Medicine 2022 entry - How difficult is it really? *title edited by MNHQ at OP's request*

[notmedicmum]

I couldn't find a thread for 2022 entrants to medicine - maybe I didn't look hard enough! DD is in Year 12 and has wanted to do medicine since Year 10. It's only this year that we realise the enormity of actually getting a place. Not only do you have to have brilliant grades, you must also have done work experience, volunteered (both difficult in the current situation), got excellent BMAT/UCAT scores. Oh, and you also must have cycled from Land's End to John O'Groats to raise money for charity or climbed Kilimanjaro or won the Nobel Peace prize or found a cure for cancer (joking about the last two). How competitive is it REALLY? I'm not sure about the value of the last apart from being used as a selection tool as the unis get so many qualified applicants - and showing enterprise and drive. Apparently this sort of thing is even more important this year as getting work experience is very hard this year. How does climbing a mountain make you a better doctor anyway? And what can normal students do to improve their chances of success??

@SandyBayley I will be astonished if the number of band 1s is as high as last year.

Me too. There were 30% last year I think but it's looking much fewer this year.

@SandyBayley seems SJT 1 is v rare this year ! Usually interim results are about 60-80 points higher than final percentiles.
🤞🤞for everyone that it's nice and normal this year.

I'm slightly bemused as to how DD pulled the Band 1 off. She's a lovely girl in very many ways but her RL judgment is questionable with regard to many situations.

DS1 got a band 1 in 2019 when only 17% got band 1, but I was also surprised as I would not have guessed it was a strength. I assumed he got lucky with his questions!

Somebody must be red faced at Pearson's for mistakenly announcing results!

It's very easily done! DD's school
Mistakenly released some GCSE results a dat early one year. They got in trouble for it...

Stats are out, main numbers look fairly normal for interim, but they say they are expecting 37,000 test takers, so another 10% increase.

Only 16% band 1, 40% band 2 and 12% band 4 (which is high).

I’ve just had a panicked message from DD, thinks she’s totally screwed up and won’t be getting in. I really need to sit down and read through it all, it’s so bloody confusing if you’re not familiar with it.

@BabbleBee - this is only the first cut of results. The final outcome in previous years has usually settled at a slightly lower level. These are unusual times.

@BabbleBee

I’ve just had a panicked message from DD, thinks she’s totally screwed up and won’t be getting in. I really need to sit down and read through it all, it’s so bloody confusing if you’re not familiar with it.

Yup, first time through is such a learning curve. Third round of applications for our household, and many others on here who have been asking the journey at least once! We are happy to help if we can, most can get interviews if strategic, then it is just the interview (which I completely understand first time round).

*completely underestimated". Typing whilst dog walking!

@Monkey2001 thank you. It’s so difficult to reassure her when I don’t know for certain myself. Her UCAT was 2420 with Band 2 SJT. Hopefully that and her BrightMed allowances will be enough.

@BabbleBee has there been any movement on A level predictions? I think that may be as much of an issue as UCAT, depending on whether she qualifies as contextual.

Have you discussed whether she would be willing to do a foundation year if she is eligible? If I were you I would go through all the "medicine with a gateway year" entry criteria and see which she is eligible for - www.medschools.ac.uk/studying-medicine/making-an-application/entry-requirements.

Also look at the contextual criteria at ones which are UCAT light - Keele, KMMS, UEA, Plymouth, QUB, Sunderland, Aston. As others have said, deciles will move when final results come out and she should be in top of 3rd/bottom of 4th decile.

If she is doing BMAT for BSMS you should also look at Lancaster - carer for a sibling is one of the qualifying criteria, but she would need to meet another one of the criteria and be predicted AAB, but the offer would be ABB. www.lancaster.ac.uk/lms/medicine/mbchb-medicine-and-surgery/entry-requirements/

Thank you @Monkey2001

We have discussed foundation year and she isn’t keen but I’m not 100% sure why. She is very able in biology and I think will probably move that way somehow. She’s also toyed with Nursing… however, I’ve been a nurse for over 20 years and wouldn’t recommend it!!

Still no movement on predicted grades which is really frustrating. If she hasn’t heard by the end of today then I’m going to be getting involved, even though she doesn’t want that!

We’ll have a look at the ones you’ve suggested, thanks. She has automatic interview at Keele, HYMS, Manchester, Plymouth and BSMS if she meets other criteria thanks to BrightMed (UKWPMed).

DD’s MedSoc meeting yesterday turned into a statsFest of comparison with interim and final UCAT data from previous years.

All DD brought out was a confirmation that she was right to avoid A level Maths!

Did they conclude that this year's UCAT deciles are likely to come in pretty close to last year's @KingscoteStaff...BUT 10% more students are likely to be chasing less med school places due to enforced deferrals?

Hardly music to our ears is it?! ... nibbles finger nails......

Do we know yet what proportion of the 2022 places are actually available to the current Year 13s once all the deferred places have been added up? It’s got to be fewer than in ‘normal’ years?

Obviously Exeter hit the headlines with their payment, but I bet other medical schools have had more deferrals this year.

I think it’s relevant - if the data says that 450 places are available each year and normally 10 are deferrals, but this year it’s 50, then that is quite a change to the chances of getting an interview/offer.

Is this something we’d only get with an FOI request?

Kingscote, if any help I know there are only c 55 available places at Lincoln for 2022 entry (no deferrals but a large chunk of foundation course students coming - I think about 26?), and Nottingham has quite a number of deferrals (from memory over 10%) taking up places plus again a chunk of foundation students coming through - we asked at the Lincoln open day recently as the Deans of Education who cover both unis were there. DS really likes St Andrews too but the latest figures we can find seem to indicate there will only be about 35 places for UK students even before any deferrals which is perhaps a bit too risky for him...

@Solarlantern your information about St Andrews is not right. If you look at this FOI they generally make about 125 RUK offers spilt across the 3 application pathways. They have a very good offer to interview rate and it is a good option with a high UCAT and band 1 if you like their course. www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/admission_statistics_2204#incoming-1878491

Interesting but depressing to see the numbers for Lincoln.

Ooh thanks @Monkey2001, I will tell him as that sounds much more encouraging! I think he dug out some sort of funding doc from the Scot Gov as he'd asked on TSR and didn't get any response so not quite sure how he got to that figure...and agree depressing about Lincoln figures. The open day was great and he was really impressed with the new facilities and the course structure..

@Solarlantern the SFC numbers are confusing for St Andrews, I think they may just refer to the Scottish route.

[quote Monkey2001]@Solarlantern the SFC numbers are confusing for St Andrews, I think they may just refer to the Scottish route.[/quote]
It is just 39 places for RUK applicants, but they interview and offer far more than that (interview about 150, offer about 130).
Lincoln have always been in this situation re places. All med schools with a Foundation Year have places "pinched" for those joining the first year from that, so they have had this sort of number since they opened (in fact, I seem to remember it was only 30 places for new applicants a few years ago, according to their Dean, so has gone up! Think they are aiming for 100, of which 30 are FY)

It seems to be ridiculously difficult to find the approved numbers for 2022, but what I have found on the Office for Students website is that the target numbers for 2021 were increased to 8,032 (total) including 7,576 (home) following a letter from Michelle Donolan in May 2021 which said there were 480 deferred/waiting for results from Autumn exams.

They then increased by a further 368 in August, making 7,944 home places for 2021.

That implies a baseline number of around 7,100 places for this year, so 10% fewer places for 10% more applicants. We should all see it as a 2 year process this year!

@GANFYD there is definitely something strange about the SFC St Andrews numbers. If you look at the FOI I linked, there are about 100 RUK students starting each year in St Andrews, but around 20 of those for the Scottish route. Also the SFC numbers aren't the same as the published St Andrews total numbers.