Medicine 2025 entry -part 3

[HGC2]

Will try to add old threads, maybe good for us to give an update of where our DCs are at

Thanks for the reply. She doesn't attend a grammar school, it's a regular non-selective school, but it is all-girls in an affluent area. The main question I have is whether it is just the adjusted GSCEs they use to rank them, or do they include the UCAT score in any way, or look at personal statement.

Thanks @mumsneedwine I've looked at their website but haven't been able to get my head around it. Minimum criteria are clear but after that, what chance one stands at getting an interview is not.

Someone suggested checking through TSR to see who got offers in previous years and what their stats were, but they don't all state their GCSEs or know their schools attainment 8 so it's difficult to get any evidence. I think it might just have to be one we leave off the list.

It's early days as she's only doing GCSEs but we've booked up to look around Leicester in July - want to get some visits in early so that next year's summer can be dedicated to UCAT. We like the look of BSMS too, but that one is UCAT ranked, whereas Leicester is 50:50 with GCSEs and we are hoping she will perform well with her GCSEs.

At the moment she is GCSE-focused but also getting a feel for which med-schools she might target, UCAT-dependent. The integrated courses look more her cup of tea and also the campus based ones, and she's keen not to go too far north, Leicester is the furthest she has considered so far! Really does limit the options.

Hi everyone,
My DS got an offer from Liverpool and really likes the city- however we have heard lots of teaching is online which is a bit of putting- he’s also go an offer on Manchester. Does anyone have anymore insight into the teaching styles for both unis.
Thanks for any help

Fab news about your daughter @mumsneedwine 😀

Still waiting to hear from Southampton here. Apparently offers being made during the course of the week - started on Monday but nothing so far. DD has assumed this is rejection but I’m holding onto hope!

Lots of great offers for so many people - lovely to read!

My DD has just done finals at Liverpool so nearly there. Pre Covid nothing was online then obviously there was a period when many lectures were although they still had many small groups teaching sessions and apart from very early on, no clinical placements were cut. Every few weeks between placements they have academic weeks back at uni for whole year group with mix of lectures and sim/skills sessions and cbl sessions. All lectures are recorded (which is useful for recapping) so could be deemed online but there are pretty strict rules about how much in person attendance is required- you have to sign in! No experience of Manchester tho I believe it has more pbl.
Liverpool is a great city and the number of specialist hospitals mixed with DGH placements has been a good mix. DD has had a fab 6 years.
Happy to answer any other Liverpool queries now their offers are finally out - I well remember the long wait!

@SuperSue77Id not worry too much if not sat GCSEs yet. Unis change their criteria quite frequently and I doubt many will have the same interview selection criteria in a few years. Get GCSEs first then think about choices.

@mumsneedwine I am so very pleased to hear that your daughter got the training place she wanted amidst the chaos and very difficult odds. Very well done to her, sounds extremely well deserved

Well done to your daughter @mumsneedwine. Bet you're thrilled!

@Africa2gorelieved. Otherwise she’d be 12,000 miles away for at least a year. She now has a guaranteed job for 7 years.

That's just brilliant.

@mumsneedwine really pleased that it’s worked out well for your DD. You’ve been amazing and it’s payback time for your family too.
Wishing her all the best with her training and exams and everything else, before you know it, she’ll be applying for that consultant job.

@Justlikingitthank you 😊. She has worked so hard to get here. Consultant at 32 seems v young. Still not sure she knows right from left 😂

Rejection from Southampton. So Sheffield it is! DD going to confirm this weekend. 🙌

i am sure she will have a fab time there!

thank you 😊. She has worked so hard to get here. Consultant at 32 seems v young. Still not sure she knows right from left 😂

@mumsneedwine - I'd be interested in what your experience was of having a child at medical school and taking on significant responsibility while still a student. We often tell parents at visit days that their son/daughter will be a different person in 5 years' time and this can be a difficult thing for parents to adjust to. But I think the extent to which parents are aware of how much the son/daughter has changed varies, perhaps depending on how abruptly it happened. For example, I have know students who became mature and independent pretty much within the duration of year 4, while for others it was a more gradual process.

I certainly know consultants I can't trust to switch a computer on unless there's a teenager somewhere nearby, but I'm sure they are excellent clinicians.

@NoNotHimTheOtherOne we have always joked that dd was born middle aged. She has obviously grown a lot in the past two years being away at med school but she has always had a wise head on her shoulders. I think medical school has enabled her to come into her own. Still scary to think she will be a doctor in three years but hopefully she will be a good reflective one.

Sheffield is brilliant - happy to answer any questions as my DD is driving home right now having finished semester 2 in 1st year!

Fantastic news for your DD - you must be so proud 🥰

That’s really kind of you, thank you. She loves the course, only issue is that it is 5 hours from home. Has he felt well supported?

Plus she’s just had an offer from Bristol which has thrown her!

Oh wow - big decisions to make! Lovely to have a choice though!
Sheffield have been great - my DD got sepsis 3 weeks into semester 1 and was in hospital then back home to get better - Sheffield pastoral were great - extensions where needed, check ins to make sure she was ok and tutor support too.
They have 4 summative assessments which they have to pass then exams in June.

@NoNotHimTheOtherOne DD was quite shy and quiet when she left school and had imposter syndrome for first year. Felt everyone was cleverer and better than her. But then she realised she was just as good and she always said she was an ‘average’ medical student. Passed all written exams. Was always in the middle of results. But excelled at OSCEs and placements as she’s a swan. Outwardly calm. She grew in confidence during Uni, although Covid was a bit of a hurdle for a year. She’s v pragmatic about life, just gets on with things and tries to see the half glass full.
As her mum I’ve seen her flourish into a v lovely adult who loves her job.

My DD is fortunate to have received offers from QUB and Liverpool but can’t decide which to firm.
@sergeantmajormum Thanks for the helpful insight into Liverpool. What’s it like getting placements? Is there a lot of competition for places?

Does anyone have any experience of QUB? I’ve read they have made various job cuts recently - should we be worried by this?

Re placements at Liverpool: they are all allocated seemingly pretty fairly so you get a mixture of Liverpool based placements and hospitals further afield - the only one which is too far to commute (they provide basic but free accommodation) is Blackpool. Other places my DD has been included Chester, Whiston, Warrington. She has had a car and I think would be tricky without although she’s given lifts to non-drivers, it has given much more flexibility. Once you are funded via NHS bursary, travel costs refunded. From memory, the specialist hospital placements are mostly in 4th year eg Alder Hey, Walton, Women’s. There are GP placements in each year. Think first placements begin quite gently in year 2 but bulk are in years 3-5, but there’s no competition, it’s all allocated by med school. On occasion in specific circumstances eg if no transport or if have a city based job, can request a specific location but this was rare I think. Group size was occasionally an issue but there are so many hospitals it hasn’t been as limiting as one hears in some med schools.
Also worth saying that about half the year intercalated, either in Liverpool or further afield.

Thank you @sergeantmajormum, that’s really helpful.

Thank you so much for your information and insight. My daughter has firmed Liverpool. Is there much pastoral and academic support? Leicester seems amazing for this but my DD loves Liverpool as a city.