UCAT burnout is certainly real. Signs of UCAT burnout are typically when you are putting in many hours of revision, but your scores are not improving or even getting worse. Symptoms include worry, stress, fear of failing and inability to relax away from your studies. Students can also experience getting colds, run down, feeling anger, stomach cramps and muscle aches, even teeth clenching or grinding. When you get to the stage of UCAT burnout, simply doing more and more questions with longer hours becomes counterproductive.
The whole UCAT exam is a cycle, and your performance is shaped as a bell curve. Therefore, the optimum time in that bell curve is at the very peak, and this is when you want to be taking the exam to get your best score. UCAT burnout occurs when you are on the extreme right-hand side of the UCAT cycle curve, so somehow you must get back to your optimum again. It is not easy to get back on track again, and if your exam is just days away, there may not be time to do this. Sometimes we advise changing your exam date however, this requires careful thought. UCAT burnout is often related to poor initial planning and following incorrect techniques from the outset.
Burnout also occurs when you are not in your optimum zone of good concentration when you are revising. This can be due to tiredness, poor sleep and diet. A common feature of students who experience burnout is that they are unable to be flexible and keep repeating the events that led to the burnout in the first place. When this happens, speak to an experienced professional who can pinpoint your way out of this quandary because you are unlikely to get a satisfactory score once you reach this stage. Burnout with UCAT can happen, and when you recognise it, you then need to stop and rethink how you are revising.