Medicine 2026 entry - part 1

[rockstuckhardplace]

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

Yes, I see your point. I suppose I meant having the confidence to show her best self in a group dynamic rather than being pushy or overly assertive - which I agree, is not a desirable trait!

I think Southampton would suit her so I’m hoping she’ll reconsider,

Thank you @mumsneedwine We’re thinking of going to the Plymouth open day on Sat. A bit of a trek but I think my daughter would love the location.
And great advice re interview scenarios! She’s is a good team player but she needs to build her self-confidence.

Dn submitted his ucas application yesterday.

1820 ucat b2
9988888887
A levels BBC achieved

contextual student.

Nottingham gateway
Leeds gateway
Keele gateway
Hyms gateway

Have you any experience of students applying for these courses @mumsneedwine

@Thefatbutteredpig fantastic courses. If qualify then they are a great way to start medicine. GCSEs are great so should help. Good luck

Delurking on this brilliant thread. Am Mumsnet returner - after 20+ year gap -drawn back by all helpful info here. Thank you!

Does anyone have experience re grad medicine process and in particular on London Unis and also WEX at Warwick and PSs?

DS3 made - what I now see was after this thread -fairly chaotic applications for UG first time round. Got waitlist place but because Covid exam year - no spare places.

He has 1st Biomed and vg UCAT. Wants to apply KCL and QMUL. Lots of NHS shadowing and volunteering. Currently a few hours short on direct care (DBS delays in London horrendous). Also thinking Warwick if make hours up and not sure re 4th choice. Be grateful for any guidance on above and also importance of PS. Good luck to all.

Most medical schools don’t rank the PS, same with amount of WEX. There are a few that do and one or two that look for significant volunteering (though not necessarily medical). Mostly WEX is not about amount but your reflections on it, which may be drawn out at interview. They would generally be unimpressed with just a list of WEX, however long.

If a student is applying post A levels then do the universities still allocate points for GCSEs or do they just go by A level UCAS points?

@JaninaDuszejko depends. Most don't give points for GCSE anyway. UCAS points not a thing it's all grades.

help good people... I'm wobbling (DS isn't). So, I got talking to a friend (someone who I respect, has a kid currently doing PhD in one of the sciences) and who tried to apply to med school a few years ago and was rejected (with a first class biomed degree) (only saying this to qualify what she said)...

She thinks that competition in London is really quite tough so perhaps we shouldn't apply to two London (St G and Barts). The other 2 are Sheffield and Southampton.

She's suggested UEA.

UCAT 2240 B2, Predicted 2A stars and 1 A (although apparently school is happy to raise it to 3A stars), 999887776, WEX - lots of relevant stuff at hospital, charity shop, hospice, tutoring, festivals, leadership in school.

I've triple checked the admissions of these 4 places, and I think he stands a high chance of at least an interview offer... how he does in interview - that's something else.

Help!

UEA is a fabulous uni, a little hidden gem.

DD in y2 med there. Fabulous facilities and the med school building is on same campus as big trauma hospital.

Purpose built accommodation on campus. Campus is vast with lots of green space and very safe. Norwich is lovely little town.

Patient contact from week 3 onwards.

Their offer scoring system lends itself well to high ucat and B 1/2 sjt scorers as it counts for 50% of their overall score.

They are very open re their scoring, their foi responses for med are on their website.

Feel free to shout with any questions

hi @Thefatbutteredpig thanks for your super quick reply! I don't have an issue with UEA at all - it's more the question of are his 4 choices going to be difficult to get interviews...?

It's also going to be slightly difficult for us to get to Norwich I think...(over 4 h) and he's got a health condition which means we may need to get to him pdq (although I'm hoping and keeping all fingers crossed he remains in remission)...and that's the same reason why we haven't put down places like Lancaster.

I think your friend is probably out of touch with UG applications. They say Grad entry is much more competitive than under grad and I think your son's stats are fantastic. And the two London unis he is suggesting are not the uber-competitive Imperial and UCL. From what I read on these threads and Facebook and TSR (but I am no expert) I think all 4 of his choices stand him in good stead for interviews. So I think your son is right not to be wobbling - and I agree with your assessment that he stands a good chance of interview at all 4 choices.

I totally get the wobble - researching places is one thing but narrowing it down and submitting the form with them is another!

I've only done a deep dive into Sheffield and Bart's from the ones you mention and, whilst nothing guaranteed, I would say you are well placed for an interview for both. UCAT well above likely cut off of 7th decile and great GCSEs/ predicted grades.

@MyGreyBiscuit what does your DS think about UEA? I had a few discussions with DD with last minute 'wobbles' but just ended up going around in circles with DD finding her own reasons why she did or didn't want to include certain schools. Luckily the 4 she has chosen are hopefully within reach academically and location wise. Although DD doesn't have health issues like your DS she will be happier being closer to home.

DD has had her PS checked at school today and we are all ready to submit now! Feels a bit quick, but also will be nice to get this off DD's shoulders for a few weeks whist she waits to hear about interviews. She can focus back on her A levels (which she most enjoys doing atm!).

Anyone elses YP submitted their UCAS yet?

ps I have heard good things about UEA though @MyGreyBiscuit .

UEA is hard to get too for sure. We are 4.5hrs away. We live close to Lancaster campus.

Your ds would definitely get an interview with his stats.

I think many of the high scorers apply as part of a strategic application. Interviews start in Dec, offers in Feb and psychologically the kids relax a bit once they have an offer in the bag, then wait for any other offers. The 50% ucat score allows for some flexibility in the interview score.

My ds also interviewed there in 2021 with 2900 b2 but ended up at Newcastle.

My DD and I visited UEA at the start of the month - and I loved it! I grew up in Norfolk so never saw UEA as a particularly great uni, but I was so impressed when we visited. I keep reading about students not getting halls in their first year at some unis and struggling to find a place to live, despite having firmed the uni and applied for accommodation at the earliest date. UEA has loads of accommodation, enough to have later years living in halls too. It is a lovely green campus and I was really impressed with the research lab that they showed us around and got DD to et hands on with an experiment. All the staff and students were knoweldgable and welcoming and they are building a new anatomy suite that will be open soon (in time for my DD applying 2027, but not sure about the 2026 intake). They also seem really inclusive and the passionate Dean was saying how all final yr students had passed their final year exams, apparently the only uni with 100%.

I understand that it is too far for MyGreyBiscuit's son but for everyone else, I agree it is fantastic!

Hi gang! You are all awesome creatures!! Thanks for responding so quickly.

remind me again @bluefineliner what your DD’s choices are? I remember a bunch of schools starting with L?!

I’ll take a look at uea again but I remember thinking how the heck do we get there. I have a friend who worked there and it was a bit of a palaver I think to get to and from.

Having done many checks I feel these 4 would be within reach (I think Bart’s might scare us with possibly wanting 2 stars…) but the others are reachable I think and with his EPQ having a provisional A star or at the least an A, I feel we can get there both physically and academically.

Although having said that a friend who’s son is at Lancaster doing a PhD said on a good day he can come home via train in 4.5h and I was mega impressed!!

He has submitted the ucas form. He has a meeting with the headmaster on Monday!!

Hey @SuperSue77, KMMS also had 100% passes this year which was excellent because it was their first cohort! They started bang right at Covid!

The Dean at UEA was naughty to say he was the only year! Unless KMMS get grouped in with BSMS as they were 'sponsored' (not sure of the correct phrase) by them while they got accreditation. I really like the look of KMMS but out of bounds for DD as her (non-selective state) school's attainment 8 score is too high.

No they were flying solo for that bit. And yes that’s the reason why we can’t consider them. The attainment gap does not seem to be big enough (school is 65 and DS is 80 points). I’m quite crossed about that.

Seems KMMS are very specific about who they want as their students with their criteria.

@MyGreyBiscuit 😂you are correct, it is a lot of places beginning with L for DD, Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool and Lancaster. All one to two hours away from us so keeping her closer to home. She genuinely would be over the moon to get an offer from any of them so I feel she has made the right choices.

(I secretly love Leeds as I actually got an offer there as a mature student in recent years but couldn't take it due to placement arrangements for the course I applied to).

However just getting an interview is the next challenge!

If your DS has submitted his UCAS form does he still have the opportunity to change choices now @MyGreyBiscuit ?

Has she considered Lincoln?

Sorry to get your hopes up @bluefineliner apparently he’s not submitted it but it’s all marked 100% so ready to roll after his chat with the headmaster! The PS has been read a few times by various people including his teachers so I guess it’s ok.

funny when I was doing admissions for university entry, I didn’t pay a lot of attention to it!

😂no but she was considering Leicester at one point!

I too have let DD's teachers be the guidance for her PS. She doesn't seem to take my feedback as well as theirs so I have gladly taken a backseat. Tbh it sounded really good so they obvs know what they are talking about.