Medicine 2026 entry - part 1

[rockstuckhardplace]

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

Good luck to all those sitting UCAT next week!

A small piece of info for those of you whose kids are thinking of doing an intercalated degree - they are not limited to the options available at their own medical school, they can go elsewhere ( if they can get a place of course, many options are very competitive ). In some unis they can do an intercalated postgraduate degree after 4 years of MBchB instead of a BMSc after third year.

@PurryGrowls no specific info on the UCAT cut offs at Lancaster unfortunately. I am basing my estimate on @mumsneedwine spreadsheet figures and what I have found on TSR so am thinking around 1940. Myucat strategic document says ideal score would be above 2750 which equates to around 2000-2050 this year.... so who knows!

Luckily DD has an acceptable UCAT for here so it is one of her definite choices. The 3rd yr student showing us around said they'd chosen Lancaster over Brighton because of the campus and liked the 'small' feel of the cohort as all the med students end up getting to know each other. He also said he has friends at Liverpool who because of the large cohort (around 400 I think) did not know many other of their peers due to numbers and hung around in smaller groups.

Only opinions but all useful. I feel like what will be will be for DD so if she is in the lucky position of more than one offer, she can deliberate the fine details then. So far we are set on Newcastle, Leeds and Lancaster with Liverpool a possible 4th, we are going to the open day next Saturday which I think will clarify that. Of course the deciles released this week may have an impact too.

Hi all. My DD is now looking at Newcastle or Leeds (she says - well, if my score is good for Leicester why not Newcastle or Leeds as well...). Her Newcastle score is 67 and I think that's not enough to secure an interview. What do you all think?

I think she has enough risk with UCL on her application but obviously it's her choice where to apply, ultimately.

At the moment her four choices are looking like this: UCL, Exeter, Sheffield, and either Southampton or Leicester. We are waiting for the final UCAT deciles and we are doing open days as well, prior to the UCAS deadline.

As a reminder DD has 2180 B1 UCAT and 3A* predictions, but "only" 999888665 GCSE.
(999 Bio-Chem-Physics, 888 Maths German History, 665 Eng Lang, Art, Eng Lit).

Thanks.

I am following your post about your DD’s application closely as my DD has similar GCSEs including a 6 in English language. We went to see Nottingham yesterday as DD was really keen, but we felt the GCSEs might not be high enough because of the lang. DD’s ‘scored’ GCSEs would be 99998886. My DD is a year behind so no UCAT score yet but she knows she has to pull a great score on UCAT to be able to apply to the places she is interested in.
Good luck to your DD with the deciles and application

Thank you @bluefineliner Firsthand impressions and opinions v useful to hear! A smaller cohort appeals to my daughter too.

@SuperSue77 I think your DD is a better position, as she has at least seven 8/9s which would allow her to consider schools like Manchester. The 6 in English was a bit of a stinger, as she was predicted much higher than that. My DD has decided to apply to Medicine late Aug/early Sep last year, just before year 12 started. When she sat her GCSEs she wasn't aiming for 'all 9s'. She was aiming for 7+ in biology, chemistry, maths, english, and german, and to pass the rest of her GCSEs and Add Maths.

Back then, she was looking at biology-related degrees. After she got her GCSE results she started to look at biology, biomed, biochem courses and somehow she choose medicine, which was a huge surprise for us as we don't have any family or close friends who are in the field. It was a very steep learning curve for both DD and for myself, to try and understand what it all entails. She managed to get good medical wex in yr 12 (a couple of hospital placements and weekly volunteering in the NHS) and that solidified her choice for her - as she loves it. School support came very late in the process, in the last term of year 12, by then she had already completed her wex placements. She actually has just started a medical school society in her school togetehr with her friend, after realising how little support aspiring students have. Apparently they were flooded with membership requests from lower years which is fab!

Good luck to your DD with UCAT and all the yr 12 prep! I feel like applying to med school is a job in itself for mere mortals - unless you're an all 9-er and all A*s and top 5% UCAT (well done to those YPs, that is hard work!).

Thanks @inae The 6 here was a stinger too as she was predicted an 8 and has never been that worried about it. She had focused on science wanting 9s in her A-level options (she knew she wanted to do maths, chem, bio since about yr9). Her aspiration to be a doctor started at age 5 so she's had that focus for a long time, just didn't realise that the English lang might throw a spanner in the works!

We weren't really considering unis like Manchester or Liverpool as they just seem too big - I went to Manchester 30 years ago and found it quite overwhelming the size of it despite being much more confident and outgoing than DD, but I've just read that Manchester and Liverpool are campus unis, whereas I assumed they were city ones - maybe I don't understand the distinction.

How did your DD do in VR section? This is the one I'm most worried about for my DD. I am encouraging her to do more reading to help prepare her for the 11 passages, but she is not a big fan of reading (probably explains the English lang result). Nottingham double the VR score and score SJT so I've told her that if she wants to go there she needs to ace those sections and she could still be in with a chance.

The English lang has been a real shame for my DD as she got great results and should be so happy and proud of herself, but the lang score and esp its impact on applying to a uni she likes, has put a dampener on them. We went for a remark as she was only 2 marks off a 7 but it came back no change. We're still debating remarks on 2 of her 8s as they were close to the 9 boundary, as those extra points could make all the difference between an interview or not.

DD's school has a bit of a medsoc, but they don't seem to be that active. Year just gone, they had 6 apply for medicine, 4 get offers and 2 got the grades to go, seems quite dismal stats to me. Apparently loads more keen on medicine in the current year 13 and DD knows quite a few in her year, but their sixth form is increasing in number too (the number wanting to stay on rather than its capacity increasing) so perhaps that is why. They have a 'competitive applications' scheme too which we're hoping DD will be invited to join, but I don't get the sense they are all over it like mumsneedwine is at her school. Although it is a non-selective state, it has above average results and is in an affluent area, so I don't think they feel the kids need that much support and that their pushy parents will support them. Maybe that is true as I think I know more about medicine applications from what I've read on here and researched myself than any staff member at her school!

@SuperSue77 her VR score was the lowest, and she said it was the hardest section (but she expected it would be hard). DM took her by surprise though as it was much harder than in mocks. QR was as easy as expected, and SJT was hard, but she got B1. She started UCAT prep early July with Medentry, but she was away for 2 weeks in July (wex and gold dofe expedition) and really only intensified her practice starting in the last week of July, when we also subscribed to Medify. All in all she did 5 full weeks of prep, with one full mock per day plus tons of mini-mocks and sectional practice.

Also, just to say, her mock scores on Medify & Medentry were higher than her actual result in the 2 weeks prior to the actual test, which is why she was hoping for a higher score... She was averaging around 2260-2280 in mocks the week before the test. I think nerves and pressure affected her actual UCAT score a bit.

Thanks for the info about your DD's UCAT prep. I think my DD might suffer with the pressure of it and am trying to think of how I can help her to overcome those nerves on the day. GCSEs weren't so bad because they are longer exams and she usually had enough time so the nerves didn't disrupt her performance. But I'm worried that in a more time pressured exam she will panic and that will affect her performance. No idea what type of support you can get for that, just practice under exam conditions I suppose.

Thanks!

Can anyone offer opinions on DD shortlisting Newcastle and Leeds? She is really keen on them, don't ask me why... I think she'd be better off applying to more UCAT-heavy unis with her set of GCSEs, but what do I know. I thought she was leaning towards Southampton, but it looks like it has lost its appeal.

Current set:

UCL (risky and aspirational + high cost of living)
Exeter
Sheffield
Southampton or Leicester (score 82/96) or Newcastle (score 67/100) or Leeds

Happy to help if anyone has questions about Newcastle or UEA

Good luck to those with upcoming UCAT

I think DS has finalised his list: Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford. He still has a couple more open days booked though, which could change things.

I'll start early. You only need one offer.

@mumsneedwine I've been playing with your spreadsheet this afternoon and entered in the distance in miles of each med school from our house, and ordered them in distance. Then removed those DD doesn't stand a chance with. It's quite interesting as the ones at the top are those we thought would be the preferred choices. Of course, it could all change if they change their scoring for 2027 and once she's sat the UCAT. Thanks again for sharing!

@SuperSue77😂 love that. I once had someone use it a dart board and choose that way !

Hi 👋!
enroute home from Southampton. I didn’t really know what to expect. They were super organised. We ended up parking at the multi storey car park in town. Hadn't realised how far it was from campus but there was the uni bus service which was free with our email.

there was also a lot of police presence because of some football match! It was nerve wrecking driving into town and so many ‘football fans’ already with pint in hand outside pubs at 10am!

But campus was absolutely fine. There was a great atmosphere. We spoke to admissions and they said the GCSEs were a tick box and then it’s based on ucat. 7 for English language ( ds got that anyway…but she was querying his 6, which we said was his English lit). They seemed confident with his ucat of 2240. So we shall see.

accommodation - one part catered hall and all others were self catered. Free bus pass included in first year accoms bill.

DS likes it a lot. I think it’s going on the final 4.

The admissions team did say not to believe everything you read in TSR!! I didn’t dare ask which bits! And I didn’t mention us here! 😆

😂 always check any information. Admissions teams are lovely.

DD went to Notts. Great city, smallest deanery so easy to get to placements, cheap accommodation and transport, beautiful campus with world class sport, and v lively med soc (annual medics musical).

On the Southampton website it says for GCSE applicants must have 7 GCSEs at grade 6 and above - so why is someone telling you a 7 is needed in English language? (Great that your son has it though).

I sometimes think that some uni staff don't actually know their own entry criteria that well. A few people were unsure at Nottingham when I asked them questions about it yesterday.

I checked all English uni medical school GCSE requirements and I couldn't find any that needed higher than a 6 in English language (though some you're unlikely to get an interview with just a 6).

@SuperSue77 the Unis change them so much even their own staff (& students) can be out of date. Some do need a 7 for Eng Lang, but Soton is a 6 😊.

Maybe they wanted to clarify what the 6 was and we said it was Lit. I don’t know. Just reporting what we experienced. But we got the 7 so all fine.

I know when we went to check out Sheffield last year (right after GCSEs so hadn’t started y12 even), when the admissions director said GCSE English 6 min, the lecture hall had distinctive gasps. Probably including our own and I turned to look at DS!

When my DD applied 2 years ago there were people on TSR & WIWIKAU who said she would struggle with her 6 in English Lit (7 in Lang) but as long as you check the entry requirements it will be fine - she ended up with 4 interviews and 4 offers!

Thanks @Randomactofkindness ! I guess that’s why they said not to pay too much attention on those sites! Although I worry now because I’ve always shared what to me are factual things - or at least things I’ve witnessed myself…so I’m now wondering if I’ve been too naive and assumed everyone spoke the truths!!

The only one I could find on MSC website for A100 (home student) was Edinburgh, all others were 6 or less or didn't directly specify. I hadn't bothered looking at the requirements for the Scottish unis as DD doesn't want to consider them, so glad it is only one of those that wants a 7!