This of course was a couple of years ago - when they scored GCSEs (and his were very good), and then with his UCAT it was pretty certain he would get an interview (you can never be 100% sure of course, but if you look at how they are scoring in a given year, you can usually work our if there is anywhere they are likely to be safe, where they have a chance, and where they simply don't have a chance). Not 100% guaranteed, because things do change year on year, but this is what is meant by being strategic. You look at the different scoring systems and look at which ones play to your DC's strengths - whether it is GCSEs, predicted Grades, UCAT, location (eg Wales, Scotland ) etc etc.
In theory everything (and in practice a lot, although some places are much more opaque than others, which again is where finding out the experience of those who went before comes in) can be found by researching the relevant websites - but you have to know to do that. People told us to do that, and DS did up a spreadsheet of all the medical schools with all this information on it. People who didn't know this information - and when I was following TSR, the years that DS did it, I saw so, so many young people who applied to places where their application was simply wasted because they had absolutely no hope of getting in. It was kind of heartbreaking seeing these young people on there in dispair because of decisions they had made earlier in the year and just getting knocked back, when a little bit of the right advice might have got them a place. And of course they are the sort of young people who have never failed at anything before, and to have themselves repeatedly rejected during their A level year is pretty horrible, it is hard not to take it to heart.
One of the reasons that DS and I felt, psychologically, that if we saw it as a two year thing, then even if he got knocked back, it would (hopefully) not impact his A levels too much. Although even so, he found it hard not to feel the rejection, and he only had more limited ones, and got what he wanted.
We were so grateful to the people who steered us on the journey (and to be honest, relieved we didn't have to go through it a second time - or, like some of the people on TSR, three or four times before they finally got in). Which has a lot to do with why I do keep popping back to these threads.
But because DS has now finished his 2nd year (and he got a deferred place anyway), my knowledge of the specifics of the universities in terms of entrance is relatively old. Liverpool has changed the way it does things at least two times since my DS applied, so you need to look at what they are asking for now. I only brought it because it was an illustration of something we didn't think to look at, which was interview to offer ratio - and tbh I would have said that DS was relatively good at interview. He did debating and public speaking etc at school, and a lot of practice. But clearly not what they were looking for (Liverpool, like many others, give you your scores if you don't get in, and DS was clearly marmite - one interviewer ranked him quite highly and the other didn't, and so his ultimate score was not nearly enough. Now they have probably changed the way they interview - MMIs you get far more people's views on you. So that might not be the case anymore. But the interview to offer ratio is also something worth thinking about if you are lucky enough to have more choice based on your UCAT).