Medicine 2025

[SoTiredNeedHoliday]

Hi All,
Is anyone helping their child prepare for UCAT and med school applications for 2025 A levels? Looking for any guidance and support out there.

Presently we're

• looking for UCAT tutoring to help DS in the lead up to the test which she wants to sit in August
• talking about what schools she might apply for
• supporting her in her A level revision

I'd love to hear from others

Hello!
There's a thread for prospective 2025 applicants' parents over here https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/4773726-medicine-2025-entry (if the link works!). There are quite a few of us already, and some helpful pros (@mumsneedwine!). I don't know if you've looked through any of the previous years' threads, but they've always been really helpful and hopefully the one for our kids' cohort will be too.
DD is planning to use MedEntry for UCAT prep I think. She's hoping to sit it in early August, so planning to start more intensive prep in June.
We have planned a few open days for the summer - places she thinks she'd most like to go. Will probably do a couple of more targeted visits in early Autumn once she has her UCAT score.
DD is doing the IB rather than A Levels, so the revision and schoolwork is all a bit different (more subjects, more coursework). I think one of the hard things for potential medical students is keeping their actual work focused and centred in among all the other preparations they need to do.

Helloooo 😊. Here to help if wanted.

thank you both. I've just hit 'watch' on the thread suggested and will read through it now. @maybemedmum were you recommended MedEntry? There are so many options but I have no idea which are better ones.

@SoTiredNeedHoliday MedEntry or Medify are the usual choices. Need about 6-8 weeks prep. This book is very useful too. And there are times practice tests on the UCAT website, as well as lots of practice resources for free.

My DD has applied for 2024 entry - happy to answer any questions - send me a PM

Hello! I have three children - two current medical students and my DD in Y13. Tbh we have tried everything and different approaches for each. The first used the 1250 book (I can see it is now 1300 book) and medify and was fine. The second needed a bit more guidance, we watched youtube videos and got some ucat tutoring from theukcatpeople (which was brilliant btw), and the third again was fine on her own (scored 3040) but got some interview coaching from the same company. She just got into King's, Keele & Queens Belfast so we are over the moon for her. All in all I think it can be done yourself just may need help in some areas!

Dd sat UCAT last September and used Medify to help her prepare for it. She did less than 6 weeks prep 🤦🏻‍♀️ but did do a 2hr mock exam on Medify every single day in the 2 weeks prior to the exam date and thinks this was invaluable. I think the students have to peak at the right time and so over prepping might be counter-intuitive as they can start to overthink their answers. It’s all about timing.
I guess everyone is different but what I’m trying to say is that it is certainly possible to ace the exam without a tutor.

This. The most important thing is to practice under timed conditions. It’s not that the questions are particularly, it’s just that they have to be answered correctly very quickly.

Thread hijack but @mumsneedwine I wondered if I could ask a question?
DD1 has applied for the NHS bursary as is about to enter fifth year.
They have sent me a link to complete which includes providing copies of both children's birth certs/full student finance letters and passports ( almost like I am applying for finance) alongside the prove your income bit - DH only got the latter.
Tried calling them, held for 35 minutes, then they cut me off.
Two questions:

1. is this normal?
2. Is there a maximum family income that would mean she will not get it?

I will complete if necessary but don't want to waste my time ( ironically we really could use it as I was made redundant a few months ago and have no income currently).
Hope you don't mind me asking but you are a bit of a guru of all med school related stuff. Thanks.

If a 17 year old isn't able and motivated to sort out these sort of things for themselves, they are perhaps not the right person to be a doctor.

She could still be 16. But of course 16 or 17 year olds still benefit from support. There is a whole industry out there providing this that hundreds/thousands of parents will be paying to get support for their child. Why do you think many schools provide support for aspiring medics?

I think it's fair to say that everyone will have different thresholds for what counts as being pushy/over-invested/helicoptering and also fair to say that different teenagers will want or need different amounts of support. I think assuming that a parent asking for advice and support means their 17 year old is insufficiently motivated and independent and thus unsuited to applying for medicine rather misses the point of the thread, which is for parents of medicine applicants (and those who know more about than us/have done it before) to talk to and support each other.

@PiggyPokkyFool not sure I had anything to do with it. DD tells me she just applied and it arrived - was minimum amount though. Sorry not more helpful.

@PiggyPokkyFool if financial circumstances have changed a lot do let them know as they'll adjust accordingly

My daughter used medify and prepped over the summer (she was a late starter as she only decided to apply for medicine in April last year). The general advice is to really focus on which unis to apply to once you get your UCAT score, as your UCAT score (including SJT) GCSE grades and A level predictions are weighted differently at different universities therefore applying strategically increases your chances of invitation to IV and therefore offer.

No UCAT tutoring here, though she had some for IV prep.

We used The Student Room quite a bit to help narrow down uni choices.

Thanks @mumsneedwine
This is the parent bit - so much information required and I suspect we will have too high an income for her to get anything even on just DH's income.
We will see.
thanks again.

@PiggyPokkyFool we never had to do anything for the bursary ? DD got the minimum as we earn too much. Not sure why you are being asked to fill in forms ?

All DD’s friend’s parents are having to do the same - another hoop to jump through.

How strange. Maybe the prices has changed. We've only had to send stuff to SFE.

There are currently two elements to the NHS bursary. A non means tested amount of £1000 that everyone gets if they apply for it and is very straightforward to get. It is split into 3 payments over the course of a year. And a means tested amount which requires parents to fill in a form about income etc like student finance. My dd only applied for the non-means tested amount as we earned too much as a household but there was (and presumably still is) information on line about the income levels required so that you can make a decision in advance of digging out all the information to no avail. You can get the first without applying for the second.

Probably what mine did too. Knew she'd get no more than £1,000.
Do check with your Uni as some now offer non means tested bursaries for their students. It's a stupid system as they get less loan (was £1,700 for DD) and £1,000 bursary. Not sure how she was supposed to live for a year in that.

Do you still need help with this? If so PM me

Thanks so much @Thefatbutteredpig I think we are finally there as in after 3(!) further requests for information they have told DD that her application is complete.
I feel she is unlikely to get anything more than the £1000 but we will see.

@mumsneedwine - asking for a colleague but is there still a spreadsheet with which unis are best to apply to depending g on UCAT results etc?
I know that I found it really helpful when DD was applying.

@coffeeandbiscuittime send me your email via PM and you can haven't full version of this