Medicine 2026 entry - part 1

[rockstuckhardplace]

Starting a new thread for parents of prospective medical students looking to start in 2026.

And also to reassure, the scores seem to fluctuate alot. It can go from 500-800 across tests and across days.

we had to do all this when they were 10 for the 11+ exams and it was nerve wrecking too with fluctuating scores.

Remember to learn the short cut keys and when only a few seconds left pick a letter and put it for the rest of the answers - you should pick up a couple more marks by chance.

Hi @AlphaApple DD also despising VR here. She won't even do a mock on it so I don't know how she will do. She is more sciency and maths and although a great all rounder at GCSE level, doesn't enjoy English so this is her nemesis. She is just plodding on with my advice being to try and smash QR and DM to ease the pressure on VR.

@MyGreyBiscuit DD is also looking very sorry for herself at having to study all her summer. I do try and gently point out she wanted to do this and there is no pressure from me but it usually falls on deaf ears. To be fair she is still persisting and can see she is improving so will just have to keep going. I admit I am dreading exam day and the results if they don't go well.

None of her friends have taken it yet so we have no bar to compare to other than the geniuses on TSR 😂.

Never believe TSR ! People make things up a lot. And no one posts a bad score (but lots get them).

That’s reassuring! I don’t see the point of making things up though. In reality if you have a B and you report an A, it doesn’t change your chances of getting in in real life!! Oh well…

are your children also getting on with life eg going out etc? Mine seems to want to stick around at home other than things like church. Occasionally he goes out for a walk with me nearby ….

@MyGreyBiscuit mine are a bit older. DD1 has just started ST1 (one of the 'lucky' ones). And DD2 is having a travelling summer before starting work next month. 😊.

But remember UCAT days - DD got her best result on the day. Do make sure they get out too as it shouldn't consume them. It will be over soon ...

I don’t see the point of making things up though. In reality if you have a B and you report an A, it doesn’t change your chances of getting in in real life!! Oh well…

Sadly, TSR is a cave full of trolls. There are lots of people there who get pleasure out of winding other people up. We make it clear we will cancel the application of anyone for whom we have clear evidence of this, although it is very difficult to establish a definite identity.

DD is working part time so in the evenings, she is going out with friends but not really full days amongst everything else.

She is having a wobble because a peer got 2080 band 2 today and is disappointed. She has worked out she needs 9th decile for her aspirational choice Newcastle, despite having very strong GCSE grades. It all feels a bit overwhelming tbh.

@bluefineliner ate his GCSEs low ? Newcastle 60% UCAT 40% gcse for interview selection tin and then interview counts for 50%. 9th decile us v high for Newcastle!

Hi @mumsneedwine , DDs peer isn't interested in Newcastle but it is DDs favourite. She was trying to work out what min ucat she would need with a score of 39/40 for GCSEs. As far as we can tell the cut off was 76/100 last year meaning DD would need to get 37/60 for ucat.

Newcastle's admissions policy for this year states you get 37 points for 2170, which is 9th decile on the ucat website aligned to last year's scores. Seems quite a stretch but that is how I understand it.

Thanks for all the reassurance re UCAT. She will do her best and if it’s good enough then great, if not plan B is a degree in biomedical sciences and either a UG transfer or graduate entry. DD has met enough doctors who took wiggly paths into medicine that she knows it’s not the end of the world if she does too.

Newcastle had a lot of places in clearing last year, so I imagine they will have had to rethink their offer strategy this year. For clearing, they got 735 expressions of interest via clearing form, interviewed 145 and made 73 clearing offers. I doubt they will be in clearing this year - it won’t be how universities want to recruit so I wonder how they ended up with so many spaces last year?

That is interesting @MiceandFrogs as I work with a YP who was rejected by Newcastle initially before interview, then recalled around May time for interview, unfortunately he didn't get in. They were doing a few days of late interviews, which echoes your comments.

I wonder how they got their numbers so far out.

Hi everyone. I have followed this thread for a while and find it very interesting. My DD is currently booked to sit UCAT in Sept. She thought to book a later date, but if ready earlier she can try to change it. However, it was recently brought to my attention that statistically children who sit the UCAT exam in Sept perform worse than those sitting it earlier. I was wondering if the fact that more children has sit it so late effect the scaling and therefore make sense to sit it earlier? Just curious to know if you lot have any understanding of that as if is does she'd need to try her hardest to get it done sooner rather than later!

I don’t think it is because sitting it in September is harder, more that weaker or less confident candidates tend to book a later slot, so there is a slightly different cohort

This. Earlier candidates would tend to be more organised to ensure they are ready earlier whereas the later cohort is more likely to include those who thought they would just give it a shot or haven’t got down to study so keep putting it off. Though there is something to be said about doing it before you are back at school and have competing demands from there.

Ah that is great to hear. I was thinking the same, but then doubted my reasoning. I of course did not tell her so not to add to her stress levels! Thank you so much for your replies, I truly appreciate it.

@alwaysontherunmum
my dd sat the UCAT in 2023 and booked for the first week in Sept and ended up with a score in the top 1% so not all late bookers perform less well! She had peers who were some of the first to sit it and they ended up with much lower results so it very much depends on prep. Best of luck to your dd 🤞

@alwaysontherunmum DD also sat UCAT in early September 2023 and scored top 1%. DS sat earlier in the cycle two years prior and scored the same. It makes no difference and is all about the individual. Wishing all the best.

@Groundhogday2021 and @opoponax were your dc's exam grades very good too, and where did they end up applying?

Mine got in top 30% of scores, sat mid August and got 4 offers. Only offering this as seem to be lots of 1% club on here and that can be quite scary to mere mortals 😊.

DS got top grades in 2021 but didn't actually sit A-Levels - it was all a bit wacky that year with offers and timeframes all over the place. He got four offers from Newcastle,Sheffield, Bristol and Manchester. He chose Newcastle.

DD applied 2023 and that was the first normal year post Covid. She got all A stars at A-level and EPQ. She got four offers from Newcastle, Sheffield, Bristol and Notts. She also chose Newcastle.

Neither wanted London med schools as that felt like staying at home nor Oxbridge as they both wanted more integrated courses. They are both thriving at Newcastle.

FWIW I think some DC just take to UCAT better than others and mine both just found it quite straightforward. They both have very bright friends who struggled more with UCAT but still got offers and are doing very well at med school.

Would love to hear how those who struggled with UCAT got on. Did a year out help? DC v committed to medicine but finding UCAT prep tough.

Mine did hers in September and did well enough to get 4 offers, she chose a later date as we’re in Scotland so if she didn’t do well in her highers there was no point in sitting it! Her date gave her time to focus after results day.
She did well in her advanced highers and is off to her first choice uni in September.