"exams taken in the same sitting" - medicine entry requirements

[medtw]

Hi, what does statement means?

A-Levels should be completed in the same sitting i.e. in the same year, two years after GCSE.

https://www.themedicportal.com/application-guide/choosing-a-medical-school/medical-school-a-level-resit-policies/

My DD is considering an accelerated maths course with the Maths exam end of year 12. The other 2 subjects would be biology and chem (and likely further maths) with exams end of year 13. Is this problematic for some schools for medicine applications?

Thanks.

They mean they don't want resits. The acceleratd maths won't be a problem.

They mean they don't want resits. The acceleratd maths won't be a problem.

Some medical schools (e.g. Liverpool) do require three subjects to have been sat in year 13, so the accelerated maths would be a problem for those. It's best to check with the universities directly.

Some say three A-Levels to have been completed within 2 years, which is different.

I think it does make a difference when they say this. My DS when applying was due to complete his maths A level at end of year 12 and I know he held some modules back to complete in year 13 for this reason. This was back in 2018.

Also please don't let your DD take, further maths a 4th A'level is not required for Medicine.

This was the case for some medical schools when my daughter was applying and she did the accelerated maths in year 12. She didn’t cash in the grade and resat the worst module in year 13 (as she was well over the A grade boundary there was little risk of dropping a grade). It then appears with all the year 13 A levels so avoids this problem. You would need to research whether this is still possible though.
Medical schools want to see that you can cope with the workload of taking three A levels together so you should only do this if you are taking four A levels though.

Thank you all.

I've emailed a few universities from this list to ask about what they mean when they mention "at one sitting". Here's the answer from St George's London. Will post the other answers here, in case it helps others.

We do require that A Levels be taken within one sitting. However, we only require three A Levels (at AAA), so based on the situation you've described, if your daughter plans to sit Biology, Chemistry, and Further Maths at the end of year 13, it would not be a problem for her to sit the fourth A Level subject at the end of year 12 if she wishes to do so.

We would not recommend that she sit the required subjects (Biology and Chemistry) at different times, and please bear in mind that she will need to sit three A Levels within one sitting (and achieve AAA in these subjects), so she should not drop the third subject she plans to sit alongside Bio and Chem in year 13.

From Imperial's website:

A Levels taken a year early
We often receive applications where at least one A Level (usually Mathematics) has been completed a year early in Year 12. If you achieve an A* in Mathematics, this will count towards satisfying the departments entry requirements. However, a lightly loaded year would not prepare you well for the demands of studying at university, so we may decide to make an offer requiring three A Levels in your final year at school. *Each application will be assessed individually.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/physics/students/undergraduate-admissions/applications-interviews-and-offers

It does sound as though it could be putting her a a disadvantage then?

Well I think the main issue is that she won't be able to drop the 4th subject - Further Maths, if she sits the Maths exam at the end of year 12.

Not clear to me what the university offers will be based on though. Let's say she does get A star in Maths at the end of year 12 and but gets AAA predictions for Bio, Chem, and FM. Do they look at the top 3 grades out of the 4? In other words would they base the offer on "A star AA" or on "AAA"?

Not clear to me what the university offers will be based on though. Let's say she does get A star in Maths at the end of year 12 and but gets AAA predictions for Bio, Chem, and FM. Do they look at the top 3 grades out of the 4? In other words would they base the offer on "A star AA" or on "AAA"?

Offers aren't based on predicted grades.

If she has an AstarAA offer, has an Astar in maths from year 12 and goes on to get AAA in the three A-Levels completed in year 13, whether she has met the conditions of the offer depends on whether that medical school said it's based on three taken in the same sitting. If they do say that, she has AAA and hasn't met the conditions (but in many cases would be accepted anyway); if they don't say that, she has A*AA and has met the conditions. It's worth contacting them to confirm this when you receive the offer, though.

I don’t agree. They’re clear they want 3 A levels at one sitting. If they offer A*AA I would assume that’s what they want from the one sitting. Best to clarify.

If she is definitely taking further maths and will do that at the end of y13 then that meets the 3-Alevels-in-one-sitting requirement but the A*AA offer will be on those 3, with the grade in Alevel maths from y12 disregarded.

It's a legitimate requirement because the workload for studying medicine is enormous and there are no short-cuts.

The accelerated maths A-level course is specifically intended to take the pressure down a notch for y13, and it's reasonable for a university to conclude that if a student needs that accommodation in order to achieve 3 Alevels they aren't cut out for medicine. If they use it as a way to achieve 4 Alevels then it's not a problem.

The 2 years after gcse thing is peculiar. People might have varying resins for not sitting their a-levels 2 years after GCSEs. And medical schools frequently take older applicants with alternative entry protocols. So it seems a bit strange.

Here's the answer from Liverpool. They do consider the year 12 Maths grade but they only take into account one of Maths or FM, not both.

To answer your question, no. If your daughter was to complete an accelerated A-level course during Year 12, this would still count as a regular A level within our requirements. These would be judged alongside the A level grades in Year 13, alongside a UCAT score. However, we cannot accept two different grades within the same subject (i.e. Mathematics or Further Mathematics).