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Higher education

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Medicine 2026 entry - part 1

1000 replies

rockstuckhardplace · 15/06/2025 13:05

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

OP posts:
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33
inae · 20/09/2025 11:50

PS. Also, AI rated my DD's chances for interview selection high - at Leeds, but I very much doubt we can rely on AI for that, not yet...

mumsneedwine · 20/09/2025 11:53

I would not rely on AI ! If like Leeds, then apply, as we just don't know how it will go. I always advise, 1 risky, 2 as safe as we can guess, 1 that should be fine as long as not a weird year.

Randomactofkindness · 20/09/2025 12:00

My DD is just going into 2nd at Sheffield - we are driving down now!
Happy to answer any questions

SuperSue77 · 20/09/2025 12:18

I wonder if Leeds are trying not to be like Bristol where the high UCAT requirement is sort of self-selecting as people know you need a high UCAT to stand a chance, so only people with high UCATs apply, meaning that the score required goes up and up as you are competing against those who have the highest UCAT scores.

There's no doubt that Bristol miss out on some fantastic candidates because their UCAT score is not high enough, but they may well have loads of other fantastic qualities and accolades that mean they go another med school and be hugely successful.

Maybe Leeds are saying they want the med students who want to study at Leeds, who love the course and the city, so they don't want to end up limiting their pool to only l those who meet a particular criteria which ends up being accentuated by which students apply.

I sort of quite like their approach, but it's easy for me to say as Leeds isn't on our wish list, and I suppose I feel similarly about KMMS which I think could suit my DD, but which we dare not apply to as her school has a high attainment 8 score.

But when you're limited to only 4 choices and a process as brutal as needing to be above the line where they cut off for interview, it is pretty disappointing.

MiceandFrogs · 20/09/2025 16:56

Leeds reminds me of a couple of years ago when Edinburgh ended up only considering those with contextual criteria for law and a few other courses. The university may try to justfy this by saying weren’t they doing good selecting the best from those with barriers to success? But the reality was they were inducing loads of students to waste an application slot (and resources attending open days etc) on a university that was never going to consider them.

JaninaDuszejko · 20/09/2025 17:22

@MiceandFrogs wasn't that just for Scottish students (because of the cap on home students)? At least they will be mainly applying within Scotland so will have predominantly ended up at Glasgow (my old Uni so obviously I'm biased).

DD1 is at Liverpool today with friends and I've got a short message saying she loved it.

sergeantmajormum · 20/09/2025 18:30

My DD graduated from Liverpool this year - happy to answer any questions!

bluefineliner · 20/09/2025 19:15

Well we have had a very productive day at Liverpool. Final 4 choices confirmed for DD Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool and Lancaster.

Liverpool was fabulous, possibly DD's favourite. They were so welcoming, their talk was started by an inspiring Dr, then info on applying, which confirmed last year's interview to offer rate was just under 40% which is ok. Finishing off with 2 current students who were wonderfully positive about studying there and gave loads of info on the social side of the uni. There is a buddy scheme where 2nd years are matched to a first year to help them settle in and loads of activities to introduce them to their cohort.

The clinical skills facility was excellent, a series of permanent stations where students can practice their practical skills any time from cannulating to various examinations. The best version I've seen yet. The placement hospitals are a wide variety of specialist sites which will give a great breadth of experiences.

DD also managed to talk to a 5th yr and 1st yr student by chance, both had also applied to some of the same unis so could give insight into their applications. The 1st year had an offer from Leeds and wait listed for Lancaster so that was useful to discuss too.

@mumsneedwine yes I am probably overthinking things. It is hard not to when it feels there is little control over the process no matter how much research is done.

bluefineliner · 20/09/2025 19:18

@sergeantmajormum I was so impressed by every one of the medical students I spoke to today, they all genuinely seemed to love being at Liverpool. Good luck to your DD in her career.

Peanuts79 · 20/09/2025 19:24

bluefineliner · 20/09/2025 19:15

Well we have had a very productive day at Liverpool. Final 4 choices confirmed for DD Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool and Lancaster.

Liverpool was fabulous, possibly DD's favourite. They were so welcoming, their talk was started by an inspiring Dr, then info on applying, which confirmed last year's interview to offer rate was just under 40% which is ok. Finishing off with 2 current students who were wonderfully positive about studying there and gave loads of info on the social side of the uni. There is a buddy scheme where 2nd years are matched to a first year to help them settle in and loads of activities to introduce them to their cohort.

The clinical skills facility was excellent, a series of permanent stations where students can practice their practical skills any time from cannulating to various examinations. The best version I've seen yet. The placement hospitals are a wide variety of specialist sites which will give a great breadth of experiences.

DD also managed to talk to a 5th yr and 1st yr student by chance, both had also applied to some of the same unis so could give insight into their applications. The 1st year had an offer from Leeds and wait listed for Lancaster so that was useful to discuss too.

@mumsneedwine yes I am probably overthinking things. It is hard not to when it feels there is little control over the process no matter how much research is done.

Thank you for the Liverpool review - so useful and knowing a few freshers there this week (non medics) who have had the best first few days, it sounds amazing, welcoming and social. UCAT here on Monday so none the wiser where to apply other than I have ALL the info to hand and @mumsneedwine amazing list. These write ups from open days invaluable.

bluefineliner · 20/09/2025 19:38

Good luck to your YP for Monday @Peanuts79 ! It will be such a relief to get it over with for you both. Great that you are ready with your list!

MyGreyBiscuit · 20/09/2025 21:28

SuperSue77 · 20/09/2025 12:18

I wonder if Leeds are trying not to be like Bristol where the high UCAT requirement is sort of self-selecting as people know you need a high UCAT to stand a chance, so only people with high UCATs apply, meaning that the score required goes up and up as you are competing against those who have the highest UCAT scores.

There's no doubt that Bristol miss out on some fantastic candidates because their UCAT score is not high enough, but they may well have loads of other fantastic qualities and accolades that mean they go another med school and be hugely successful.

Maybe Leeds are saying they want the med students who want to study at Leeds, who love the course and the city, so they don't want to end up limiting their pool to only l those who meet a particular criteria which ends up being accentuated by which students apply.

I sort of quite like their approach, but it's easy for me to say as Leeds isn't on our wish list, and I suppose I feel similarly about KMMS which I think could suit my DD, but which we dare not apply to as her school has a high attainment 8 score.

But when you're limited to only 4 choices and a process as brutal as needing to be above the line where they cut off for interview, it is pretty disappointing.

This is the reason why we are going to discount KMMS… because our attainment 8 gap isn’t big enough I don’t think (the school is 66 and his score is 80; average school is 45?). Which is a huge pity because it’s literally 5 min away and even if he decides to stay on campus or in other accommodation, it means he can walk home if he wants.

MyGreyBiscuit · 20/09/2025 21:32

Good luck to @Peanuts79 for Monday! Don’t work too much on it tomorrow - the brain needs a break. I think DS did a mock and that was it till the following afternoon at 4pm when he did the UCAT.

And thanks @bluefineliner for that great review. I’ve got FOMO now… it was always on the long list, but I think it’ll be just too far for us to fathom going there, for 5 years. I’m hoping the southern schools will do him justice.

PurryGrowls · 20/09/2025 23:24

bluefineliner · 20/09/2025 19:15

Well we have had a very productive day at Liverpool. Final 4 choices confirmed for DD Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool and Lancaster.

Liverpool was fabulous, possibly DD's favourite. They were so welcoming, their talk was started by an inspiring Dr, then info on applying, which confirmed last year's interview to offer rate was just under 40% which is ok. Finishing off with 2 current students who were wonderfully positive about studying there and gave loads of info on the social side of the uni. There is a buddy scheme where 2nd years are matched to a first year to help them settle in and loads of activities to introduce them to their cohort.

The clinical skills facility was excellent, a series of permanent stations where students can practice their practical skills any time from cannulating to various examinations. The best version I've seen yet. The placement hospitals are a wide variety of specialist sites which will give a great breadth of experiences.

DD also managed to talk to a 5th yr and 1st yr student by chance, both had also applied to some of the same unis so could give insight into their applications. The 1st year had an offer from Leeds and wait listed for Lancaster so that was useful to discuss too.

@mumsneedwine yes I am probably overthinking things. It is hard not to when it feels there is little control over the process no matter how much research is done.

Thanks for that, sounds great! I’m sorry we missed it but I think it’s on the list for us too.

bluefineliner · 21/09/2025 06:58

@MyGreyBiscuit I'm not familiar at all with KMMS but just curious if the attainment 8 is a big factor in screening for them? Your DSs stats are great so it would be a shame if that is the only thing stopping him from applying, especially due to its location for you.

MyGreyBiscuit · 21/09/2025 08:24

@bluefineliner thanks and yes that’s indeed the biggest barrier. People who’ve been there and some of the staff there say there are other grammar school kids there (Kent is a grammar county) but there are other grammar schools that maybe aren’t so high performing maybe.

It’s ironic that we know people who’ve been rejected before interview from Kmms who are now at imperial. It’s clear that the attainment 8 gap wasn’t big enough.

mumsneedwine · 21/09/2025 10:07

@bluefineliner fantastic 4 choices 😊.

SuperSue77 · 21/09/2025 10:22

Is this International only? Or will they take Home students at some point? If they take Home students, do we know how many? I know Brunel started as International only and I believe they take 50 Home students a year now.

mumsneedwine · 21/09/2025 10:55

It's for all applicants as far as I know. No idea on numbers but won't be many for 2026 I imagine. I will find out

inae · 21/09/2025 11:17

St. Mary's has a great campus, and it's building the med school facilities from the ground up. We used to live next door to it, and trained at their athletics track.

"We will welcome our first students in September 2026. Currently, we can only accept applications from international (non-UK) students."

mumsneedwine · 21/09/2025 11:58

But we don't need more students. We already have unemployed doctors. Not sure what the point is of producing more.

mumsneedwine · 21/09/2025 12:00

Currently only international but they hope to accept some UK later this year. Might be like Brunel where it was outside ucas first year.

MyGreyBiscuit · 21/09/2025 13:23

Hi people, what would you suggest for 5th choice?!

inae · 21/09/2025 14:16

My DD has postponed the 5th choice research until October half term, as it's too time consuming. We're curious to hear what other people are considering. One of DD's friends told her that there are schools e.g. Bath that request a separate PS, so that the application is judged the same way as for the other candidates.

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