Medicine 2025 entry

[HGC2]

Inspired and slightly terrified reading the 2023 entry threads and how much prep has to go into a medicine application!

DC wants to do medicine, probably in Scotland as a Scottish student, doing well at school but this doesn't seem to be enough! School has little / no experience of applications for medicine as a not fantastic state school!

Can anyone advise what work experience / volunteering they will need (currently volunteering at sports club with hope of job)
what are the spreadsheets that people talk about?
How do you strategically apply?

I have one child at uni and they just applied and got a place, this seems like a whole other level!

Hi @Optimum19.

Lesson 1: if you have access to doctors, make use of them to find out what the job involves so you can make a slightly more informed judgement about whether it's really what you want to do. Never take their advice on applying to medical school unless you know for a fact they have a significant involvement in selection for a medical school. The great majority of doctors have no understanding of how medical school admissions works. They can tell you what they did, but (a) things might have changed since then and (b) many medical students and doctors think they were selected for different reasons from the ones they were actually selected for.

Lesson 2: don't apply to Manchester with a band-3 SJT, and be very wary of Nottingham as the SJT is weighted equally with the cognitive tests and band 3 scores pretty low points.

Lesson 3: Queen's Belfast never takes students with grades below A*AA, so make every effort to have an insurance choice that you would be reasonably happy to go to if you just miss the conditions of your offer.

Hi - NoNotHimTheOtherOne

Thanks very much for that. Very useful. Yes you're right. A lot has changed for medicine entry over the years and the current doctors probably haven't a clue. Although my doctor friend did get my DD a few days in work experience in A&E and radiology. He also did an interview station at last years interviews so I'll pick his brains about that more if/when she gets any interviews.
QUB will accept accept AAA if the kids have another A at AS. (mine does)
She wants to keep all four A levels on, but I'm trying to encourage her to drop one to maximise her chances.

@Optimum19 for Belfast she'll need fantastic GCSEs as they score them. Her UCAT is great and if she applies strategically she should get 4 interviews. Avoid Notts, Lincoln and Manchester.

Look at my spreadsheet for help (won't let me attach it at moment but it's on this thread a few times)

Here it is

2nd bit

Hi @mumsneedwine

That's great. Thanks very much.
At GCSE she got 8A*, 2As so think she should apply to places that consider these too.

@Optimum19 read this carefully

www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/MRCI/admissions/FileStore/Filetoupload,2028491,en.pdf

UCAT = 5 points out of 6
GCSEs = 35/36

So total of 40. Has a good chance at interview as cut off was 38 this year (good UCAT and good GCSEs make Belfast a popular choice)

Her career's teacher is pretty sure the threshold for interview at QUB will be lower this year as it was elevated a bit in the last two years due to teacher graded GCSE results over covid years but we'll see...
Getting through the interview apparently is very tough too, but sure one hurdle at a time.

It's a bit of a spiral issue. Any student of mine with perfect GCSEs and a high UCAT applies to Belfast. So it gets higher every year as more do this. It's why Bristol is now bonkers high - everyone with a high UCAT applies so higher scores needed. Why Newcastle have changed this year.
But, with the loss of BMAT it will hopefully bring scores down at most Unis.

You only need one offer (I started early this year 😂).

You only need one offer (I started early this year 😂).

Unfortunately, I encounter a lot of students who can't face the prospect of not having four offers, and therefore don't apply to a medical school they would really like because they don't have a 100% certainty of getting an interview. As many of these then don't choose their firm & insurance until close to the deadline, all they achieve is preventing other applicants from getting offers.

The same kinds of students ask for detailed feedback on their interview performance even when they have been offered a place, because they are so fixated on being perfect in everything. I have no idea how they think they'll cope in the NHS.

Mine get a v stern talk from me at start of year 12. Applying for medicine is different. You are lucky to get one offer so maximise your chances of getting 4 interviews. Do not have a favourite, do not get fixated on one Uni. Wherever you go you'll enjoy and become a doctor.
You will have to listen to all your friends getting offers (sometimes in 48 hours) and they'll have firmed and insured, v often before Christmas, while you're still waiting to hear from anyone. Resilience is required.

And then for F1 you'll get no say whatever so get used to it. I hope this changes.

I appreciate that advice. Having only been through non-medical degree applications before, I hadn't considered them not getting offers- thinking it was just a case of them getting the required grades. So thanks for the heads up. I'll definitely be delighted now if she gets any offers.
Think it's also the parents who need a stern talking to...

@Optimum19 - There are medical schools that interview barely a quarter of applicants and/or make offers to maybe 1/8 of applicants. They really do need to give a lot of thought to how to maximise their chances.

I know that many students from NI traditionally go to Scotland but do be aware too that they have quotas for home (i.e. Scottish) students and it can be harder getting a place if you are not living in Scotland.

It is worth looking to see if she falls into a widening participation category for any universities. This can be wider than you might expect sometimes.

@Optimum19 I do that as well. Parents get an even sterner talk, with extra focus on not constantly asking if they've heard anything yet. Latest this year for an interview was April.

The mantra is 'you only need one offer'.

I do think it is unfair on applicants to interview/decide so late. Particularly in Scotland where exams are earlier (first Advanced Higher exam was 22 April this year). I don’t think it should be possible for universities to reject students on the morning of an exam.

My DD got 2640, band 2. I am going to encourage her to post on TSR, but wondered if you have any advice. She has 10x9 and 1x8 at GCSE, and is predicted 4 A* at A level.
We live in a Polar4 quintile 2 area, which makes her contextual in a few places, but not many.

She is eligible for Newcastle's Partners scheme and while it looks like she wouldn't have made that cut-off last year, she would have in recent years, so that may be worth a try. Their new selection method may help her (although it may also send far more applicants her way!).

She is also contextual for Sunderland (we are in the NE) but I don't think she has enough work experience, and for Nottingham/ Lincoln, but I think they may both still be too high. The new Keele form might be better for her, as it seems to be more flexible than Sunderland and allow for other commitments, not only work experience.

Borderline for Liverpool, I think, might be worth applying. Leeds and Manchester she falls into a contextual category where they give you extra consideration, but not fully contextual - I am assuming their cut off would still be too high. Lancaster new to Ucat, so hard to tell. Hull York I can't tell either, but wonder if she would fall into a gap of not having enough UCAT or contextual points.

Aston, Dundee and Cardiff (although we are not Scottish or Welsh) seem to come up as other suggestions.

Any advice? Do people think having everyone do Ucat this year might bring the average scores down a bit?

@ColouringPencils yes, I do think it will bring some cut offs down a bit. But that's a guess.

I'd suggest looking at Liverpool (v close to cut off this year), Plymouth, Belfast, Birmingham (contextual ?), Aston, HullYork.

Look for GCSE scoring ones, avoid Notts & Lincoln.

Just off for GCSE results day but here if can help

Thanks, good luck to your GCSE students!

So glad my DC did UCAT a few weeks ago. I guess the centres will be getting much busier now?

My daughter applied for Glasgow thinking it was out of her league and got a RUK offer. She was UCAT around 2700 and no contextual factors, got interviewed and offer ( missed grades but that’s a different story) kicking myself that she didn’t apply Sheffield as thought UCAT too low but seems their threshold was actually much lower
I think you have to game but not game too much if that makes sense
she got 4 interviews 3 offers and didn’t make grades so I would encourage any student who wants to apply to go for it as it’s not as predictable as it looks

Presumably those like Keele that are known to take low UCATs get inundated with applicants with low UCAT scores?

Liverpool interview a lot and UCAT threshold low but interview to offer ratio low . Sunderland and Newcastle definitely if eligible for Partners. Sunderland form actually v simple and specified no need to be medical experience and not shadowing. My daughter talked about volunteering in ballet class and sports coaching/ mentoring younger students at school. It is total hours they look for and by the time she counted up all the school stuff she easily made the numbers.
manchester form similar
they also look for examples of what you learned - for example she talked about how she learnt to adapt to helping autism children enjoy sport and how when organising a rugby tournament she has to ‘coach to win’ the opposition to her house team !

Sunderland form? What are these extra forms?

I am sure they do, but what else can you do with a low score?