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.

They still do ! It's an MMI station and B1 gets you full points.
@SevilleOranges please use a new made up email address if unsure of me. I'm trying to find an online alternative option but work bit busy at start of term.

@SevilleOrangesi think you had sent a message but deleted it ?

@mumsneedwine thank you for the spreadsheet. Enjoy the weekend.

Hi everyone, delurking and joining in now we’ve got the UCAT behind us!
DD got 2050, SJT Band 2.
We’re thinking Keele, Liverpool, HYMS and Manchester (aspirational option), but she’s not sure whether Manchester is just too out of reach and should put down somewhere else. We have visited Birmingham which she liked too.
GSCE’s - 999999886
She’d ideally like to not be too far from home (we’re in the North West), but I’m assuming strategic application has to trump that desire.

@mumsneedwine I have a copy of your spreadsheet from last year, but is it worth looking at your most recent one in case there have been any changes? I’ll PM you with my details again if so.
Really glad this thread is here as we’re going to need all the advice and support we can get! 😊

@purplepompom75 def worth the update as the scoring system changed this year. Pop me an email and I'll send over

PS Manchester was 1900 this year

@SevilleOranges and @mumsneedwine My DS got exactly the same UCAT score last week. Sheffield was his hope. But dashed when we checked on the Sheffield Medical School site and found last year's cut off for home applicants was 2120.

Just gutting that he's 10 points off. The 2070 figure seems to be for oversees applicants.

@mumsneedwine In your experience, do cut offs ever come down for Sheffield? Or do UCAT cut offs always rise?
Figuring out whether it's still worth applying.

(he has majority 9s, 2 8s GCSEs but the ucat puts the total mean score well below what’s needed for Newcastle)

Is this for 2027 entry?

I’m new to all this, will the cut offs be released before UCAS submission? Or how do they apply strategically.

Do they just go by last year’s cut off and make an estimate of their changes based on that?

@PestoPastaMum no, cut offs are dependent on who applies. So top 700 (approx) are invited to interview so no one knows cut offs until after the process is over.

And Sheffield came down as process went on, and took some later applicants. But if want to safe apply either 2,100+ as that's their usual cut off ish.

It's all a bit of an educated guessing came I'm afraid. It's why I recommend 2 as safe as can, 1 near the previous cut offs and one aspirational if you absolutely love it. As we never know what will happen (eg Sheffield went down massively one year).

This might help (2026 was as at March this year). As you can see 2024 was a v low year !

Ah! Thank you so much. Makes sense.

so pretty much using previous trends to estimate their chances.

That gives us some reason for optimism @mumsneedwine thanks so much.

do you know anything/ have any experience of Cardiff? That’s among his safest.

Cardiff you'll need all 9s. And it helps to be Welsh, but def a good one if have great GCSEs. As is Belfast.

Cardiff scores your 8 best GCSEs, and 8s and 9s are scored the same.

Hmm. I admit to being biased, but I've never come across a St Andrews medic who chose it because its medical school was old. They chose it because it's a beautiful place, or because it's not all that far from home, or because the women's football team is really strong, or because they like sea swimming, or because they love all the traditions, or because it was somewhere that suited their application profile, or because they wanted to study somewhere where students doing other subjects will be working as hard as they will. Or a mix of the above, or endless other reasons. Most medics were very pleased with the teaching there - and some were a little disappointed with what they experienced when they moved to the Manchester system in their fourth year. You really don't have to be a snob to see its appeal!

Good thing they didn’t choose it for being old - St Andrews medical faculty is only 24 years old. And their new ‘ScotCom’ course has raised eyebrows in the medical world. But saying the medics you know chose it because It is beautiful, love the traditions and because “they wanted to study somewhere where students doing other subjects will be working as hard as they will“ just shows how snobbish they were.

Why is it snobbish to appreciate tradition, or a beautiful place?

Apologies. Meant to put 8/9 ! Was typing while cooking - never a good idea. But a good reminder to always check any info you find with the Uni website directly.

That's not what's snobbish. It's only thinking that 5-6 Unis are worthy of existing because they are Oxbridge or London based. Not sure St Andrews is even known by most of my students !

It is awful what they have to put themselves through.

My DD has one school friend who got below what she needed for the London Uni's she wanted, she is taking a complete gap year and applying again next year. We know one girl got over 2000 but below my daughters as said girl congratulated my DD & said I got around 2000 but well done for your great score. There are 3 others we do not know how they did as my daughters isn't good friends with them they are just girls in her year she knows.

My daughter is choosing on the course teaching style, the city its in and all it has to offer or not, the accommodation options, distance from home and ease of getting here and us to her and that's after clarifying that her scores so far & her predicted grades are a good fit, she's on par for over what she has chosen & her ucat is competitive but to what degree we do not know until the deciles are released. Going on Sheffield as we went yesterday.. if they're around last years of 2120 she safely bypasses that so it's on her list and number 2 for preference and she can only hope her UCAT score stays competitive.

I wouldn't trust those stats as you've seen they differ .. just trust your own research.
I wish your daughter good luck going forward and hope you find more good fits.

Purrplepompom75 my DD has the same UCAT score and band and similar GCSEs but one more 9 (9999999877). She really liked Manchester but their cut off was 2060 this year so we are not sure if she should risk it or not. Maybe, everyone thinks the same and then Manchester cutoff might go down and Liverpool goes up. It is a gamble and so difficult to predict.

@ZanyUser same score and looks like we have been looking at the same places Newcastle and Sheffield. Been doing some more research today to apply strategically but all I've managed to do is fill my head with lots of information that is now all a jumble in my brain. I woke up at 4 AM and this is the first thing that popped into my head, what a process it is!