Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Higher education

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

Original poster

GCSE options for medicine

53 replies

JessicaBrassica · 27/01/2023 07:30

Dd currently plans to be a surgeon. (Obvs this may change).
Her school offer health and social care as a gcse equivalent. She's keen to do this but I have concerns that it may not be academic enough and may not be well recieved by universities.

She's also doing 2x English, maths, 3x sciences, Spanish, drama and dance.

With both drama and dance I feel that her other option should be more academic - maybe history.

Anyone got any advice?

OP posts:
SpaceCandyCoconut · 27/01/2023 07:32

Yes, I would definitely agree. Also keeps more doors open for A-level and beyond, if she changes her mind about medicine. You can't go wrong with a history GCSE.

mumsneedwine · 27/01/2023 08:02

@JessicaBrassica no one will care what her gcse are in, as long as she gets maths, English and science. Good grades are what matter (to some Unis). A lot only need 7 7s and then don't look further, others give points for each grade. It's a complicated process (pop over to the medicine threads and have a read). But no Uni looks at what the GCSEs are in. Health and Social care is often a BTEC or Cambridge National so check that as these might but be counted by Unis.

Galarunner · 27/01/2023 08:08

If she wants to do the Health and Social Care I think it could be a good insight into some of the realities of medicine, learning about different life stages, NHS values etc. GCSE wise she will need approximately 7/ 7s so she has plenty of academic subjects. Medical schools seem to putting a lot more emphasis of values and understanding the roles of the whole NHS team .

sashh · 27/01/2023 08:11

English maths and three sciences at the highest grades possible, otherwise no one cares.

If it is a BTEC it can be an advantage as it often finishes early, well those who keep up with assignments (assuming BTEC) will have completed the course and have a preliminary grade so, depending on the school, have more time for revision.

MedSchoolRat · 27/01/2023 08:13

mumsneedwine · 27/01/2023 08:02

@JessicaBrassica no one will care what her gcse are in, as long as she gets maths, English and science. Good grades are what matter (to some Unis). A lot only need 7 7s and then don't look further, others give points for each grade. It's a complicated process (pop over to the medicine threads and have a read). But no Uni looks at what the GCSEs are in. Health and Social care is often a BTEC or Cambridge National so check that as these might but be counted by Unis.

last "but" should be "not" there.

That is good advice. If a "soft" option like H&SC gives her more energy to excel at math, English, science GCSEs: bonus. Also, medicine is so competitive, good to have understanding of other health-social related careers in case she goes off medicine/can't get a place. Those are nicely diverse GCSEs OP described, drama especially useful too (for medicine).

welshweasel · 27/01/2023 08:13

Surgeon here. Also advise some local school students who come on work experience so am relatively up to date with entry requirements. Do whatever GCSEs she will enjoy and score the highest marks in, other than the core subjects it really doesn't matter what the others are.

welshweasel · 27/01/2023 08:14

Oh and I still think it's the best job in the world, despite the state of the NHS. Not easy but so rewarding and often rewarding extremely enjoyable.

Aleaiactaest · 27/01/2023 08:16

It is important to keep a balance at this age. Being a doctor in particular a surgeon is quite a physical job and demands endurance. I think drama and dance in the long run would be good for doctors!
Obviously she should work hard to get the highest possible scores in the 3 Sciences and Maths.

Original poster
JessicaBrassica · 27/01/2023 11:23

Thank you. Definitely food for thought there. I really appreciate the diversity in the answers too!

OP posts:
CatOnTheChair · 27/01/2023 11:32

Y9 paret here, with a child looking at medicine. Given the options evening info we got at school this week, id strongly suggest a humanity in there - history, geography or RE

Haffdonga · 27/01/2023 11:46

Agree that GCSE grades matter more than the subjects to med schools. Apart from essential Maths, English and the sciences I'd advise your dd to do what she enjoys and will get the best grades in.
The only caveat is that she's very young to be certain of any career at this stage and she may want to keep her options open for alternatives at A level, degree and beyond. A more 'academic' humanities subject might open other doors if her plans change.
Btw @mumsneedwine
really knows what she's talking about on med school requirements so - respect🙂

Africa2go · 27/01/2023 12:12

Currently going through the process with a Yr 13 aspiring medic here. Obviously at 13, she needs to keep her options open, but otherwise, she should pick whatever she's most likely to do well in (and if she enjoys it, she's more likley to do well).

The process is cut-throat because of the competition for places, and quite arbitary. Applicants are invited for interview based on a score (and it differs between medical schools). If you don't get the score, you're rejected. Its that simple. Some medical schools just use aptitude tests (sat at the end of Yr 12/beginning of Yr 13) so other than the basic GCSE requirements (i.e. decent grades in Eng/ Maths/Science etc) GCSEs don't really matter). However, for the medical schools who take GCSEs into account as part of their scoring process, its just a question of grades - for example, 4 points for a 9, 3 points for an 8 etc etc.

If your DD does want to go down that road, and have as many different medical school options as possible, she needs to be getting top grades.

Africa2go · 27/01/2023 12:13

Also recommend @mumsneedwine for sage advice Grin

DaVariance · 27/01/2023 12:13

A Health and Social care GCSE will not get you anywhere near a decent medical school

Biology and Chemistry GCSEs are what she needs

DaVariance · 27/01/2023 12:14

To prepare her for the A Levels she needs in Biology and Chemistry

NoSquirrels · 27/01/2023 12:14

I’d be agreeing with her that Health & Social Care might be a great option for her with a career in medicine in mind, but I’d be asking her to choose between dropping either dance or drama in order to get air another more traditionally academic subject, like history or geography.

DaVariance · 27/01/2023 12:17

We stick the less able students into Health and Social Care so that will wave a huge red flag 🚩 that she's not deemed to be academic enough

NoSquirrels · 27/01/2023 12:19

sashh · 27/01/2023 08:11

English maths and three sciences at the highest grades possible, otherwise no one cares.

If it is a BTEC it can be an advantage as it often finishes early, well those who keep up with assignments (assuming BTEC) will have completed the course and have a preliminary grade so, depending on the school, have more time for revision.

This is also what we have been advised on the Cambridge National subjects, and that triple science is plenty of work, so I’d be inclined (as I said) to allow it but ask her to drop one of dance/drama. But meh - probably not worth a fight at the end of the day! I just think a different humanity subject opens up more potential A level doors if she changes path.

DaVariance · 27/01/2023 12:25

It's an interesting course and very useful to the many students who take it but not particularly one to take if you're setting your sights on being a surgeon that's all.

I think I was bit rude to say the less able students, I don't mean that to sound as bad as it does.

If she wants to take it it's a perfectly good subject to take

highdrylowerwetter · 27/01/2023 12:30

Can absolutely vouch that nobody cares whether you have a humanity subject or not at gcse when applying for medicine, in response to an above comment. That's a silly thing for schools to advise and suggests they don't know what they're talking about

Wrt health and social care, I would go with whatever subjects are well taught at the school and are enjoyed most by your DD. That's most likely to lead to good grades which is all the med schools are likely going to be bothered about

Galarunner · 27/01/2023 13:06

DaVariance · 27/01/2023 12:13

A Health and Social care GCSE will not get you anywhere near a decent medical school

Biology and Chemistry GCSEs are what she needs

That is a completely untrue, so if a student had 8 or 9 9s at GCSES and one vocational subject like Health and Social Care they wouldn't get in?
Most medical schools are very clear about how they select their students for interview Generally a combination of scoring on GCSE grades ( not usually on more than about 7 subjects) meeting the predicted A level grades, and then UCAT score.A lot of universities no longer really use the PS before interview. There are more applicants with perfect academic criteria than are places so good students will inevitably be disappointed every year. Widening participation criteria seemed to be a very large factor in whether my students got an interview or not rather than exact GCSE subjects.

Haffdonga · 27/01/2023 13:11

Some of the advice on this thread is simply wrong.
Other than the essential sciences, maths and English - med schools DO NOT LOOK AT SUBJECT CHOICE! They DO look at grades achieved.
Med schools filter out applicants who dont meet their specific requirements by computer, so nobody judges if geography is better or worse than dance.
What's more, if an applicant gets through the computer filters and reaches face to face interview stage - the interviewers will have no clue what GCSEs the candidate did, nor will they be remotely interested (although if the candidate has some real life experience of teamwork or care via their GCSEs it could help them talk confidently).
Having said that, don't put all your GCSE eggs in the med school basket. Many many students change their minds between GCSE and uni for good reasons.

Mumoftwoinprimary · 27/01/2023 13:19

Two issues with her choices.

  1. No languages and no humanities will limit her future choices a lot. Doesn’t matter if at 18 she still wants to be a surgeon. More of a problem if at 15 she decides that she hates science and wants to do something completely different.
  2. For some schools Health and Social Care is a subject for less academically able kids. Which means that the average student in the class might be expecting a 3 and aiming for a 4. Which means that the lesson may be tailored at that level. Have a look at previous grades for the school for the subject.
VanCleefArpels · 27/01/2023 13:28

Both Drama and Dance are quite heavy on out of school course work./ rehearsal etc. it’s this aspect that strikes me out of the proposed choices. I wouldn’t advocate doing both. If dance is a hobby then maybe drop that - Drama does align with Eng Lit.

Galarunner · 27/01/2023 13:40

All the bright students in my school who do health and social care seem to get the top grade distinction * and find it a nice break from the more traditionally academic subjects. It also doesn't seem to cause the same level of stress drama or art can cause in students with perfectionist tendencies!