our Learning Management System is all about  you  and this feature is another way we personalise your HPAT training.   Retry your incorrect exam questions   Once you have completed a practice exam on the LMS, you can now re-attempt any questions that you answered incorrectly!   To retry an exam:   1. Click on the Practice Exams icon in the HPAT course (accessible by clicking the HPAT link in the menu on the top of each page):   2....

  We have recently added a series of new features to the LMS! Some of these are outlined below.   Favourite Questions/Guides You can now bookmark any practice question on the LMS (in exams, drills or the Eureka! Question Bank) for quick access in the future! Simply click on the "Add to favourites" button found next to each question, as shown below: Drills/Exams:   Eureka! Question Bank:   Guides: You can also bookmark any of our guides, by clicking on the button at the top of each guide:   How to view your bookmarked favourites: To view your bookmarked questions...

This impending Saturday is without a doubt one of the most terrifying – yet unusual days of the year. Throughout the past years, I have uttered the phrase “The HPAT is a game” innumerous times, and now, on the brink of becoming an actual doctor (finally!) and exiting the world of HPAT, I thought I’d pass on my suggestions for this game. Suggestion 1: Your mood is your top priority. The HPAT is designed in such a way that your mood greatly impacts your performance. Why? Because it’s an exam of emotions, of empathy and of understanding. Feeling stressed/anxious/overwhelmed will...

HPAT is probably the hardest test you will ever have to sit. Many students, especially those who do not prepare, are shocked by the difficulty of HPAT. Some who do prepare become disillusioned. So why is HPAT so hard? And what can you do about it? Read on!  1. HPAT is very different to every other type of test you have sat Why?  School and university exams test your knowledge and your ability to apply that knowledge. HPAT is not a test of knowledge; it is a test of your generic skills. You most likely have never sat a test...

Students often find non-verbal reasoning questions the most difficult initially, especially if they have never encountered them before. Here are a few tips to help tackle these questions from an experienced HPAT tutor.  Tip 1: Keep it Simple. Non-verbal reasoning questions will require you to find the most simple and logical answer. It may feel like the questions are out to trick you, and that may lead to you trialling overly complex rules. However, in many situations, the simple pattern is the correct pattern. Having this in mind will help form your approach to the questions. For example, if you...

There are a wealth of resources available to you on the LMS. You can check your progress by visiting the Check Progress page, either by clicking on the icon on the homepage of the LMS or by clicking on the icon next to the ‘Check’ section under HPAT resources:      When you arrive on the Check Progress page, you can view your progress with the practice exams or drills by clicking on the relevant tab:   Practice exams You will see a drop down list of your HPAT exams and information about their completion. Click on the drop-down arrow...

The easiest, cheapest and most direct route into medicine in Ireland is the undergraduate route. This route requires you to sit HPAT. However, there are other options for studying medicine, which are outlined in this blog. Undergraduate medicine To study undergraduate medicine in Ireland, you need to both achieve high enough points in your Leaving Cert and perform well in HPAT. There are five colleges which offer undergraduate medicine – three in Dublin (Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland), one in Cork (University College Cork) and one in Galway (National University of...

To some lucky people it comes easy, but for many this is the section with some of the most difficult questions in the exam. Whether you are just starting your HPAT preparation or are deep in your practice so far, the following tips from an experienced tutor who scored highly in this section should help you maximize your score: Firstly, read the introductory text included in the passage.  • This appears before the actual body of the passage and is often written in italics or brackets. Although this may seem like an obvious tip, many students don’t take the time to...

Looking for some tips on how to improve your score in Logical reasoning and Problem solving?  Terrified by long passages with scientific jargon and perplexing puzzles? Worried about running out of time? Remember the following advice and you’ll be well on your way to maximising your score.    1. Read the question stem first This construct can often be time-consuming due to lengthy passages that may contain complex ideas or complicated technical terms. Although it might be tempting to start reading the passage straight away, it’s always a good idea to read the question stem first. Sometimes, you’ll be able...

What do the numbers on the Statement of Results mean? Your HPAT Statement of Results will display two measures of your performance: HPAT score and HPAT percentile.  Your overall HPAT score is a weighted sum of your three section scores. Sections 1 and 2 are each weighted at 40%, and section 3 is weighted at 20%. For the mathematically inclined, the formula for calculating overall HPAT score is 0.4 x (Section 1 + Section 2) + 0.2 x Section 3.  The section scores are derived (scaled) from your raw score (the number of questions you got right) using statistical methods...

Your venue for the HPAT can become a very scary place very quickly. While being academically prepared is extremely important for HPAT, it is also useful to know what to expect when you get to the venue. Firstly, you’ll see a range of different students at the HPAT venue – while some are great to have a conversation with before the exam commences; others, not so much: 1. The Downplayer – This is a student who will consistently talk about how they have not done any practice for the HPAT, keep reinforcing that they’re going to fail and claim to...

The final school year is a stressful time. Add in HPAT and the pressures of getting into medicine, and stress levels can rapidly sky rocket. As a parent it is easy to succumb to feelings of powerless as you watch your son or daughter struggle to prepare for such an important and difficult exam. However, there are many things you can do to boost their performance and have a positive impact on their wellbeing.  1. Provide a sound working environment  HPAT is a two and a half-hour test requiring extreme concentration. The best way to prepare is to complete full length...

Life isn’t the only thing full of surprises. The upcoming HPAT exam could hold a range of new, never-before-seen questions and it is important to know how to deal with these in an exam situation.  The first step is to identify these types of questions in reading time. When looking through your HPAT exam booklet, mentally note these questions and have them simmering away in the back of your mind. By doing so, you’ll be better prepared for these “surprises” and less likely to panic when you go on to attempt these questions. When writing time begins, start doing the...