GCSE English for medicine

[autumn666]

My DS wants to study medicine and has got 8x9's, 2x8's, 2x7's and a 6 in his GCSEs. He is slightly concerned as the 6 is in English Language so may be one that unis have to include if they score GCSEs. Would it be worth seeing how close he was to the grade boundary and requesting a review or do most unis just tend to use top 8 or similar?

This isn't my area at all but medlinkstudents.com says the below, more knowledgeable posters will have further info although I agree it's Language that matters, not literature:

In short, UK medical universities require a minimum GCSE score of 6 in Math, Sciences, and English. However, applicants usually score between 7 and 9 to gain admission due to high competition. Even a grade of 7 could be insufficient without a good UCAT score or high A-levels.

I think English language matters. A few years ago now, but my nephew retook English language to get his grade up from a C to a B. He wanted to study medicine too. He’s now a doctor.

Not that many universities score GCSEs, but for those that do, they specify the top 8 including English Language. I would do review if you can.

We did last year for DD and she went up a grade. For Leicester, for example, that extra point is worth 100 on the UCAT.

Birmingham used to be the one that was looking for a top grade in English, but they now seem content with a 6 in English Lang. They and some others will give weight to GCSE performance.

You can check out all the current GCSE requirements here: https://www.medschools.ac.uk/media/2877/entry-requirements-document-2022-digital.pdf

A six will be good enough for most med schools, but I don't think there's any harm in finding out if teachers think a review is worth it.

I think a retake wouldn't be a good idea, as it would likely distract from his A-levels etc, and getting good grades in those is more important.

That link's out of date, @Postapocalypticcowgirl. Use this one: https://www.medschools.ac.uk/media/3060/uk-medical-school-entry-requirements-2024-entry.pdf

seeing as your son did 14 (14!!!) gcses's (and got 8 lots of grade 9 to boot), i don't think many uni's are going to doubt his academic abilities! most state schools only do 8 or 9 or 10 gcse's so he is well above average.

This a will help. Most require a 6 but a very few like a 7. Just steer clear of those that count GCSEs as the English will have to count as one.

www.medschools.ac.uk/studying-medicine/making-an-application/entry-requirements-for-2024-start?type=standard-entry-medicine

Pop onto the Medicine thread and gave a read.

@Justgonefishing no Medical school will care as the most they score is the top 9. Most don't look at what you have as long as you have the minimum required - 7 7s usually. It's UCAT that counts.

The gcse Eng Lang results have been "unexpected" this year so lots of the cohort will be applying with a slightly different spread of grades compared to previous years.

There is an active thread about Eng gcse results this year in Secondary education section.

Thank you for all the replies and links, will get him to check them out.