Worked Examples: Full Data Sets

This lesson brings together everything covered in this course. It presents complete UCAT-style data sets, each with 4 questions, fully worked through with timing guidance and strategy notes. These examples replicate the exact format you will encounter on test day.

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Data Set 1: Hospital Admissions Table

Data:

Ward	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Medical	24	28	31	26	22	18	15
Surgical	18	22	19	24	20	12	10
Paediatric	8	12	10	9	11	7	6
Maternity	5	7	6	8	5	4	3

Reading time: 15–20 seconds. Note: 4 wards, 7 days, all values are small numbers (easy mental arithmetic).

Question 1: What is the total number of admissions across all wards on Wednesday?

Strategy: Sum the Wednesday column.

31 + 19 + 10 + 6 = 66

Mental method: 31 + 19 = 50, 50 + 10 = 60, 60 + 6 = 66.

Time: ~5 seconds. Answer: 66

Question 2: What percentage of total Monday admissions were to the Surgical ward?

Strategy: Find Monday total, then calculate Surgical's percentage.

Step 1: Monday total: 24 + 18 + 8 + 5 = 55

Step 2: Surgical on Monday: 18

Step 3: (18 ÷ 55) × 100

18/55 ≈ 1/3 = 33.3%. More precisely: 18/55 = 36/110 = 0.327 = 32.7%

Time: ~12 seconds. Answer: 32.7%

Question 3: Which ward had the greatest decrease in admissions from Monday to Sunday?

Strategy: Calculate decrease for each ward.

• Medical: 24 − 15 = 9
• Surgical: 18 − 10 = 8
• Paediatric: 8 − 6 = 2
• Maternity: 5 − 3 = 2

Greatest decrease: Medical (9 admissions)

Time: ~10 seconds.

Question 4: What is the average daily number of total admissions (across all wards)?

Strategy: Find grand total, divide by 7.

Step 1: Daily totals:

• Monday: 55 (from Q2)
• Tuesday: 28 + 22 + 12 + 7 = 69
• Wednesday: 66 (from Q1)
• Thursday: 26 + 24 + 9 + 8 = 67
• Friday: 22 + 20 + 11 + 5 = 58
• Saturday: 18 + 12 + 7 + 4 = 41
• Sunday: 15 + 10 + 6 + 3 = 34

Step 2: Grand total: 55 + 69 + 66 + 67 + 58 + 41 + 34 = 390

Step 3: Average: 390 ÷ 7 = 55.7 (to 1 d.p.)

Strategy note: We reused the Monday total from Q2 and the Wednesday total from Q1. This saved recalculating two sums.

Time: ~25 seconds (this is a time-intensive question — acceptable for the last question in a set).

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Data Set 2: Shop Price List

Data:

Item	Weight/Volume	Price
Bread (white)	800 g loaf	£1.20
Bread (wholemeal)	800 g loaf	£1.45
Milk (semi-skimmed)	2 litres	£1.30
Milk (whole)	1 litre	£0.85
Butter	250 g	£1.90
Cheese (cheddar)	400 g	£3.20
Eggs (free-range)	Box of 6	£1.80
Eggs (free-range)	Box of 12	£3.00

Question 1: What is the price per egg in the box of 12?

Strategy: Simple division.

£3.00 ÷ 12 = £0.25 (25p per egg)

Time: ~3 seconds.

Question 2: How much cheaper per egg is the box of 12 compared to the box of 6?

Strategy: Find both unit prices, subtract.

• Box of 6: £1.80 ÷ 6 = £0.30 per egg
• Box of 12: £0.25 per egg (from Q1)
• Difference: £0.30 − £0.25 = £0.05 (5p cheaper per egg)

Time: ~6 seconds (reusing Q1's answer).

Question 3: A customer buys 2 loaves of white bread, 1 litre of semi-skimmed milk, 500 g of butter, and a box of 12 eggs. What is the total cost?

Strategy: Calculate each item, then sum. Note: semi-skimmed milk is sold in 2-litre bottles, so 1 litre is half a bottle. And butter is sold in 250 g blocks, so 500 g = 2 blocks.