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

I don’t know much about the details but each student has an academic tutor as well as specific supervisors for each clinical placement. There is also a med school wellbeing team who were very helpful to DD and others in her group with issues ranging from illness, bereavement and housing. I guess you only know how good the support is if you really need it but I think the support is there if needed/accessed. There is a huge range of student led societies for pretty much every specialty which is great for developing interests/CV building, as well as the main med school society which organises balls, lectures, sports teams etc. There is ofc also all the uni based stuff but certainly in later years, it’s all med school based.

Thank you, that’s so helpful.

DD did not get interview at KMMS with a more than high enough ucat score and attainment 8 of 83 vs school A8 of 63. I would say there are much safer alternatives and, unless you really love it, personally I would avoid if at any sort of selective school, might be better from non selective; my daughter knows a few from the Kent grammar system who applied and none got an an interview. It’s a true grammar system in Kent meaning the vast majority of med school applicants are coming from state grammar system.. where often the teaching and resources are in fact lower quality than in the high schools.

My view is compared to other med schools, KMMS are really not transparent about the criteria for selection; they seem to make decisions based on obscure and unpublished preferences. For example, on TSR there are reports of interviews being given to candidates with not only worse GCSEs and UCAT than DD, but also worse contextualised GCSEs relative to school
.. so there does not appear to be an actual cut off of eg 20 per cent above school attainment 8, for example:

with every other med school we felt we knew exactly how they selected for interview. KMMS is therefore a risk. They also don’t even bother to reject.

the plus side is they offer AAB as standard.

Sorry my above response was for Super sue but the quote thing didn’t work!

And echo congratulations to @mumneedswine DD - that’s fantastic news and must be such a relief.

Thanks for this! This is what I was worrying about - and these are similar stats to hers (assuming she does as well as predicted). Of course, they might tweak things for future years, but if they remain as obaque as they currently are, then I will urge my daughter not to apply (she's not massively keen on it, but she likes BSMS and KMMS is based on that med school - but the low UCAT threshold and A level offer is attractive).
It will be interesting to see how things go for the 2026 entry with the revised UCAT test - I'm so glad she will be applying the year after them so we can gather some data before then!

By all accounts BSMS would have been easier to get an interview at this year - their UCAT cut off was fairly low but was first year post BMAT so not necessarily indicative of future years - so may be a better option to apply there. But definitely see how GCSEs / UCAT go first and then look at options.

Do you know what the cutoff was please? Family member interested for next year. Thank You

Next year’s will be different as UCAT are dropping abstract reasoning.

My DD just got an offer for QUB. We're both over the Moon. Now maybe she can focus on nailing those A levels.

Thanks for all the advice & support on here. Really appreciate it.

@Optimum19 my DD also just got an offer - she's thrilled as it was her top pick.

Thank you @mumsneedwine you've been such an amazing help through this process!!!

Great news @Optimum19and @SoTiredNeedHoliday!

@SoTiredNeedHolidayfantastic news ! So glad offers are still coming through. It’s not over until August !!!!

Oh that's fantastic news @Optimum19 and @SoTiredNeedHoliday. So pleased. And a great boost to the revision momentum at this stage!

My son got a rejection from QUB today but is philosophical about it. Birmingham offer firmed and Norwich as insurance. Head into the books for A levels - both AAA offers.

Great news, always keep the faith for late offers

@Miloarmadillo2you only need one - and he has 2 😊

Great news @Optimum19 and @SoTiredNeedHoliday great news. I think that is her first isn't it @Optimum19 ? That is one of the reasons I defend Exeter and their bonkers preference based on predicted grades, they seem to select lots of people who don't get any offers elsewhere, especially those from WP backgrounds.

They 'fish in a different pool' as Keele put it and it seems as if QUB algorithm has worked too. It is a matter of being strategic and finding the right pools to jump into.

Thanks for all the good wishes everyone. Yes- it's her only offer @Unexpecteddrivinginstructor. It's just over an hour away from home and some of her friends have offers for other courses there too, so she's delighted. They're strict though on getting the grades, so I hope she knuckles down now & puts the effort in.

Oh so pleased for your DD, it will motivate her some more, I’m sure. My DD is certainly more motivated after her Liverpool offer ( following the other waiting lists). And it’s especially ‘sweet’ when the offer comes at the end.
congratulations to everyone else who got offers recently. Now wishing all or DC the best and pray they all achieve their required grades.

Well done to everyone with offers & good luck to those still waiting.

My DD has an offer from QUB and is really excited to go there but she’s just read that local students tend to go home at weekends so is having second thoughts. Is it really like this?

Does anyone know what it’s like being an English student doing medicine in QUB? Are there likely to be many students from further afield who could be around at weekends or are the majority from NI? Any advice would be really helpful. Thanks

👋 to @ipredictariot5- sorry, didn’t mean to freak you out today! When I started talking to your lovely daughter, I realised I’d heard her story on here! What a coincidence! Thank you for talking to my DD too - she’s still undecided but veering towards Newcastle with the lower offer.

@Midnight001 At the QUB interview day, the guide who showed us around was from the Midlands. She said it's 100% impossible not to make friends at QUB because everyone is so friendly. She also said that the way they teach medicine, you are placed in groups for case studies from really early on, so you basically have an instant friend group.

My DD will also be travelling there - as long as she gets her grades!

Many thanks @SoTiredNeedHoliday that’s really helpful & reassuring. It’s such a big step, just want them all to be happy. I know the grade offer is really high but fingers crossed both our DD’s get there

Lovely to meet in person! Your DD has 2 great choices there is no bad decision to make - two great friendly cities and med schools x