Medicine with good but not perfect GCSEs query

[Mafaldaweasley]

Hi,
My dd has been interested in medicine for a while but been a bit reticent to publicly declare this as she was not confident about grades (neither was I to be honest - late diagnosis of dyslexia, and English language very borderline for ages!)

She has done, for her, amazingly in GCSEs, far better than we expected - 999888775 (5 in French; one of the 9s very unexpectedly in English language). One of the 8s was a mark off a 9 and going back for a review so we will see. She had 9s in chemistry and physics and 8 in biology. Good state comprehensive so doesn't hit any contextual markers.

I am aware that on paper she now has grades which may be good enough to realistically apply, but I have told her there are no guarantees and the process is arduous so she needs to be sure. I know that technically GCSE requirements are generally 7x7s which she now has, but in reality it may be higher due to competition. Also that some medical schools weight GCSEs more.

I just wondered if anyone has experience of a successful medical application with this kind of grade profile, and where would be good places to consider applying? Does anyone know how GCSEs are weighted - is it the top
8, as I think I have read somewhere (would be great if French could be discounted!!)

She is doing chemistry, biology and psychology for A level (not maths as she got a 7, so think this would be a bad idea). I know the UCAT carries a lot of weight too.

Any advice really appreciated.

@MafaldaweasleyGCSEs are more than good enough. Avoid the few that score them (Notts, Belfast, Bham mostly) but for others there are a variety of different ways they select for interview. UCAT alone, UCAT and predicted grades, UCAT and a mixture of other stuff. So UCAT carries a lot of weight !

Can send you my spreadsheet which outlines each Unis required stats if like. What they say is what they do so don't believe any rubbish about more grades the better. His are really great and more than enough. Many students get 4 offers with much less.

Universities particularly look for work experience to set the candidates apart and show a wider skill set. It really isn't all just about the grades!

No they don't. Most Unis don't read the PS

You don't need any medical experience. Nice if can get it, but most can't. BSMS have a fantastic MOOC that's worth doing and then get some volunteering or paid work that's customer facing.

https://bsmsoutreach.thinkific.com/courses/VWE#:~:text=This%20course%20provides%20a%20'virtual,and%20wider%20issues%20doctors%20face.

Thanks @mumsneedwine, I have seen some of your posts before so really value your perspective - that's great to know that you know of people getting offers with these kinds of stats. I have been maintaining quite a neutral stance on the subject up until now as I didn't want to encourage or discourage this as an aim! The stats sheet would be really helpful if you don't mind sharing it, thank you!

@Mafaldaweasley here's a screenshot of part of it. If want the whole thing just drop me a DM with an email (I can't think of another way to send it out !).

Go for it but especially the volunteer in a care home or with disabled kids or similar.

My DD is a doctor and loves her job (maybe not the state of the NHS !).

this website is useful: https://www.medicmind.co.uk/medicine-ucas-guide/medical-school-entry-requirements/

Although many medical schools don’t explicitly require Maths at A level, in practice most successful medical applicants do have Maths, so it’s worth bearing this in mind.

Thanks also @mumsneedwine for the work experience info too - the BSMS one looks interesting. She did something at our local hospital in July, which was run by medical students as an introduction to medical careers, which she enjoyed though was probably a lot more low key. She is hoping to do some volunteering soon as starting silver D of E, and she does sports coaching and refereeing but possibly needs to think about a public facing part time job as well - quite tricky round here though as not much seems to be available!

Thanks @cestlavielife I think she is planning to try and volunteer in local care home.
Thanks @greglet that looks interesting - I know that a lot of medical applicants do have maths but by no means all. I personally think she will be better off with a (hopefully) better grade in something else, and she will have the biology and chemistry - I think the standard ask
is chemistry and one other science. (I have also been following the scary discussion on the secondary education board about maths outcomes if don't have an 8 or ideally 9 at GCSE!)

YOU DO NOT NEED MATHS. Anywhere. What Unis say is fact and they follow their admissions requirements to the letter. Psychology is a perfect 3rd.

The yellow Unis on my spreadsheet are the ones that don't need Chemistry . Newcastle don't even need science A levels.

Thanks for the maths backup @mumsneedwine
She has been in a bit of a stand-off with dp over maths, whose position appears to be 'if you don't do A level maths you will end up destitute'! Thankfully he seems now to have backed down a bit. To be fair, I think he has accepted you do not need maths for medicine but was thinking about back up options such as biomedical sciences etc.

You don't need it for that either 😂. Do whatever she will get the best grade in.

That's what I thought - I can see that maths is helpful to have for sciences of you're good at it, but not worth taking the risk and potentially facing a tortuous and depressing 2 years. I think core maths would have been useful, practically, but unfortunately her sixth form don't offer it.

Wouldn't count as an A level either. Psychology is an excellent choice.

Yes - I meant in addition, and maybe just to support the maths in the other subjects but agree not crucial.
I personally think psychology is a good choice, and good to have a subject with slightly more of a humanities bent for balance (I know psychology is still seen as a science!)

My dd did that combination and she said that she has found the psychology the most useful of the three subjects so far! I think perhaps it is because some of the Biology/ Chemistry curriculum becomes less relevant so no carbon cycle, photosynthesis etc. Also they will go over the relevant bits. The psychology though helped to develop her skills of critical analysis, evaluation, essay writing etc. All of which is very useful for a degree in medicine and skills which others perhaps haven't developed as much with other subject combinations at A level.

Any type of volunteering is great - just to have some examples of scenarios to use in interviews. My dd ended up doing some hospital volunteering in year 12 but it can be quite hard to get. So other settings are fine too.

This looks great!

@Unexpecteddrivinginstructor that's useful to hear. Yes, that's also my view regarding the value of psychology in terms of skills that will also be useful for medicine - and also the fact that it is focused on human development and behaviour, which is definitely relevant! She really enjoyed the taster session they did in psychology - seemed to involve profiling serial killers (maybe more criminology then!) so great way to win hearts and minds of 16 year olds - I have told her this is probably not representative of the actual syllabus, of which she is aware!

@Newmeagain yes, definitely need to get on with the volunteering - there do seem so many hoops to jump through in a short space of time, it is quite daunting.

@mumsneedwine on the spreadsheet, for the ones that list 'academic' in criteria what does this mean? GCSEs/ A levels/ supra curricular stuff? Thanks!

@Mafaldaweasley mixture. I'm afraid it's not always clear how they use it, but if you click on the link in the right then it will explain each one as much as they allow. Some are a bit vague !