UCAT Verbal Reasoning: True, False, or Can't Tell — How to Stop Guessing

The Question Type That Trips Up Even the Best Students

You’ve read the passage. You understand it. You feel confident. Then you hit a True/False/Can’t Tell question — and suddenly you’re second-guessing everything.

This is one of the most common experiences among UCAT Verbal Reasoning (VR) candidates, and it doesn’t discriminate. Students with strong reading comprehension, high English scores, and hours of preparation still find themselves guessing on these questions. The reason isn’t a lack of intelligence or effort. It’s a mismatch between how we naturally read and how UCAT VR demands we think.

By the end of this post, you’ll understand exactly why True/False/Can’t Tell questions are so deceptive, and you’ll have a clear, repeatable framework to answer them with confidence — not guesswork.

What True, False, and Can’t Tell Actually Mean

Before you can answer these questions correctly, you need to understand what each answer option is really asking.

True means the statement is directly supported by information in the passage. Not implied. Not consistent with. Directly supported.

False means the statement directly contradicts information in the passage. The passage says one thing; the statement says the opposite.

Can’t Tell means the passage does not provide enough information to determine whether the statement is true or false. The passage is silent, ambiguous, or only partially relevant.

The critical rule — and the one most students violate — is this: your answer must be based solely on the passage. Not on what you know about the world. Not on what seems reasonable. Not on what you’ve read elsewhere. Only on what the passage explicitly states.

This sounds simple. In practice, it’s surprisingly hard to do.

Why ‘Can’t Tell’ Is So Often the Right Answer

Here’s something that surprises many students: Can’t Tell is frequently the correct answer, and it’s also the most commonly missed.

Why? Because our brains are wired to fill in gaps. When we read a passage about, say, hospital staffing levels, and a statement asks whether nurse-to-patient ratios affect patient outcomes, we instinctively draw on everything we know about healthcare. Of course ratios matter — everyone knows that. So we mark True.

But if the passage never actually addresses patient outcomes, the correct answer is Can’t Tell.

This is the cognitive trap the UCAT exploits. Test-makers deliberately choose topics where students are likely to have background knowledge — medicine, science, social issues, current events — because that knowledge creates a powerful pull toward False confidence.

The trap works like this:

• The passage discusses a related topic
• The statement sounds plausible given your real-world knowledge
• You mark True (or False) without checking whether the passage actually supports it
• You get it wrong

Can’t Tell is the answer when the passage is silent on the matter, when the evidence is mixed or incomplete, or when you’d need additional information to be certain. If you find yourself thinking “well, it’s probably true because…” and that reasoning comes from outside the passage, stop. The answer is almost certainly Can’t Tell.

How to Stop Bringing in Outside Knowledge

Knowing the trap exists is one thing. Avoiding it under exam pressure is another. Here are practical strategies that work.

Treat the Passage as the Only Universe

Before you read the questions, make a deliberate mental commitment: for the next 90 seconds, everything I know about the world outside this passage does not exist. The passage is the only source of truth. This sounds dramatic, but it’s a genuine cognitive reframe that helps.

Anchor Every Answer to Explicit Text

When you select True or False, you should be able to point to a specific sentence or phrase in the passage that supports your answer. If you can’t locate that anchor, you don’t have enough evidence — and the answer is likely Can’t Tell.

Ask yourself: Where in the passage does it say this? If you can’t answer that question, don’t mark True or False.

Flag ‘Real-World Knowledge’ as a Red Flag

Train yourself to notice when your reasoning is drawing on outside knowledge. The moment you think “everyone knows that…” or “it’s obvious that…” or “in reality, this means…” — treat that as a warning signal. Pause. Return to the passage. Check whether the passage actually says what you’re assuming.

Use a Simple Decision Rule

When you’re unsure, apply this sequence:

1. Does the passage explicitly support the statement? → True
2. Does the passage explicitly contradict the statement? → False
3. Neither of the above? → Can’t Tell

This order matters. Can’t Tell is the default when the passage is insufficient — not a last resort when you’re confused.

Worked Examples

Let’s put the framework into practice with three short examples.

Example 1: True

Passage excerpt: “The university introduced mandatory attendance tracking in 2022, resulting in a 12% increase in tutorial participation rates across all faculties.”

Statement: Tutorial participation rates increased after the university introduced attendance tracking.

Reasoning: The passage explicitly states that attendance tracking resulted in a 12% increase in tutorial participation. The statement is directly supported. Answer: True.

Example 2: False

Passage excerpt: “Unlike traditional open-plan offices, the new workspace design prioritises individual enclosed workstations, which the company reports has reduced noise complaints significantly.”

Statement: The new workspace design uses an open-plan layout.

Reasoning: The passage directly states the new design is unlike traditional open-plan offices and prioritises enclosed workstations. The statement contradicts this. Answer: False.

Example 3: Can’t Tell

Passage excerpt: “The coastal town of Merrifield has seen a sharp rise in tourism over the past three years, with visitor numbers doubling since the opening of a new marine wildlife sanctuary.”

Statement: Local businesses in Merrifield have benefited financially from the increase in tourism.

Reasoning: The passage tells us tourism has increased, but it says nothing about the financial impact on local businesses. It’s plausible — even likely — that businesses have benefited, but the passage doesn’t say so. Marking True here would mean importing an assumption. Answer: Can’t Tell.

Notice how Example 3 is the most tempting to get wrong. The statement sounds reasonable. But reasonable isn’t the same as supported.

Speed Strategies for UCAT VR

UCAT Verbal Reasoning is as much a time management challenge as a comprehension one. You have 21 minutes for 44 questions — roughly 28 seconds per question once you account for reading time. Here’s how to stay on pace.

Skim First, Read Strategically

Don’t read the passage in full before looking at the questions. Skim the passage for structure and key themes (about 20–30 seconds), then read each question and return to the relevant section of the passage. This targeted approach is faster than reading everything upfront.

Use Keyword Matching

For each statement, identify the key noun or concept and scan the passage for where that concept appears. This anchors your search quickly rather than re-reading the whole passage.

Eliminate Confidently

If you can rule out True or False with certainty, you’ve narrowed it to two options. Sometimes elimination is faster than confirmation — especially for Can’t Tell, where you’re looking for the absence of evidence rather than its presence.

Time-Box Each Question

If a question is taking more than 35–40 seconds, make your best call and move on. Spending 90 seconds on one question costs you three others. Flag it if the interface allows, but don’t let one hard question derail your timing.

Don’t Re-Read Unnecessarily

Trust your first read. If you’ve anchored your answer to explicit passage text, you don’t need to re-read the whole passage to verify. Re-reading is one of the biggest time sinks in VR.

Build the Framework with MasterMed VR Drills

Understanding the True/False/Can’t Tell framework is the first step. Internalising it — so that it becomes automatic under exam pressure — requires deliberate, targeted practice.

MasterMed’s Verbal Reasoning drills at mastermed.com.au are designed specifically for this. The drills are structured to expose you to the full range of VR question types, with a particular focus on the Can’t Tell trap and outside-knowledge errors that cost students marks.

What makes targeted drill practice so effective is the feedback loop. Each question you get wrong is an opportunity to identify exactly where your reasoning broke down — whether you imported outside knowledge, misread the passage, or misapplied the True/False/Can’t Tell criteria. Over time, that feedback rewires your instincts.

Students who practise with MasterMed’s VR drills consistently report that Can’t Tell questions become less intimidating and more predictable. That’s not because the questions get easier — it’s because the framework becomes second nature.

Start Practising Today

True/False/Can’t Tell questions don’t have to be a source of anxiety. With the right framework and enough targeted practice, they become one of the most manageable question types in UCAT Verbal Reasoning.

Here’s your action plan:

• Commit to the passage-only rule: no outside knowledge, ever
• Anchor every True or False answer to explicit passage text
• Default to Can’t Tell when the passage is silent or ambiguous
• Practise under timed conditions to build speed alongside accuracy

Ready to put it into practice? Visit mastermed.com.au to access MasterMed’s full suite of UCAT Verbal Reasoning drills. Work through the True/False/Can’t Tell sets, review your errors, and watch your accuracy improve — question by question.