Any Biology Teachers around for advice?

[ipredictariot5]

My DD got ABB when needed AAA for medicine. Did Chem PE and Maths. A in PE. Since lots of med school either don’t take resits or require biology needs to consider A level Biology as well as resit Chem/ Maths. Is it feasible? School say they can timetable her to go to Year 12 and Year 13 classes and I am guessing there is some cross over with her other subjects too? Advice would be so welcome

Its very possible to cover A Level Bio in one year if they have lots of support, this would be difficult for a school to manage but possible with extra tuition, etc
Also a resit in maths and Chem to get an A would be very reasonable with an extra year's consolidation of the course content

Can i ask why they didn't do Bio in first place if they were interested in medicine? Its not necessary for lots of medical courses, but would be my first question at interview?

I would check whether exams have to be taken in one sitting. So in effect, no results. ABB does allow other careers and courses.

Liked PE had not yet thought of medicine at that point

I'm guessing they've thought about whether the year 13 biology topics are doable without having done the year 12 biology topics. Have they also thought about how/when she will cover the topics normally done in the last couple of months of year 12? Is the school able to provide some teaching on those, or will it be down to her to self-study or get a private tutor?

Some med schools allow resits so can do the A levels over three years. She’s well able for medicine and got three offers but nasty breakup
two weeks before exams caused grades
to slip

If she was late thinking about medicine as an option, has she also thought round all the related fields for possible alternatives?

I'd second this. What about Physiotherapy?

Obviously medicine pays more. The recent pay rise will see even more competition.

Some universities allow transfer after year one from some biology courses to medicine, although I'm guessing you'd usually have to have biology to be eligible for those in the first place?

Before your dd considers resitting her A levels and doing Biology has she done her UCAT? Without a good score there would be little point in doing resits.
She also needs to research carefully into which universities accept resits eg Bristol and Liverpool. Some say only one subject can be retaken, some also say that an A* is needed in the subjects being retaken,
If your dd is willing to work hard then doing the resits along with biology is possible

OP having been through med school myself albeit a few years ago now (graduated 2019) I think the most viable route currently where she's mostly likely to become a doctor in the end is to do another degree and then apply to do medicine postgrad. However, the fees for the second degree make this an unbelievably expensive route that's inaccessible for most. In my experience that's how most doctors I know who missed the grades did it. Best of luck to her

@ipredictariot5

What did she get for Biology at GCSE, OP?

Does she have a particular University in mind?

Yes we’ve been talking her through it - me and DH are both doctors and her brother is a physio but currently she wants to try the resit / A level biology route.
we are checking and emailing med school admissions re resits.
she also got an EPQ at A star and the odd medical school like these
it’s such a shame as she was well on target until she got dumped out of the blue two weeks before the exams and she went to pieces. I think she partly wants to prove herself
has got UCAT booked again next month x

got a 9
she had offers from the two she really wanted to go to last time Glasgow and Manchester. Now it’s a whole different ballpark and it’s going to be go where she can get in

Good luck with the UCAT - that’s the first step in the process. Email the med schools and ask about resits and specifically how many resits will be accepted and what predicted grades they want eg UEA accept resits but what the resit to be an A*.

@ipredictariot5

It looks as though Southampton considers resits.

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/~assets/doc/Selection%20Procedure%20and%20Policy%20for%20the%20Faculty%20of%20Medicine%202022-23.pdf

I think the most viable route currently where she's mostly likely to become a doctor in the end is to do another degree and then apply to do medicine postgrad.

I would second this advice from @aveenobambino. DD2 did biomedical science as an undergraduate degree and loads of her course mates were using it as a way into medicine. It's not an easy route, and not one that ever interested DD2, but those friends are now qualified doctors and the determination and focus required to do that has stood them in good stead.