Oxbridge Medicine with 6A*& 4A-For GCSEs, Is it still possible?

DD had 6 A*s and 5 A's at GCSE. This was 3 years ago. She checked out the requirements and found she probably didn't stand a chance at Birmingham and Bristol - and they have raised the bar still further since then.
She did get a very good UKCAT score so she chose two which gave weight to that and she applied to 2 which required BMAT - which was risky but it paid off. She got three offers and is at her first choice BMAT med school. Oxford was her second choice - she didn't like the course structure but rather fancied Oxford itself.

B'ham chooses very early based on GCSE scores. That way it picks up a lot of candidates who have applied to Oxbridge and don't get in. It also means that many candidates rock up at an Oxbridge interview with the added confidence of already having an offer from Birmingham.

Many people fail to get into med school first time round but make it the following year when they have got the hang of strategy. If GCSE's are comparatively weak (!) then apply to the ones which choose using other criteria.

Also unis that don't require BMAT or UKCAT are looking for vast numbers of A*s at GCSE. Avoid those.

DD is at med school.

It's a matter of strategy and it's not too soon to do the spadework.

Look at how the course is taught. Oxford is very theoretical in the first 3 years whereas others ensure patient contact early on.

The BMAT score is crucial but you don't know the score for that until after the application is submitted so there is a risk of wasting one or more of the 4 med school choices.

A piece of advice I was given was that a doctor is a doctor wherever he/she studied. They are all validated by the same body. Bearing this in mind, concentrate on getting her into a med school. It might not necessarily be Oxford so choose the 4 carefully, based on how much credit they give to candidates for stellar GCSE's, UKCAT scores and extra-curriculars - and whether BMAT is a requirement.
Chemistry is essential.

This article was very interesting and highly relevant:

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/8695030/Why-rejection-from-university-was-the-best-medicine.html

The author speaks of both revision course for the aptitude test and also of the usefulness of work experience.

zara77 I've got no personal experience of Oxbridge medicine to offer. However I do know someone studying medicine elsewhere and she counted herself lucky (with excellent grades and relevant experience) to get 2 offers from her choices. She has since won scholarships for excellence.

I'm told 60% of applicants to medical school get no offers at all. I realise that is because some people apply who frankly haven't much hope. However there are a lot of apparently well qualified young people who can't get offers. Medical schools differ on what they look for and on how they teach, Your daughter would stand no hope at Birmingham, for example, where GSCEs matter a lot. She needs to read up about the schools and tailor her applications to ones that fit. Some use BMAT, some UKCAT, some neither.

If considering Oxbridge the best advice is to visit colleges, speak to tutors and take it from there. If considering medicine it helps to show evidence of long-term commitment so she should start some volunteering soon. Care homes and hospices are good. Sport only matters to show stamina and a way of relaxing from the pressure. Oxbridge may not be the best fit for your child. Oxbridge is quite academic and some schools do problem based learning, that involves much earlier contact with patients. Encourage her to look at how she will be taught not where and make sure her A levels choices are appropriate.

leosdad that's actually quite standard for very, very well qualified applicants. I guess the less competitive unis just don't want to waste an offer which another deserving applicant may well need as their firm.

beanlet thanks for the apology.

Of course you're right about the Cambridge requirements, my point from the start was that you were wrong and misleading to give out information as though it applied to Oxford too when it doesn't and when it could potentially cause a real problem for the OP who was seeking accurate advice. These different procedures can be decisive to an applicant when they are relatively strong at GCSE and weak at AS or vice-versa. Nothing else matters if you don't make the interview. And you obviously have a particular responsibilty to get it right when you give the advice qua wife of a Senior Oxbridge Tutor. We were clearly both trying to help but there's nothing ultimately helpful about wrong advice, even if you didn't want to out yourself by saying it was Cambridge specific.

Er, yes, the lice thing was a 'joke'. I did of course spot the mistake but in the context of what you said about private schoolers/ your place in academia, I indulged myself by affecting to correct your grammar on quite a beautifully apposite typo. Little things and little minds and all that.

(and lices was OBVIOUSLY a typo for lives )

I am in the process of namechanging, but the reason I'm back on this thread IS to apologise for being offensive. I'm afraid your post really riled me Yellowstone, and being half awake I went off half cocked. I realised I'd been a twit immediately and asked to have both posts removed literally a minute after I'd posted - I don't know why it took all day to do.

Definitely apologies to any hard working children who thoroughly deserve their 11 A*s. I'm right about Cambridge's requirements though.

Suggestion on BMAT apart from revision of gcse level chem, physics, biol and maths, get plenty of practice on essay writing within a set time. Most science sixth formers do not write essays.

Medical admissions can be a bit wierd though. A young friend of my DD got offers at cambridge and ucl but not even an interview at Keele!!!!

I have read this thread with interest. I am a secondary Biology teacher and have supported a number of students trying to get into medicine. The interesting part has been reading about it from the university perspective.

IME, relevant work experience in a medical field and showing commitment e.g. volunteering over a long period in a care home is a plus, consistent academic excellence is essential so 6+ As and the rest As DO matter. Birmingham specify at least 7 As, I think. They are interested in high performance at GCSE as it shows an ability to work consistently well when meeting many simultaneous coursework deadlines and doing lots of exams at a time. Being an all rounder, I guess. High scores on BMAT/UKCAT are essential - ignore what the websites about them say - do LOTS of practice, buy a book or two and speed is the key to answering the questions and you can improve this!

However, Oxbridge seems to have its own rules. I had a pupil with 10 A*s, excellent AS results, all the right work experience and passion but did not get into Cambridge. Had offers from his other 3 med schools and is now about to start his second year at Birmingham after a very successful first year. We spent hours on the Cambridge plan - BMAT, interview etc. but could never quite figure it out. Seems to be "if your face fits".

I would encourage your DD to work very hard through her AS year, do as much relevant voluntary work (you have to be VERY pushy and pull as many strings as you can!) and research and think very carefully about where to apply this time next year. Good luck!

Last time I visited St Andrew's most of the students had English accents.

Despite strong family links with St. A, DS1 has been put off applying there by the rumour that they don't like English applicants (he's got a lot of Scots blood but no accent and wouldn't be great in an interview hamming it up). Any views?

Sorry OP for the hijack.

Forget to mention - you can't do the hospital part of your medical training at st Andrews as there is no teaching hospital there, hence the peculiar setup (which the majority of medics completing in Manchester). I can definitely recommend st. Andrews as a fab place to spend four years!!!

That's interesting, thanks.

To be honest, I'm not really sure (it's been some years since I attended!!)...however, I had quite a few medic friends and a few of them opted to do a four year honours course instead of the usual three and then complete the remainder of the training at Cambridge......something to do with the research links (they share quite a few professors) and also being part of the 1994 group of universities.... If this still applies it might be a good back up for your daughter.

eshermum it's interesting that you say St. A? Is there a particular nexus between Cambridge and St. A?

Would I be right in saying that while Oxford and Cambridge (and other top universities) have been keen to stress recently that they're not that interested in extra-curricular stuff, for medicine all medical schools, including Oxbridge, are looking for some relevant work/volunteer experience? And evidence of leadership ability?

She can apply for medicine at st Andrews and if she does well she will have an option to complete her training at Cambridge (after first four years) instead of Manchester whichnis the usual route. It's a great back-up that will still fulfil then dream.

beanlet it would show a lot more grace to apologise for what you said than to ask for your insults aimed indiscriminately at private school kids to be deleted. That's just cowardly. I'd have expected better from the wife of a Senior Cambridge Tutor.

If you hold yourself out as a reliable source of information then you should get it right, because others, quite reasonably believing you to be well informed, might be misled to their detriment.

whoops, sorry!

Anyway .....

needed to gain A* would mean that someone bright but very lazy would be pretty unlikely to get them.

beanlet even the best private school could not turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. And plenty of very bright and hardworking children get straight A* at state school you know.

I think A only ever go to people who are very bright, AND very hardworking. The combination of elements needed to gain A w