GCSE grades + other questions for medicine applications

[medtw]

Hi everyone. My DD has just sat GCSEs and she did fairly well, apart from English - which is relevant for this topic. She's told me early this summer that she is considering medicine after A-levels. This is not an entirely new idea - she was considering biochemistry, biotechnology, biology programs before, and has mentioned biomedical sciences. She doesn't really have a lot of exposure to what medicine entails, we have no one in the family/friend circle who she can talk to. Over the past weeks I've done a lot of research to get familiar with the entry requirements and the whole process and journey and I just want to make sure we are on the right track and that she does have chances.

First of all, GCSE grades - are they good enough? 9 Bio, 9 Chem, 9 Physics, 8 Maths, 8 History, 8 German, 6 Eng Lang, 5 Eng Lit, 6 Art, plus an A in OCR Add Maths. My concern is with the English language one, most unis mention 6 as a minimum - does she need more than minimum for medicine?

A-level subject choices: she chose to study Biology, Chemistry, Maths, and Further Maths at A-levels. She is toying with the idea of Physics instead of FM but the workload seems too high with a 4th new subject?! She can still change the subjects in the first 2 weeks of school. Presumably she needs something like AAAA for a good medicine application? Or even AA*AA? This is for a normal application, non-contextual - she is in a comprehensive state school that is in a good area. They have strong results in Maths and Science at A-levels.

UCAT. Does she need to start preparing/practicing for UCAT now, from the beginning of year 12? From what I understand she needs to sit the exam latest in Sep 2025? And what UCAT score should she aim for to strengthen her application? Which website do you recommend for UCAT prep?

Apart from grades, she needs some work experience, right? She does have volunteering experience with girl guides and she's completed DofE Bronze and Silver, but I'm not sure if that volunteering experience is helpful to a medicine application? She wants to do DofE Gold as well and we are trying to find a volunteering gig that meets the requirements for both. We found a residential trip (Intro to Medicine, a 5-day residential at a hospital) that qualifies for DofE Gold. She can do that in the summer of 2025. Is that enough work experience for the uni application?

How much work experience does she actually need? Is there a recommended number of hours or months? She's already done some online stuff e.g. Observe GP and the BSMS Virtual Work Experience this summer, but we aren't sure how to approach the real-life work experience search. Our local hospitals don't seem to offer work experience to <18s and we don't know anyone in the medical field.

Apologies for the very long message and too many questions. Any suggestions / answers are greatly appreciated. This is all a bit overwhelming for me. I'm a single parent and really want to support her through it as much as I can. We're in south west greater London, if that helps.

Thanks.

Many forget but the main purpose of work experience is to help you decide if medicine really is for you; I know several people who decided it wasn’t after their work experience. Universities will be looking to see if you have reflected on your work experience and have a good idea what the career entails. So what you do should enable you to experience enough of what medicine is to decide it is for you, that you have a realistic expectation of the career and understand/show the personal attributes needed.

I'm starting medicine this year and got 4 offers. It's all about applying strategically. The GCSES are decent so congratulations on those. You are correct that the English language one could be an issue. If a resit is out of the questions I dont think even being contextual would suffice. There are some universities that may give you an interview but you would have to look online for that.

To get an interview they usually place emphasis on GCSE, UCAT, Personal statement (not actually that important but the work experience and volunteering you do and will mention here is important) and PREDICTED A level grades

Predicted grades are super important, often more so that the actual grade because at that point your already have an offer. Standard med offer is AAA but if you are predicted 3A* for example it is helpful

UCAT is taken around this time (year 12 summer holiday going into year 13) and revising should happen from about 6 weeks before and is quite intense. A good UCAT score is very important especially if your not contextual

Work experience is all about reflection and gaining a realistic insight. You will talk about it in the personal statement just like lots of other stuff but some unis don't score or even read the personal statement apparently.

However the stuff you do will be what helps at interview so it is important.

Online work experience is okay if you acknowledge why you couldn't get it in person - they know it is difficult. Again if you learned stuff from it then it's all good

Work experience doesn't need to be long term. A week focused on primary care and a week focused on secondary is fine, or what I did at least but mine was in person.

Volunteering is best done long term to show you are able to stick with something and have commitment. Maybe look into a care home or local community group. Ideally something that relates to medicine in some way.

The residential sounds potentially good just make sure if it's paid it's not a 'scam' but if you think there will be something worthwhile to reflect on there I'd recommend it provided it doesn't conflict with UCAT

DOFE itself isn't necessary but if already doing it and/or want to do it it's fine.

Another important thing is don't waste money. In the process you should by medify/medentry 100% but other resources for UCAT aren't needed. Don't buy a course!

Same goes for interview plenty of free resources don't pay for anything.

Sorry this is a rushed response but anything else you want to know just let me know

My niece got a Saturday job as a counter assistant in a community pharmacy and tells everyone that it was more valuable to her (now a GP) than any work experience placement she did.

It showed the front line, interacting with 50 "patients" an hour, she spoke about it passionately in her interview and felt it helped.

A lot of universities will have had FOI requests about A level grades and UCAT - average, minimum score to get interview etc. so you can search their FOI disclosure logs to find out about that. Or see if they publish it anyway.

That will help with that bit of your question.

Thank you so much to all, really helpul.

@Chemistrytutoring so you are saying that 6 in English Language is basically a big hindrance for most med schools, and that she should do a resit to get that grade to 7+, to improve her chances? Is that valid even with a high UCAT score and high A-level grades (e.g. two A* and rest As)? In other words wouldn't high UCAT and A-level predictions (and grades) compensate for that 6 in Eng Lang?

Regarding the work experience, this is what she is considering for July 2025, it does seem fine to me...

Introduction to NHS Professions
Hampshire Outdoors are offering a 5-day, 4-night 'Introduction to NHS Professions' residential, in conjunction with Basingstoke Hospital. This residential is ideal for those who are thinking about joining the medical profession. This 5-day residential combines theory with practical experience around life as a medical student and junior doctor, with a focus on key transferable skills. It also provides a written reference from the hospital for your future applications in the medicine world.

What's involved?
specialities talks, meeting trainee doctors and medical students
life as a medical student
life as a junior doctor
how to progress as a doctor
work experience and volunteering opportunities
medicine in the developing world
shadowing opportunities with doctors in various specialities throughout the hospital
simulation and practical skills day

I'm so sorry! I read you're post as grade 5 English language but a grade 6 is okay.

From my experience unis score gcses in different ways but a common one is take your best 8 for example including compulsory stuff like English language and math/science.

Because the other gcses are quite good I think the grade 6 won't be a major hindrance so again apologies- my mistake

That work experience seems good the only thing I'll say is that UCAT prep should be happening around that time but depending on the exact date you could be okay.

I was doing a UCAT mock exam a day before the exam and before that just general preparation. So 6 weeks is ideal. And you don't want to have things during prep time as a day off will throw out the flow.

I got 3000 Band 1 for reference but people I know who did the same got higher.

Also to add about A level. Further math doesn't help at all for medicine applications. Most students drop it after year 12 so just do the As qualification. I'm someone that got a 9 in gcse math and further math and an A star at A level but still think further math would just be unnecessary workload.

However if your daughter wants to do it then it's of course possible

If you have any other questions let me know either here or dm if you want. I'll try my best to help and sorry for the confusion I caused..

Is that valid even with a high UCAT score and high A-level grades (e.g. two A and rest As)? In other words wouldn't high UCAT and A-level predictions (and grades) compensate for that 6 in Eng Lang?*

If they want 7+ grade in English Language then UCAT and A levels would not over-ride that as they would be looking for language skills which UCAT and science/maths A levels wouldn’t show. So read medical school requirements carefully.

Medical schools don't count further maths as a separate subject. They like to see breadth as well as grades. As long as it is a fourth subject your DD will be fine, but if she is only taking 3 subjects with two of them being maths and further maths they won't consider her application.

Most medical schools want chemistry and biology, plus one other. DD interviewed for medicine with biology, chemistry and geography. She was unsuccessful, but I don't think medicine would have suited her with her health issues.

The other thing to focus on, apart from getting work experieince is to practice the UCAT. A high UCAT score is what most medical schools are looking for.

Thanks @Chemistrytutoring I appreciate it. I know 6 Eng Lang is far from ideal, but unfortunately her English teacher was not the best ones in our school, and my DD really disliked her. She was moved from top set in English to the 2nd set at the beginning of year 11, which ended up being a problem as it knocked her confidence as well. And her focus was obviously on sciences and maths, she wanted to do her best there.

@RampantIvy my DD is taking for sure Biology, Chemistry, and Maths at A-level, she's already enrolled and was accepted to take those. She registered to do Further Maths as the 4th subject, but is well aware she could drop it, particularly if workload seems too much or if the mock grades in Bio-Chem-Maths aren't at the A*/A level. We have actually requested a meeting with the head of 6th form, to discuss workload, timetabling, and a hypothetical change from FM to Physics. Unfortunately her school doesn't have a dedicated person to advise on medicine applications, it's a regular state comprehensive and not too many go to medicine.

6th form will probably be very demanding, considering she also does athletics training three times a week and plans to volunteer throughout 6th form (hopefully in a healthcare-related setting). Plus the UCAT prep...

I would drop the 4th A level with the volunteering and sporting commitments.

Your daughter's GCSE grades are great and shouldn't be an issue at most medical schools. As you may know, each medical school has their own system for selecting candidates for interview, so be sure to read their selection procedures and apply strategically, based mainly on UCAT score.

I would strongly advise that your daughter do 3 A Levels from the start. There is so much work in a med application and med schools all offer on the basis of 3 A Levels, so much better to focus on getting the best grades in those.

As a cautionary note: DD started with FM and then moved maths class when she dropped to just maths. However, as different classes covered different topics at different times, it meant that there were some topics she covered twice and others that she had to teach herself at home. It would have been much less stressful to have been in the same class throughout.

PS. I've just looked at UCAT dates, the residential is mid/end of July usually, so she could take the UCAT just before the residential, or in September. But thanks for pointing that out...

Thanks @Barleypilaf we will discuss this in the meeting with the head of 6th form. Her Maths teacher encouraged her to do both Maths and Further Maths at A-level. My DD got an A in her OCR Additional Maths course (level 3 course, graded A-E). This was taught as an optional afterschool course, 1 hr/week, only available to students in top set in Maths. Her teacher that there is a good degree of overlap between A-levels Maths and the OCR Add Maths course (apart from Mechanics and Statistics modules). This would ease up the maths workload a bit.

I did AQA and year 12 math is easy especially if you did an additional gcse like I did further math and youe daughter did additional math. Year 13 is a little harder but I got A* in 3 A levels and math by far is the easiest. However I'd say rather than thinking it eases the workloads so you can fit in further math perhaps take only 3 A levels and you will definitely be glad down the line when you have UCAT and interviews especially!

Working as a volunteer or care assistant in a care home is great experience.

@medtw Hi! Is your daughter still planning to apply for medicine? Did she drop Further Maths or keep going with it? Is she booked onto the Hampshire Outdoors course? I saw this after it was fully booked, but my daughter is still only yr11, so she is a year behind your daughter.