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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Medicine 2020

990 replies

EightToSixer · 30/09/2018 20:53

Ok, so I know it's super early, but I've been hovering at the medicine 18 and 19 threads. DD is keen to apply for medicine in 2020. Is anyone else in the same boat?
I thought it would be useful to share info and stories, it's all a very steep learning curve because despite me now having a PhD and working in a RG university I was late to learning and not a patch on my DD who is very driven and organised.
Hopefully people will find this group and we can share the rollercoaster of the next two years.

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Newgirls · 24/07/2019 08:38

Hi there

My dd took the ucat this week so done - she seems happy with the score but who knows - she might have done better leaving it til end pd summer or maybe she wouldn’t. Anyway it’s done. I was amazed looking at the ucat website that 25,000 students take the test. I realise it’s for medicine and dentistry but that seems loads!

EightToSixer · 25/07/2019 01:38

Great news newgirls.

Did anyone know of the cut off points for different universities for interview with ucat? Plymouth told us their cut off attached. Anyone know any others?

Medicine 2020
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242Mummy · 25/07/2019 08:17

EightToSixer The cut-off for each uni vary every year depending on the cohort which sits the test. I find it so frustrating that each uni has different requirements - some count in deciles, some set minimum marks per section etc. It's a complete minefield. In the end, you are applying 'blind' as no one knows the quality of other applicants you are pitted against!

Newgirls · 25/07/2019 08:44

That’s interesting that Plymouth say it is a ‘threshold’ - some places just said ‘this was our lowest score to get a place last year’. I think the Plymouth approach is clearer.

mumsneedwine · 25/07/2019 17:50

UCAT will issue interim results in Sept. they show how the court who have sat this year have done so far. It usually then moves down by about 40 points overall when final figures come out. Hope that helps.

mumsneedwine · 25/07/2019 17:51

Cohort 😳

mumsneedwine · 25/07/2019 18:16

Sheffield also issue their cut off so you know if you'll get an interview quite early. Notts system of scoring each individual section is great if you've done well in several but bombed one as can still get a good score. And they score the SJT. And if you totally bomb it and have fab GCSEs (they are now counting 8 and 9 as top mark) then apply to Cardiff. They don't use UCAT. Tactical applying gets this interviews 😁

242Mummy · 25/07/2019 18:46

Thanks mumsneedwine, that's really useful to know i.e the UCAT results. DS1 sitting the early BMAT so is working on that now. UCAT at the end of Sept so he'll be one of the last ones doing it. Can you remember when in Sept the interim results are released?

Newgirls · 25/07/2019 19:04

That’s so helpful thank you mumsneedwine / I didn’t know they did that.

mumsneedwine · 25/07/2019 19:07

Just checked and last year interim results were out on 19th Sept and full results on 5th October. Following them on Twitter is great as they also give out sample questions and answers. It is a truly vile exam !!

Newgirls · 25/07/2019 20:08

Thank you - will follow on twit 👍

bellylaughs · 01/08/2019 08:14

Anyone sitting the UCAT this week? DD doing hers tomorrow, I’m feeling nervous for her!

She seems reasonably happy with all sections except Abstract Reasoning, she’s finding them extremely tricky and you’re supposed to do them super fast Confused

Can’t quite believe she’ll have her result straight away so will be able to have a much better idea about unis afterwards Shock

sincethereis · 02/08/2019 12:54

Good luck to ur DD @bellylaughs!

EightToSixer · 02/08/2019 14:33

Good luck to your DD bellylaughs

DD isn't sitting her ucat until 17th August. Revising hard now we are back from our holiday. DD actually took 10 days off of work, revision etc for the first time since last summer, it was so good to see her relax.

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bellylaughs · 02/08/2019 16:31

Thanks for the good wishes, she’s back, says it was easier than the Medify mocks in some places, got average of 670 which she’s happy with!
Thank goodness it’s over... now for trying work out the unis she stand most chance with (and likes!) ...

sincethereis · 02/08/2019 19:56

That’s great !

It really shows its best to get it over and done with, especially as you get your results so soon after!

Daughter is aiming for a similar score- do you know if medify was wholly accurate or if certain sections were easier/harder ?

sincethereis · 02/08/2019 19:56
  • and what particular sections.

670 is a great score! Well done to your DD

bellylaughs · 02/08/2019 20:09

@sincethereis She was really worried about abstract reasoning but it was actually a good bit easier in the real test. The other sections she found a similar standard to the Medify Mocks.

EightToSixer · 03/08/2019 21:42

Can anyone enlighten me to the scoring of ucat? DD is on medify but can't work out how they assess scores and what is good or bad?

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mumsneedwine · 03/08/2019 22:13

Here are the scores. Anything in 80th percentile is excellent and 70th will often get an interview most places.

www.ucat.ac.uk/media/1312/ukcat-test-statistics-2016_2018.pdf

242Mummy · 05/08/2019 17:11

Any DC sitting the early BMAT at the end of August? Poor DS1 is just not getting Section 1 and is in despair, bless him.

Newgirls · 05/08/2019 21:29

No dd not taking the bmat. I wish him well 👍

sincethereis · 06/08/2019 00:28

No, October! Oxford doesn’t take August BMAT. L

EightToSixer · 06/08/2019 17:00

October BMAT here too I'm afraid.

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SirTobyBelch · 06/08/2019 17:48

@EightToSixer - UCAT consists of four cognitive subtests and the situational judgement test (SJT).

Each cognitive subtest is scored on a uniform mark scale in the range 300 to 900. Therefore the total score for the cognitive test is in the range 1,200 to 3,600. The median score for the first cohort was 2,400 but this has drifted upwards as candidates do more preparation for it. UCAT is in the process of recalibrating the mark scale to bring the median back towards 2,400 (this will occur gradually over a few years).

The SJT is graded into bands 1 (highest) to 4 (lowest). These indicate the degree of agreement between the candidate's answers and those given by a panel of experts (current senior medical students). The boundaries are based on closeness of agreement, not numbers/proportions of students scoring in a particular range. Less that 10% of each cohort scores in band 4, which is currently the only exclusion used by some medical schools (Leicester, Nottingham, Manchester, Keele, Birmingham).

The way the overall scores are used varies among medical schools. Some simply rank all eligible applicants on their UCAT scores, so the top 1,000, for example, get the interview invitations. Where the threshold lies depends entirely on the scores of the people who apply there that year. Obviously, people with lower scores don't apply to those medical schools (unless they haven't read the entry requirements, which accounts for a few hundred applicants for most schools). Others will set an absolute threshold and either interview everyone above it (so the number of interviews varies year-on-year) or use other criteria to rank applicants who are above the threshold. Others will combine UCAT score with other metrics (e.g. a score for GCSE grades). So there isn't a clear definition of a "good" or "bad" score.