Give our Decision Analysis sample questions a go and see if you can get them right.
UKCAT Decision Analysis
Subtest length: One code, plus additional info; 28 questions
Subtest timing: 31 minutes (2 min to read instructions and code, then 1 min per question)
Sample length: One code, five questions
Sample timing: 7 minutes
Mediaeval Tapestry Code
Whilst cleaning a 14th century tapestry, employees at the British Museum discover a previously undetected and rather elaborate code woven into its fabric. The code appears to consist of a series of letters and numbers, grouped together in sequences as coded messages, that appear to tell a story. The empolyees call in an art historian, who hires you as his assistant to decipher these newfound codes.
On examining the tapestry, you determine that some of the information is strange or incomplete, but all of the messages contain some logic. Indeed, the code seems to follow certain patterns that indicate an internal logic is built into its use. Thus you must make your assessments based on the codes rather than what seems the most predictable or literal translation. Every code has a best answer that makes the most sense based on all the information presented, but remember that this test requires you to make judgements rather than simply apply logic and rules.
| Operators and General Rules |
Specific Information Basic Codes |
| A = multiple | 1 = I |
| B = opposite | 2 = you |
| C = down | 3 = man |
| D = group | 4 = horse |
| E = danger | 5 = sword |
| F = noble | 6 = tree |
| G = into | 7 = brave |
| H = special | 8 = move |
| 9 = take | |
| 10 = fight | |
| 11 = creature | |
| 12 = castle | |
| 13 = goblet | |
| 14 = search |
1. What is the best interpretation of the coded message: C12, 1, 9, F(B3)
A. Down from the castle, the noblewoman takes me as her equal.
B. The countess was my downfall.
C. I am taking the duchess into the castle.
D. I took the countess down from her castle.
E. The duchess and I found our downfall at the castle.
Get answer
2. What is the best interpretation of the coded message: F(7,3), E8, 5, B(G6)
A. The brave duke pulled the dangerous sword out of the tree.
B. The brave duke risked pushing the sword into the tree.
C. The duke bravely moved away from the treacherous tree with sword in hand.
D. The knight pulled the sword out of the tree.
E. The knight risked pulling the sword out of the tree.
Get answer
3. What would be the best way to encode the following message: Many armies of knights came to the castle seeking the Holy Grail.
A. AF(7, 3), 8, G12, 14, H13
B. AF(7, 3), 8, D4, G12, 14, H13
C. ADF(7, 3), 8, G12, 14, H13
D. ADF(7, 3), 8, G12, 9(14, H13)
E. ADF(7, 3), 8, D4, G12, 14, H13
Get answer
4. What is the best interpretation of the coded message: B(7, 3), 8, 10, (7, 3), 14, B10
A. On his quest for peace, a fearful man sometimes moves against a brave one in battle.
B. A coward fights on, while a fearless man seeks peace.
C. A man who is not a knight went and fought one who was on a search to end the war.
D. A serf must go fight a knight in the name of peace.
E. Peace is found when serfs and knights refuse to fight.
Get answer
5. Which of the following would be the most useful and second most useful additions to the codes to convey the message accurately?
Message: The perilous woodland creatures alarmed my horse with their vulgar sounds.