If you think you are “bad at maths”, Quantitative Reasoning can feel scary before you even start.
The important thing to know is that UCAT QR is not an advanced maths competition. It mostly uses familiar skills such as percentages, ratios, averages, rates and data reading.
That means improvement is very realistic.
Start by separating maths knowledge from UCAT speed.
If you genuinely do not understand percentages, learn percentages first. If you understand them but are too slow, that is a timing problem. Those are different issues and need different solutions.
Build confidence with the basics. Practise converting between fractions, decimals and percentages. Get comfortable with ratios. Review mean, median and range. Make sure unit conversions do not throw you off.
Then practise those skills inside UCAT-style questions.
Another helpful strategy is reducing the amount of information you look at. QR questions often contain large tables, but you may only need two cells. Find the relevant data before doing any calculation.
You should also use estimation when it is sensible. Not every question requires an exact answer from the start.
Most importantly, do not let one difficult question prove a story about your ability. If you tell yourself “I cannot do maths” every time you see a chart, you make concentration harder.
A better approach is: what is this question actually asking me to calculate?
One step at a time is enough.
