For many medical students, the BMAT is the biggest and most difficult obstacle in the way of their medical school dreams. To do well, you’re going to need to prepare for 3 different sections that require completely different disciplines to excel in. It’s only natural to feel that you need some additional support in this preparation, and luckily there are plenty of options available in the form of BMAT Courses. But which one is right for you?
Your first step in making a decision like this is to think about what you actually want from a BMAT course, as well as your budget and minimum expectation for the price you’re willing to pay. Pricing varies greatly depending on the brand and course you choose; you can expect to pay anywhere from tens to thousands of pounds! With that kind of investment, it’s important that you choose the course that will provide you with the best support for your own learning style. At the end of the day, this is an investment to improve your chances of success in your university application.
Choosing the Best BMAT Course
You’ll likely have a lot of questions when you first begin to explore the options available, but we believe it’s important to first ask yourself some questions. By considering all of the following questions, you’ll soon begin to form a full idea of what you’re going to want from a BMAT course:
What Are You Looking For From A BMAT Course?
BMAT Courses can take various different forms, but they typically each follow their own structure and contain their own resources and teaching styles. Therefore, you’re going to need to decide how you personally would want to approach your preparation and find a service that matches your needs.
Think about how you revised for your GCSEs or equivalents. Did you learn better through independent study or from active practice through questions and mock exams? Of course, both of these are very important for developing a well-rounded prep schedule, but everyone will have a method that works better for them. Something as basic as your preference between physical or digital mock exam papers could influence your decision, so consider anything that you believe will help you.
What Free BMAT Courses Are Available in 2022?
Unfortunately, there are currently no reputable, full BMAT courses available online for free, but you do have some options for free online resources to help with your BMAT preparation. The majority of courses can be trialled for free via a demo, which will typically provide you with a limited version of the full online course. This is useful for your decision-making if you intend to purchase a BMAT Course, but sometimes these trials can actually be packed with enough content to fill a whole course (although some form of limitation will keep you from getting everything you need from it.
As an example, 6med operates BMAT.Ninja, which is available to sign up to for free. Here, you will have access to almost 6,000 practice questions and every BMAT Past Paper, completely free of charge. Other providers also offer free-to-use question banks featuring plenty of practice questions to take on. On top of that, you’ll easily be able to find a large variety of free content, such as guides, blogs and video tutorials. So if a paid course isn’t feasible for you, you will still be able to support your preparation in an effective way.
With all this talk of free resources, the question now is: “Why should I pay for a course when I can get all of these resources for free?”. For some, these free resources could be enough to support their BMAT preparation. However, none of these offerings will provide you with the quantity or quality of a really good BMAT Course. The best BMAT courses will feature all of the following as standard:
- Engaging live sessions hosted by expert tutors who will guide you through the BMAT and answer your pressing questions.
- A large collection of supporting materials, including workbooks and video tutorials that can be revised at any time.
- An extensive question bank that covers every section of the BMAT, with worked solutions and progress tracking as standard.
- A realistic exam simulator to test your skills on past and mock papers in actual exam conditions.
- Opportunities to have your Section 3 practice essays marked by an expert, complete with actionable feedback.
With all of these components combined, your chances of success are sure to skyrocket! And for the reasonable prices that some of these courses provide, we would say it’s a no-brainer!
Prepare with the Best, Prepare with 6med.
The BMAT is a vital component of your Medicine application so scoring highly can mean the difference between an offer or rejection. We are experts at boosting your BMAT score.
Want to learn how to boost your BMAT score? Then this bundle is right for you…
Are You Looking For A Live Course Or A Self-Paced Course?
One thing that needs to be clarified is the difference between Live BMAT Courses and Self-Paced BMAT Courses. Between the two, there isn’t an objectively better style of teaching, although you will find pros and cons for each:
This type, of course, is pretty much what it sounds like; a course ran in-person or online by one or more expert tutors. These will last one-two days and are designed to guide the attendees through every section of the BMAT to revise their subject knowledge and exam techniques. Throughout the day you can expect to take part in lectures, Q&A Sessions, practical activities and more.
Pros
- Ran by experts who got great scores in the BMAT and have experience in live teaching/tutoring.
- Covers every section in a concise manner, focusing just on what you need to know for the BMAT.
- A highly engaging way to learn about the BMAT, as you’ll be able to speak with your peers and tutor, as well as have the chance to ask questions.
- Will typically come with a supporting resource, such as a workbook, that can be referred to at any time after the course has finished.
- Always updated with the latest testing formats and specification changes.
- Essay Drafting will often be included, giving you the chance to show your writing to a tutor for feedback.
Cons
- Only lasts one or two days, which may not be a lot of time to train for all three sections.
- You will need to attend the course at the time stated, meaning the date you attend is flexible (though there will still be a limited selection here as well).
- You cannot choose your own breaks or repeat sections if needed, you will need to work at the pace of the course.
This type, of course, is essentially a collection of resources, made by BMAT experts, that have been designed to function as a digital masterclass, with a unique syllabus and teaching style. These will be available on demand and on any device, making them a very convenient way to learn the BMAT. The course will typically be made up of video and text guides, question banks and workbooks, all designed in a manner that lets you learn BMAT knowledge and abilities at your own pace. Bear in mind that the vast majority of these resources will be digital.
Pros
- You can pace your own preparation over days, weeks or even months depending on how much time you have and how long you will require to learn.
- These courses will either have set lengths which can be customised to suit your needs or provide unlimited access until the UCAT deadline has passed.
- Many of these resources are highly interactive, including the dedicated software or platforms used by the question banks.
- Without any time restrictions, the course will have the freedom to explore more areas in greater detail in order to get you prepared for any type of question in the paper.
Cons
- Everything is independent by design, meaning if you’re stuck on a topic or don’t understand a topic covered, you’re going to have to do further research yourself (or get help from someone you know).
- You may find yourself overwhelmed by all the content at first, although the platform should advise you on where to begin.
- Some of the content may be outdated if the BMAT specification or format has changed recently (although the best courses will always seek to update their content very soon after these changes are announced).
As we said, there’s no way to definitively say which style is best, it’s completely down to personal preference. Which method of revision is most effective for you? Do you absorb information quickly? Do you prefer to engage with peers and tutors? A Live BMAT Course sounds right up your alley! Do you prefer to learn the knowledge over time? Maybe it’s easier for you to go over sections multiple times or answer practice questions individually. A Self-Paced BMAT Course might be the better option. And of course, you may want to have a bit of both! Thankfully, the best BMAT courses will provide an extensive combination of both course types, including our own BMAT Bundle.
What Resources Do You Want From The Course?
We’ve already mentioned this briefly, but most of these courses aren’t just individual products. They’re a collection of resources and components that cover multiple styles of revision and teaching. When a live course is included in the package, this will is obviously a major selling point as these are very extensive. However, you’re almost always going to find some form of supplemental resource provided alongside this to continue your teaching after the live course has concluded. These are some fair typically piece f content to find:
BMAT Workbooks
A good BMAT Workbook or Textbook will essentially be your BMAT Bible! These may sometimes be written as a companion to a related live course, in which said course will require you to use it during the session. Alternatively, it could be a stand-alone textbook that covers the BMAT in a slightly different context. Either way, they will be filled with required BMAT knowledge for each section, as well as exam tips, practice questions and worked examples.
BMAT Tutorials
These may also be referred to as BMAT Online Courses (or BMAT Masterclasses in our case). These are the most common format for Self-Paced BMAT courses and are essentially a curated collection of lessons designed to take you through a full syllabus, similar to the format of a live course. They could be presented as text-based tutorials or videos and have will be available whenever you need and on any device, with the ability to take breaks or go backwards whenever needed.
BMAT Question Banks
While the BMAT does have plenty of subject knowledge that you’ll be busy revising, it’s also equally important that you practice with actual BMAT questions to prepare yourself for the actual exam. You should expect a good-quality BMAT question bank to contain thousands of questions across the first two sections of the BMAT, as well as worked solutions for each question, automatic marking and a realistic exam simulator. You should also expect to find a collection of essay prompts for Section 3, as well as structuring suggestions or example essays to inspire your own writing.
Questions banks may available to purchase separately in some cases, such as the #1 BMAT Question Bank, BMAT.Ninja, which provides everything stated above, plus additional tutorials and past papers included.
BMAT Essay Marking
Section 3 of the BMAT will require you to write an essay, which of course cannot be marked automatically in any meaningful way. Therefore, many course providers also run an essay marking service. How this works is you will need to submit your essay to them, who will then have a tutor read through it and mark it in the way a BMAT examiner would. They will provide you with a grade based upon BMAT grading standards, as well as actionable feedback that you can use when writing your next essay.
Whether or not any essay submissions are included with a course will depend on the provider. Some will offer a limited amount included while others will require you to purchase them separately. It’s fairly uncommon to find unlimited submissions being offered, but the option should always be available to purchase additional submissions should you need them.
When it comes to Section 3 of the BMAT, universities will have different levels of importance placed on your grade. Some unis consider your essay grade pretty seriously, while others won’t use it very much at all. You need to be aware of how universities use your BMAT essay before purchasing separate essay marking, as it may not benefit your application too much if your chosen uni doesn’t place much importance on it.
How Long Do You Have To Prepare?
This is going to be an important question that you hopefully ask yourself earlier on in the year! You should hopefully be aware by now that the BMAT testing date has been moved forward to October 18th, two weeks before its usual date. Thankfully, most live courses will be running until just days before this date, so you’ll still have time to attend one as the BMAT gets closer (6med’s BMAT Crash Course runs until October 15th in 2022).
Self-Paced Courses are going to require a much larger time commitment to get through most of their content. Especially now that the deadline has been moved forward, it’s recommended that you begin your course as soon as possible in order to get the most out of your resources. To get the most out of a Self-Paced Course, you need to dedicate a lot of time to getting through as much content as possible which means starting as early as possible. While you might not answer every question in the bank or go through every page of a workbook, getting as much done as possible will be hugely beneficial.
Most providers do also offer course or product options for quicker learning. These will either reduce access to features or limit your available access time in order to give you a cheaper BMAT course that is suited to a shorter time frame. Last-minute cramming isn’t recommended at all, but these reduced packages can be great for solidifying your abilities in time for the big day.
Do You Need BMAT Tuition?
1-1 BMAT Tuition is a whole other side of preparation that we haven’t touched on yet. It’s a very different type of teaching that typically won’t be included in most standard BMAT courses. However, many course providers do offer tuition as their own separate service (which can sometimes be bundled with their standard courses for an additional fee).
Tuition is by far the most tailored form of preparation for any exam, as a good tutor will allow you to move each session forward in a way that is beneficial for your progress. These sessions will always be 1-1, so you will be in charge of what you want to do, although you will be guided by your tutors own knowledge and experience. Tuition is either priced hourly or in blocks of hours (most will require a minimum amount of hours to book), but there is a certain level of flexibility in the dates and timings to ensure you get the most out of the hours you purchase.
The major issue here though is the cost of the service. Some tuition bundles may have a lower cost than a fully-fleshed out BMAT course, but that price will usually only include the tuition hours. This is by no means a bad investment, but it you will be missing out on the benefits of tutorials and question banks unless you invest in other resources alongside your tuition. You’re still going to need practice questions and additional guidance to become a well-rounded applicant, but what you’re paying for with tuition is the dedicated guidance of a BMAT expert, which many say is the most valuable resource of all!
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Which BMAT Courses are the Best?
With all of that considered, it’s time to look at some of the top providers of BMAT Courses in order to determine which one will be good for you:
Year Established: 2013
We know what you’re thinking; “of course you’re going to talk about 6med first”. However, we really do believe that our BMAT offerings provide the most value and quality.
At 6med, we pride ourselves on providing the largest variety of high-quality resources possible, all of which are sold individually or can be purchased together with the BMAT Bundle. In this bundle, you’ll get access to:
- The full-day BMAT Crash Course
- 8+ hours of video tutorials within the BMAT Masterclass
- Complete Access to BMAT.Ninja,used by 2/3 students in 2021 and featuring 6,000 practice questions
- A 250 page BMAT Workbook
- Access to the 6med Nucleus
All of these features are found within the recently launched Nucleus, which houses all of your BMAT resources in one convenient place. Tuition for the BMAT is also available from our Super Sensei service, which begins at just £28 per hour.
BMAT Crash Course
You may have seen that most Live BMAT Courses in 2022 are being held via video conference programmes such as Zoom. We felt that this was limiting the engagement our attendees felt (and was just a bit boring overall!). Therefore in 2022, we launched our new BMAT Crash Course via Gathertown! This exciting platform allows you to customise your experience and interact with other attendees like never before.
Create an avatar and enter 6med’s private teaching space, where you can interact with tutors and peers one-one or as a group. You can enjoy your lectures all together and split up into smaller groups when taking part in exercises. During your breaks, you can have fun chatting with other attendees or playing fun mini-games!
Gathertown provides both our tutors and attendees with more ways than ever to engage with each other, so we’re confident in saying this is the most fun and effective BMAT Course available!
Year Established: 2009
Medify are one of the leading providers of support for the UCAT, but how does their BMAT course stack up?
The biggest difference between Medify and the rest of the course providers mentioned here is that they do not run a Live BMAT Course. Instead, all of their support is based on their pre-made online resources. This is somewhat limited but they have worked to create an extensive collection of preparation tools. There are no individual products to purchase, so a Medify subscription will get you with access to the following:
- A collection of text tutorials covering all three sections of the BMAT
- 2,000+ Practice Questions
- 15 original Mock Papers and every past paper
- Example essays and a full essay guide
You can access all of these features for as much time as you require through their subscription model. Subscription lengths can be anywhere between 1 month and 12 months, which also allows for flexibility in price.
Year Established: 2017
Medic Mind covers a wide variety of admissions test and subjects, including both the BMAT and UCAT. Applicants looking to work with Medic Mind for their BMAT prep can access their extensive BMAT Online Course or add access to the Live BMAT Day (note that the Live BMAT Day cannot be purchased separately from the Online Course). With the Live Day Package, you’ll gain access to all of this:
- 70+ BMAT tutorials
- 2,000+ Practice Questions
- Essay Planning Guides
- 10 BMAT Mock Exams
- Access to the Full-Day Live BMAT Course
An essay check can be purchased alongside this bundle for an additional £30, as well as 1-1 tuition sessions.
Year Established: 2014
The Medic Portal have a large variety of options available when it comes to their BMAT courses and resources. Firstly is their Live Course, which The Medic Portal currently offer both virtual and in-person. Access to either of these courses can be purchased separately (at different costs) or combined with their BMAT Resources selection in the BMAT Prep Package. Within this package, you’ll find the following:
- 10 hours of video tutorials in the BMAT Online Course
- Access to The Medic Portal Question Bank
- Your place in either an online or in-person Live Course
- x1 Essay Marking submission included
The Prep Package includes unlimited access to all of their available resources until the end of the year, but access to these can also be purchased from as little as 2 weeks. 1-1 Tuition can be purchased separately or can be bundled with the Prep Package at a discount.
Year Established: 2013
Blackstone tutors offer a variety of teaching solutions for applicants sitting the BMAT, UCAT and TSA, as well as other areas of the application process. Through their one-day intensive course, you will have access to the following:
- Access to the intensive full-day BMAT Course
- 100+ video tutorials and written BMAT subject guides available on demand
- BMAT Past Papers and Worked Solutions Workbook
- A collection of digital BMAT Mock Exams
Blackstone offers Bespoke courses designed around each applicant’s needs. These courses are 1-1 and last 7 hours, tailored to each applicant to help them get the most out of their session. This course also includes all of the available online BMAT resources and unlimited essay submissions, all for the price of £895.
Year Established: 2013
UniAdmissions are one of the UK’s leading Oxbridge Preparation School, with Oxbridge Medicine being one of their most popular courses. Also available is the dedicated BMAT course, which is applicable for any applicant sitting the test. This is by far the most high-end and complete BMAT course available, as it features 1-1 tuition as standard, alongside a whole collection of curated resources and a live course. When you sign up for the BMAT course, you get all of the following:
- 10+ hours of 1-1 tuition
- Access to the UniAdmissions portal, which contains the BMAT Academy Course and practice questions
- The Ultimate BMAT Collection (5 in 1 Book)
- Access to the live BMAT Intensive Course
- Weekly Live Enrichment Seminars
Tuition hours are, of course, the major draw here, and more hours can be added depending on the price of the programme chosen, with 10 hours being the minimum. Additional hours can also be purchased later on should you decide it is necessary. With the full Medicine course, you will have access to even more content, including plenty of UCAT resources.
These are the highest-rated providers of BMAT courses currently available, but we encourage you to do your own research as well as you may find a course more suited to your needs.
However, among these major providers, which one is best? Realistically speaking, this isn’t a question that can be definitely answered by anyone, but it’s still a question you can ask yourself based on your personal preference. Each course offers benefits that you might find more valuable than others. This table shows information from the most complete version of each available BMAT Course (not including tuition):
BMAT Course Comparison
Live Course?
Live Course Format
GatherTown
Zoom
In-Person/ Zoom
Webinar
In-Person
Online Course
Question Bank
6,000 (via BMAT.Ninja)
2,000
2,000
Thousands
Past Papers
Mock/Past Papers
Text Books
Essay Marking Included?
x5
x1
Covered in Tuition
Tuition Available for Purchase?
Included with Course
Tutors from Top 10% of Students?
Not Specified
Not Specified
Length of Access
End of Admissions Season (+12 Months BMAT.Ninja)
Until 19/10/2022
End of the BMAT Testing Cycle
Season Long
Until 15/10/2022
BMAT Deadline
Price
£249
£40 (as of 30/08/2022)
£129
£276
£150
£4,000
Guarantees?
BMAT Retake Guarantee
UniAdmissions Quality Guarentee
Live Course?
Live Course Format
GatherTown
Online Course
Question Bank
6,000 (via BMAT.Ninja)
2,000
Text Books
Essay Marking Included?
x5
Tuition Available for Purchase?
Tutors from Top 10% of Students?
Length of Access
End of Admissions Season (+12 Months BMAT.Ninja)
Until 19/10/2022
Price
£249
£40 (as of 30/08/2022)
Guarantees?
BMAT Retake Guarantee
Live Course?
Live Course Format
Zoom
In-Person/ Zoom
Online Course
Question Bank
2,000
“Thousands”
Text Books
Essay Marking Included?
x1
Tuition Available for Purchase?
Tutors from Top 10% of Students?
Not Specified
Length of Access
End of BMAT Testing Cycle
Season Long
Price
£129
£276
Guarantees?
Live Course?
Live Course Format
Online
In-Person
Online Course
Question Bank
Past Papers
Mock/Past Papers
Text Books
Essay Marking Included?
Covered in Tuition
Tuition Available for Purchase?
Included with Course
Tutors from Top 10% of Students?
Not Specified
Length of Access
15/10/2022
BMAT Deadline
Price
£150
£4,000
Guarantees?
UniAdmissions Quality Guarentee
Which of these points will be most influential in your decision-making process? No matter what your preference are, we believe there will be a course that is perfect for you!
What is the Cheapest BMAT Resource?
You may already know that at you aren’t going to commit to a full BMAT course, be it because of time, money or personal preference. However, cheaper options are available for the majority of these courses, so you may still find some value in investing in one of these smaller courses/products:
Product/Service
BMAT.Ninja Access
Medify Access
Online Videos and Question Bank Access
Question Bank Access
Online Course Access
Length of Access
Until end of Admissions Season
Until 19/10/2022
Until end of BMAT Testing Cycle
6 Weeks
Until 05/11/2022
Price
£75
£40
£39
£45
£99
Product/ Service
Length of Access
Price
BMAT.Ninja Access
Until end of Admissions Season
£75
Product/ Service
Length of Access
Price
Medify Access
Until 19/10/2022
£40
Product/ Service
Length of Access
Price
Online Videos and Question Bank Access
Until end of BMAT Testing Cycle
£39
Product/ Service
Length of Access
Price
Question Bank Access
6 Weeks
£45
Product/ Service
Length of Access
Price
Online Course Access
Until 05/11/2022
£99
Some providers will have options even cheaper than this, so be sure to investigate further if you’re looking for the cheapest option possible. However, all of these options will provide you with very helpful, short-term or last-minute support.
Investing in a BMAT Course certainly isn’t a small decision to make. No matter how much you decide to spend on your course, you’re going to want an assurance that the resources and teaching you’ve purchased will help boost your chances of getting a good score in the BMAT. After all, this is all for the sake of your future as a doctor, so making the right choice now will pay off big time in the future. It’s our hope that the information we have provided to you will help you find the course that will provide you with the most benefit so you can smash the BMAT come testing day!
Since you’re already here, and you’ve undoubtedly seen the many benefits of working with us, we feel that our BMAT Bundle may be exactly what you’re looking for in a BMAT Course. By now you probably understand all the benefits of this Bundle, but are you aware of the 6med Complete Bundle? This bundle provides you with almost everything we have to offer, giving you support with your Personal Statement, UCAT, BMAT and Interview, all for one price. And best of all, a purchase of this bundle literally guarantees you an offer in medical school. How can we make that claim? You can learn more about it on our Guarantee Page. If you’re looking for a sure-fire way to get your offer, study with 6med today!
Prepare with the Best, Prepare with 6med.
The BMAT is a vital component of your Medicine application so scoring highly can mean the difference between an offer or rejection. We are experts at boosting your BMAT score.
Want to learn how to boost your BMAT score? Then this bundle is right for you…
