Medicine 2023

[Kendodd]

Child thinking about medicine and is doing chemistry, biology maths and an EPC (or whatever they're called)
How likely is she to get in with -
AAA*
AAA
A*AA
AAA
AAB (I've heard this is the absolute minimum to get a place anywhere)

I've heard it's really tough and even with three A* she might not get in anywhere. I fear she'll fail the interview because she's very shy.

Top one was three A*

@Kendodd nothing to do with predicted grades really. As long as have AAA (AAB at a v few) then it comes down to UCAT/BMAT scores and interview. Ask away if need more info, but good GCSEs help a lot too in some places. Everywhere selects differently - look on Uni websites for how they select for interview details.

@Kendodd - Is she in year 12? As @mumsneedwine said, being on track for the required A-Level grades is the bare minimum. She will need to get through interviews, and even to get an interview she will have to meet individual medical schools' requirements for aptitude tests (UK Clinical Aptitude Test [UCAT] and/or Biomedical Admissions Test [BMAT]), possibly GCSEs and possibly personal statement or other autobiographical form.

There's a lot of useful information at www.medschools.ac.uk/studying-medicine/outreach-and-support/resources-for-teachers-and-students and www.themedicportal.com/application-guide/.

Regarding interviews, she will need to work on her confidence in talking to people she doesn't know about things she has to think about. You don't have to be garrulous to pass a medical school interview, but you do need to know what you want to say and be able to say it. You also need something to talk about (understanding of the role of a doctor, how healthcare is delivered, ethical challenges, etc., and some relevant experiences). It's worth setting up a small group of students who want to apply for medicine and similar courses to have regular discussions of healthcare & social issues, ethics, etc. A friendly RE or philosophy teacher can be very helpful.

In a year's time she'll need to check the details of different medical schools. Their entry requirements are different sometimes from the thresholds needed to get an interview. For example (without contextual points) you're unlikely to get an interview at Exeter without 3 X A* predictions but very few others look at specific predictions once you meet the baseline ( predictions are not always very reliable). Her score at UCAT next year will be more important than her predictions.
She'll need to practice interview skills as shyness is a difficult trait to do medicine with - she'll need to be confident in talking to people she doesn't know. The first hurdle though is getting 4 interviews, then she's only got to get through one of them.

Thank you both.
I think her shyness will be the biggest challenge.

Hi @Kendodd
I would recommend getting a copy of a book called “Getting into Medical School” by Adam Cross and Emily Lucas. The most up to date version is for 2022 entry - but you could buy this version and have a read of it - you’d just have to ignore anything regarding specific requirements for individual Universities as these may change for 2023 - to be honest even if you had the 2023 version I would suggest you don’t rely on any info about specific requirements other than what is on the University website

I found this book useful as initially I had no idea about Medical School applications

Regarding shyness, she has a good while until she will be interviewing maybe she will grow in confidence. Things like a part time job waitressing helped my DD get used to speaking to people she didn’t know etc also volunteering at a care home. All things that support their application too!

Good luck - just take it one step at a time

I think there is a thread on TSR already for Y11s. She might find that useful