Too early for a Medicine 2027 thread?

[SuperSue77]

Just wondered if there was any interest in a medicine 2027 thread for those of us with YP going into year 12 who plan to apply for medicine? I've seen one or two lurking previously and will try to tag if I can find their user names. Just conscious that I am always posting on the 2026 thread, yet DD is a year behind them and so my comments aren't so relevant.

Please come and join me here if you are interested.

@ZanyUser I wouldn't. It's v low chance and otter Unis give better odds. But if it's his dream place then no harm in giving it a go - just make sure the other 3 are more secure. Some English people get in !

Thanks for getting back @mumsneedwine That was my instinct but v helpful having your opinion.

Hi all, I have not posted for a while, hope everyone is doing well!

My dd is currently keen on dentistry (which is disheartening as it seems so much harder to get into) though previously was interested in medicine. She has just started properly looking at the UCAT in last couple of weeks, and is finding it challenging - I suggested she spend a bit of time familiarising herself with each area so she has been focusing on VR initially and now started to look at QR. VR has been tricky - she is dyslexic and has been given the 25% extra time which she already gets in exams, but still feeling the time pressure. We have paid for medify and she has been watching tips on tik tok and youtube - have seen lots of ads on facebook and elsewhere for tutoring/ paid conferences but avoiding this at moment as I suspect it mainly comes down to targeted practice. She said she tried some situational judgement questions today too and did a lot better on those so that's something - her strengths are probably in social awareness and general common sense so maybe that helps!

I think on the whole she is feeling a bit despondent about it though - I have told her it is not an easy test, which is why everyone has to do several weeks of intense practice so I am sure she is not the only one feeling like this.

Just wondering how others are finding it? And if anyone has any tips for managing with dyslexia, or generally?

@MafaldaweasleyMy DD also finds VR the hardest. They only have around 30 sec to read and answer one question. I find the whole UCAT test insane. I love reading and I am a fast reader, in fact I can scan read very well but I have struggled with the VR questions when I have tried to answer them.
My friend's DD is dyslexic and got extra time on UCAT two years ago. She did extremly well and now a happy medical student at Newcastle. Defo apply for access arrangements for your DD.
How is everyone doing with open days? We are going to Liverpool on Saturday. Has anyone visited Bristol? Any feedback is highly appreciated.

I agree @Peachy80, I also find looking at the UCAT questions stressful and anxiety provoking, and I am a fasr reader; dd will have 37 seconds per question as she has 25% extra time, not sure how much this will help! It's great to hear your friend's dd with dyslexia did well - I guess it affects people in different ways, but still encouraging.

We are also going to Liverpool on Saturday, and planning to go to Birmingham and Newcastle next week. It's quite time consuming! Got Sheffield booked, and Hull (not discounted medicine, and I think Hull York might be a good option so hoping dd's preconceptions of Hull will be positively altered!) I guess it is useful to get a feel for places though ultimately where/ if she applies will be dictated by stats!

@Mafaldaweasley sorry for the slow reply to your post and questions - I've been mega stressed with work lately. I'm sorry your DD is struggling with UCAT, she is not alone. My DD has started to make a proper go at it now, but tackling VR has made her realise just what a struggle it is and how she wishes she had started sooner! She's feeling overwhelmed with the quantity of homework, test revision, and personal statement drafting on top of the UCAT prep and it is almost paralysing her. One of her teachers at parents' evening said it was just something she has to get used to if she wants to be a medical student, but to be honest I think this stage is harder than actual medical school, when they are still not full grown ups. My DD is still only 16!

I don't have experience with dyslexia, but DD is convinced she has it and wants me to get her tested. English is a weaker subject of hers, but I think it is more lack of reading than an actual disability. Even if we did manage to get her tested it would not be diagnosed to help with UCAT time. The only reason I am not dismissing it is because her cousin is dyslexic and another cousin has some processing issue where they have to listen to the questions being read, rather than reading them. I'm also taking her for an eye test as she says she struggles to read the text on the computer screen - it sort of feels like any excuse right now, but I don't want to dismiss it all in case there is something in it.

So I'm afraid I don't have any tips for you, but just to say DD is feeling exactly the same. I'm going to try and have a chat with her about prioritising and get her to park the PS for now, work on some relaxation techniques and see what other support I can give her.

Nice that you have some uni visits booked - some light relief and maybe some motivation to help make the UCAT feel worthwhile. We're off to Leicester on 4 July and so I am hoping that might help motivate DD too.

UCAT is hard. No getting around it. But practice works, as does learning a few speedy techniques.
eg
only add up last digits and see if they can give you right answers

read question then skim read text to find key words

guess, flag and move on if taking too long

I think it's horrible.

Just came upon this thread. Brings back good and bad memories. Since those days, my DD has done 3 years at St Andrews and 3 years at Manchester, and now coming to the end of F1, her first foundation year. Glad to report that although hospital work is challenging, it seems to be a good fit for her and most of her cohort. Despite the worries about what happens after F2 (shortage of specialism training etc) they are happy with their career choice.

So many hurdles for your DCs to jump in the next year, but the process does seem (mostly) to select people that are suited to an extremely tough job - esp with the option to reapply if things don't go right first time round. Good luck to everyone!

When my DD was applying (she's now 24 so this is probably out of date) a good UKCAT could get you an interview at St Andrews as a Rest of UK applicant, even with less than stellar GSCE results and A level predictions. My DD LOVED it there, and felt it was an extremely well taught course. Also liked that the grade requirements of all the other courses at the uni were similar or higher than for medicine, so there wasn't a gap in work ethic between students doing medicine and other courses like there can be at some unis.

@DoggerelBank Thanks very much for sharing this. Good to hear about your DD’s positive Scotland experience.
how did she find the switch to Manchester?
and what did she think of Manchester medical school after being at St Andrew’s?

@ZanyUser After St Andrews, she was less impressed with Manchester from a teaching point of view. From one of the smallest schools of medicine to one of the biggest, so perhaps inevitable. But she loved the whole Manchester experience, and was ready for a change after 3 years in St A. All worked well for her - a nice cohort moved with her so she didn't have to start from scratch socially, but through a medics sports team she found her people within the cohort that had been at Manchester throughout as well. And she graduated in Medicine with European Studies, which I believe is only offered in Manchester, so that was an added bonus. Some work experience in France, despite Brexit making it all much shorter than it should have been, was an interesting point of comparison with the NHS (different from her placement in Kenya, which was great too, but obviously not so much of a like-for-like comparison).

@DoggerelBankUnfortunately, Manchaster doesn't offer the Erupean Studies option anymore. I called them and enquired about it. DD would have liked it as, she is fluent in Spanish. We liked Manchaster a lot on the open day in October, however heard some news about their less effective teaching. We were told by some students that they had very limited lectures and students had to teach themselves. Some liked such independence while others said they wished they studies elsewhere. How did your DD find the teaching and quality of the minimal lectures? What about placements? Did she end up far away from Manchester? Any feedback is highly appreciated. Thanks

@Peachy80 What a shame about European Studies. I'd forgotten it was for the chop.

She was at the hospital next to the uni as her main site. She had friends at Salfords, which was easy enough, and one or two commuted to Preston (others lived in Preston). Many of them ended up getting a car for the years when they were mostly on placement, because they were sent around and about a fair bit. I remember she was at Tameside for a while, which was a longer commute but a good experience, and she had a month or so in North Wales, sleeping over in hospital accommodation during the week. I imagine it's probably the same at other unis - to cover all the placements, you have to do stints further afield. It didn't seem to upset anyone unduly, but if your DC won't be able to drive, it would be worth checking if the uni take travel time by public transport into account when allocating placements.

In terms of teaching, my DD turned up in Manchester's year 3, so missed the more teaching-intense years. She felt better prepared for her placements than the students who'd been at Manchester all the way through, but it wasn't a fair comparison, because the St Andrews cohort had already done 3 years whereas the Manchester cohort had only done 2. She definitely felt better supported at St A, but all the Mannie grads she knows are coping well in foundation years, so it can't have been that bad! If your DC is keen on the city, go for it.

Thank you for the detailed insight DoggerelBank! Very informative.

Yea thanks so much @DoggerelBank it’s really helpful to hear.

@Peachy80 thanks for your info about Manchester. My DS is going to their open day next week but your feedback from students is v important.

is anyone here planning to visit Hull York medical school? Or has a DC there? V keen to hear your thoughts if so. We can’t get to the summer open days. Any insights In terms of teaching quality and student experience and placements would be really welcome.

Hi All,
I’m curious about your views on the current situation at the University of Nottingham. You’ve probably seen the news that the university has accumulated around £85 million in debt. Someone recently shared what appears to be a reliable source from the Union (UCU) on Facebook, outlining the planned academic staff cuts. According to the document, the Medical School could lose as many as 49% of its academic staff through redundancies. It also mentioned that the university is considering ending some of its publishing and research resource licences, which could make it more difficult for students to access the materials needed for research and assessments.

We really liked both the university and the Medical School when we attended the open day last autumn, but these reports are quite concerning. Any thoughts?

I had discounted it as I don’t think dd’s GCSE grades are high enough as it looked like you needed all 8’s and 9’s to me.

I think we are going to see more universities hitting problems tbh over the next few years. Not that this helps at all.

@Peachy80 this applies to about 80% of Unis, Notts just getting more press as staff are striking. Mergers already happening. It's all a bit sad.

We had discounted for the same reasons. DDs GCSE were good, but she got a 6 in English language which is one of the ones they score, so it made it too risky. If they'd only take the English literature score instead she'd have been okay!

I agree with you mumsneedwine, other unis has similar issues, however considering other medical schools Nothingham has the largest deficit. We will see what UCAT score my DD gets and then decide if we consider Notthingham or not. Thanks for your responses.

Hi @SuperSue77 thanks, it is good to
know others feeling similarly overwhelmed by UCAT! Totally agree about the pressure trying to juggle everything else, personal statement, uni visits and class tests, even though mocks now out the way. Hopefully the consistent practice from start of summer holiday will be helpful in developing strategies and being able to reflect on which question types need more practice.

We went to Liverpool on Saturday, felt a bit like a city break, stayed over the night before and got a bit of a feel for it. Dd liked the university and said she could see herself being there - but also that she would probably be fine in any city with quite a lot going on, which I think is true. Proximity to the Liverpool 1 shopping centre was a plus (not for me!) but overall the university area felt quite safe and easy to navigate, with everything close together. We looked at some accommodation at Crowne Place, which was quite basic, but a lot of first years stay in Greenbank village, which we didn't get to but online looks a good option. Went to both the dentistry and medicine talks (saw some others doing the same!) which is why we had limited time. The entry requirements seemed encouraging from GCSE point of view, and dentistry (say they) look at personal statement - medicine don't! Had a tour of the dental school from a very chatty, pleasant, relatable dental student, which she enjoyed and was really helpful. All in all positive, though I did point out she was seeing it on a sunny day!

We are going to Birmingham and Newcastle this weekend - she is keen on Newcastle though I think it would be an aspirational choice.

Re the UCAT booking - does anyone know how to maximise chance of getting the day you want? Is it like getting oasis tickets and you have to have multiple
devices open? Can I log on from home and book for her as otherwise she will be missing double chemistry? Any advice helpful, we have quite a specific window to aim for near end of August (which I think will be popular time!)

@MafaldaweasleyI guess London will be the most challenging to book desired slots. We live in London so we are prepared for booking slots in other towns outside London if needed. We are also hoping to book an end of August date. Someone on FB mentioned that slots go in the first few minutes but they will release more dates later on.

Thanks @Peachy80, gosh this sounds really stressful - we have one obvious test site but a few others we can get to, we are in North. Do you just try one at a time? Or open on more than one device? I was hoping if log in at 2pm (I think that's when it opens!) we should hopefully be able to get a time that suits.

@MafaldaweasleyI will use one device only. I have found the following info online:
"The UCAT Consortium and Pearson VUE strictly prohibit booking the UCAT from multiple devices simultaneously. Attempting to use multiple devices, tabs, or accounts to navigate the queue and lock in a date can flag your session as candidate misconduct or result in system errors"

Thanks @Peachy80, I found that too after posting - am sure I had seen comments on here before about having several devices open, but it's good to know that's not
the case - makes it much easier!
Fingers crossed for it being straightforward and being able to get a decent time!