I am a doctor. 27 definitely isn’t too old if it’s your heart’s desire and you are capable of getting the grades with some hard work. But I guess I can see how you might feel a bit stuck when you’ve been trying to start the long process of becoming a doctor for 2 years already after a late start. I think giving it one more year wouldn’t hurt if it’s absolutely your dream, but I do find it odd if that’s the case, that you are struggling to answer why you want to be a doctor yet are willing to try to get into medicine for 3 years in a row as a mature student. And you should absolutely be prepared for a long hard slog with endless exams and many years of exhausting yourself by working long unsociable hours and having not much of a life outside of work.
For my part I will say that being a doctor isn’t all it’s cracked up to be in this country any more, although it will always be a solid degree and you will always have job security. I’m pretty burned out at this point I think, so in some ways am not the best person to be advising, and would hate to put someone off medicine if it’s what they truly want to do, but having said that, there are a lot of doctors who feel just like me in the UK, and it’s getting worse rather than better. It’s a very difficult time to be a doctor in the UK, not just because of the pandemic but because of the chronic underfunding of the NHS and the apparent permanent Tory government we have. And I unfortunately don’t really see it improving any time soon. Hand on heart it’s difficult to encourage people into medicine right now in all good conscience. Personally I feel trapped and slightly regret becoming a doctor, which is sad as I used to see it as a vocation, I am a good doctor and care a lot about my patients, and at one point I loved my job (when we had a Labour government), but the job is now killing me. If you were planning to do medicine and immediately leave the country once qualified to practice outside of the UK the picture might look more hopeful! And the pendulum may yet change but I think it’s likely to be a really shit few decades til it does.
Basically if you want to do it for the “prestige” then I would heavily advise against it. Only do it if your heart and soul are screaming to be a doctor and you can’t contemplate doing anything else with your life. Only at that sort of level of dedication I think would it really be worth the effort right now.
If I were starting over again in the here and now, knowing now how things would turn out, I would train to be a Physicians Associate instead. As far as I can see, you get all the “fun” of medicine and a decent part of the salary too without having to do anything like the same amount of hard work either exams and studying wise or endless night shifts and weekends while training. It seems like a really good career path and the PA role is here to stay in the UK.