Medicine 2023 Entry

[opoponax]

Hi all,

I don't think there is a Medicine 2023 Entry thread yet, so it might be an idea to get one started.

Anyone out there with DC applying or reapplying for Medicine 2023, please join a friendly thread for mutual support and useful advice from those who understand the UK Medical School application process.

3A levels have to be sat in the same sitting for nearly all Unis (& for all schools). They want them to prove that they can cope with the workload.

Hi I am very late to the party here. This is a great thread, such useful advice.
DD wanted to do medicine then decided against it due to the nature of the future career, investigated alternatives and has come back to medicine as its the only thing she finds exciting and interesting. So she is cramming for UCATs and I am creating her a spreadsheet for info.
We got to Bristol and Brighton for open days, really informative.
@opoponax please can I ask what info did your DS put on his spreadsheet? So that I gather up the right data for this one I am creating for DD ( I know she should do it herself but she is spread a little thin just now with work, college and UCAT cramming).
@monkey2001 your spreadsheet is great! I have nicked it and am updating with each uni's 2023 entry requirements, happy to send to anyone that wants it when finished or add to here. So that I understand correctly, the UCAT RAG status, is that for last year or this year? Is that what it was for the 2021 applications, so are a best guess for the 2022 application/2023 entry students?
Sorry to be a bit dense.
Will re-read this thread and add in the other data, ie the EPQ relevance that was mentioned, and anyhing else that will help.

@Cratos do you mean that your DS is doing both Maths and a language A level this year, then only 2 A levels at the end of year 13? This might well be an issue for courses other than Medicine. Or do you mean that he is taking subjects X, Y, Maths at the end of year 13, but may get a better grade in the MFL being taken this year (?mother tongue) and so was hoping that this could be used as the third grade for the offer if he doesn't do as well as hoped / get the required prefiction for Maths?

...prediction...🙄

@MarchingFrogs Hello

Thanks for your interest. He has completed a language A level in year 12 (this year) and he has Biology, Chemistry and Maths to complete in year 13. The language is his mother tongue but not father tongue (-: It is not his native language or language of instruction. He lived and studied in the UK all his life. I thought the language at home. Some medical schools count it towards his UCAS points some don't take it into consideration at all. I also saw one that expects A* if it decides to count it. It is complicated. We need to do more research to understand better. If we knew what we know now, he could do it in year 13 or he could just leave it completely. School didn't provide any advice either. It is a hassle for them. It was not easy for him to juggle the work for this A level either. It did actually require substantial effort. Perhaps it was a waste of time after all.

It won't have been a waste of time - he will probably have improved the formal side of the language, for a start (one of my friends, a Brit who had lived in Germany and been educated in an International School there until she transferred to our school for O levels, always said of our respective prowess in German that she spoke German better than I did, but I spoke better German😄). And it's another paper qualification, which may yet come in useful later on.

It just means that he has to work just as hard a) at getting as good a grade in Maths as he can next year and b) as hard as anyone else next year only having done those 3 A levels from the start.

Good luck.

Do you all know UCAT booking opened today? The popular dates (first 2 weeks of August) go quickly.

@Cratos I don't know what your language is, but if European, Manchester has an option to do part of the training in Europe if you are a linguist. Also, although some say they don't count a mother tongue language, there are people on TSR for whom it was part of the offer.

Thank you very much for your comments. Yes it is nice to have the formal qualification. And he had exposure to more social and cultural subjects that he wouldn't normally look at as a science student. His GCSE s are very good so perhaps we should choose to apply to a school that values UCAS points and GCSEs. to get an interview. But some schools he liked don't look at these.
Thanks for letting us know about UCAT dates @Monkey2001

UCAT booked for 11th August. 6-8 weeks revision time 😬

DD booked UCAT for later in Aug. 6am on the dot. There were very few August days on there, about 3 days to choose from, but perhaps that is because we are coastal, maybe they only schedule in a few days of tests here, and many more in the bigger cities.

meant she booked it at 6am today, not that her test is at 6am! She has a 10am test which we thought was going to make life a bit easier for her.

DD also booked UCAT today for beginning of August - there were lots of slots about 11am this morning - she could take her pick but in / close to a big city which might make a difference.

The spreadsheet doesn't have to be too complicated and part of the benefit is the process of sifting through the information as it helps them to get their heads straight on the differences between the schools. I would start with location (maybe travelling time from home in hours if that is a big consideration), then city or campus, then course structure integrated/PBL/more academic structure (sometimes 3 years university based then three years clinical e.g. Oxbridge). Then specific differentiating aspects of the course (e.g. full body dissection, prosection) and any other aspects that are important to them. Then start to look at the various entrance criteria and the relative weightings of each component (ie. some medical schools are GCSE-heavy, some are UCAT heavy, some (e.g. Exeter are very interested in predicted grades, some are a mix of both, some place less focus on the UCAT/BMAT, some like Keele are very focused on work experience). Caution in this whole area though as sometimes the stated entry thresholds can vary quite significantly from actual UCAT cut-offs etc. in previous years. Hence Monkey's spreadsheet is very, very useful. They can then start to measure their own profile against what the different medical schools are looking for, although they are likely to have a much clearer idea of the best fit once they have their UCAT/BMAT scores. Then they can turn the long list they can prepare at this stage into a proper shortlist.

Previous post meant for @whereisthejasmine and I meant to write that Keele is keen on work experience/ volunteering and not just work experience in the sense of shadowing.

@opoponax thank you. I fear I have overcomplicated already! will be adding monkey's RAG status data then leaving it for her to ponder on. so much to review and hard for her to know what learning type will be best for her. Narrowing down to 4 is going to be so hard for her (and everyone!)

It does become clearer once they have all their stats. It's a bit of a weird process as on one hand they are finding out all the information to long list options but on the other hand it is important that they remain open-minded in order to best play to their own strengths once they have the full picture after UCAT. The joys!

Feel like I am a bad mother because I have spent the past year questioning whether medicine is a good career choice for my child (I am an ex-health care worker and I am very very jaded). Anyway sorted myself out and realise it is my son's choice and I am here to support him. UCAT is booked for September and the College is sorting out BMAT. My son is booked on an intensive 5-day/5 night UCAT & BMAT course which will go towards the DofE Gold Award. We felt this was important for him as he is a late August baby so he will be one of the youngest in the cohort and this course offers single ensuite accommodation similar to HOR which I hope will help to prepare him. He is taking Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Psychology A levels. He is volunteering in a nursing home and a hospice. Been on a couple of university open days and he has spoken to other medicine 2023 intake students and he said they all seemed friendly. I know from working in healthcare that most of my colleagues were caring and compassionate human beings. It is a tough road though and I wish everyone the best of luck.

@50istheyear the residential course sounds very good. I should check if there is anything like that in our area. Also it is great that your school is helping with BMAT. Are all your children doing both exams ?
We are still struggling with work experience. My DS found a couple of opportunities but process for interviews, DBS, ID checks & training have been going on for 3 months now. He still has not started )-: perhaps he should get back to his cafe job. Clinical experience applications have not progressed. He has not received any responses so far. A surgery said they can offer him something but after October. That is a bit late for the application.

@Cratos do you know that most medical schools don't really use PS, so work experience in time for interviews is the most important thing. Cafe plus all the online things (BSMS and Observe GP) should give enough for PS. Cafe plus something like care home volunteering would be great. My observation back in 2018/19 cycle was that people with cafe jobs did really well at interview.

@Monkey2001 thank you for your advice and sharing your experience. It is reassuring that experience after the application still counts until the interview time. I heard/read that many schools stopped using the PS however we still need to enter the work experience to UCAS application form I think. Is that right ? Some schools mention that they will validate the work experience as well. Can we enter online work experience in the UCAS form as well ?
His school today told him that an experience with a local hospital might be available in Autumn but this will be too late for his application. We can also encourage him to get another Cafe job.

@Cratos you can put whatever you like in the PS. It is perfectly valid to talk about activities planned. Do you have a shortlist of places you are looking at?

@Monkey2001 I made a mental note and I will tell him he should write his activities planned in his PS if he manages to sort this out. Thank you. We have a rather longlist instead of a shortlist at the moment I am afraid. We need one very safe choice but it is hard to judge this since the statistics may be different each year etc. I can see some info on some websites but I am not sure how recent they are or how reliable they are or how to interpret them exactly. MSC updated their info on some schools as well I noticed. Also I think some schools are giving a higher percentage to WP applicants (I know what this means now. I am learning). Perhaps we should not apply to these. I am not sure. We are looking at lots of information but I am not sure if this is helping. We will hopefully get there eventually.

Until he has UCAT score it needs to be a fairly long list, but some have a few which are to of their lists if they get the right UCAT score. I am afraid there is no such thing as a very safe choice! Birmingham is the one to be careful about if you are non-WP.

@Cratos - The work experience section of the UCAS application is intended more for listing paid employment. Voluntary work, shadowing, virtual work experience, etc., would go into the personal statement rather than that section.