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.

@Peachy80 how was Southampton? I think maybe your visit was today, if so you may not be back yet!

We got back from Nottingham yesterday around 7pm. We had stayed over the night before and so got there about 9am in the morning. The bus from the station was great and we checked in online so all good - until we tried to find the Medicine marquee and got lost! I was getting a bit stressed as you had to get there early to get tickets for the 10.45am Medicine talk and I didn't want to wait for the 1pm talk as our train home was booked for 3:50pm, but we got the tickets okay.

I wasn't overly impressed by the Medicine marquee - it was a similar set up to Southampton and I just felt it didn't really give a vibe of what studying medicine at Nottingham was about - unlike UEA where you were in the lab or in a clinical skills rooms, hands on with the equipment. I also wasn't massively inspired by the medicine talk - one of the students was great, but the other just seem to lack enthusiasm and professionalism and left me wondering how he had got onto the course!

The campus is lovely and DD was super impressed by it, especially a nice walk by the lake and the offerings in the SU Food Court. We then headed to the David Ross sports centre and stopped into a hall of residence that was open as we passed - it was Florence Boot which is one of the most expensive and recently refurbished! DD was blown away, it was so grand and so nice, I could see she was completely sold on it.

The sports centre was also impressive and then we wanted to go and see more accommodation (I needed her to see something less grand!) but we ran out of time. We had to wait ages to speak to someone in the accommodation tent, then we got on a bus to go to the Jubilee campus, but it took ages as the traffic was horrendous and we realised by this time that we needed to get back to the main campus to get on a bus back to the station. We did manage to speak to a third year student, who happened to be a medic! That was a real stroke of luck as she gave us some great advice about where to live in first year etc.

Interestingly they don't group medics/healthcare students together - so I asked if this caused an issue re: getting up early for lectures/placements or for studying, and her response was that in first year you just enjoy yourself with your flatmates, struggle into lectures despite being up late, and then cram for the final month before exams. I'm not sure this is quite how my DD operates, but it was interesting to hear how this other student had done it - and she spoke about it as though it was pretty standard for Nottingham medics.

Having not got back to the main campus until 3.15pm and worrying if we'd get back to the station for our train, a student helped told us the bus back to the station was 30-45 minutes away! There were road works near the uni and the city was busy, so it was stuck in traffic. We also saw huge queues of cars on campus which was worrying. We were told about the tram station nearby and so we legged it there and despite not being sure if we'd got a valid ticket or not, we got on it and made it back to the station with about 10 mins to spare. The train back to London was busy so we were glad of our reserved seats which we wouldn't have had if we'd missed that train. We didn't have enough time to see/do everything we wanted to, whereas at UEA the time we spent there which was a similar amount, felt just the right amount.

My personal feeling was that I preferred UEA, but I can tell DD prefers Nottingham. I think the fact it is RG is still playing on her mind which is annoying as it really doesn't matter for medicine, but she thinks it does. She also thinks that a couple of her friends might choose Nottingham and I think she likes the idea of them as a security blanket - but one of them wants to do veterinary medicine, so wouldn't be based at the same campus anyway.

At the talk, they talked about how the Nottingham course is changing for 2026 entry onwards. It used to give you an MSc within the 5 year degree, but I don't think that will be the case anymore. They are also moving to Case Based Learning, so whilst there will still be some lectures there will be more smaller group learning, more use of technology and students will have a portfolio that they have to upload evidence to, and they'll be doing inter-professional learning with students from other disciplines like nursing, I suppose to prepare them for multi-disciplinary team working.

Our next visit is Exeter on 4 October. DD's sixth form is quite flexible on predicted grades so with her work ethic we think she'll be able to persuade them to predict 3 x A* therefore a good UCAT should put her in with a chance of an interview. She is encouraged by them not scoring GCSEs, so it will be interesting to see what she makes of it. Sorry for War and Peace above!

SuperSue77 thank you again for such a detailed feedback on Notthingham. We have just arrived home from Southampton. As you have mentioned they have construction work going on and the new medical school building is only going to be ready for 2027. This meant that they only had a Medicine marquee set up and a medicine talk. We got there early and managed to talk to some of the students. They all seemed very happy and it felt that there was a strong sense of community between medical students.

The talk was very informative and covered the usual aspects such as entry criteria, course structure and placement locations. Their practical placement spreads out widely, all the way up to Reading and they even send students to Jersey and Isle of Wight. It was actually interesting to see how far students can end up for clinical placements. This might not appeal to everyone. DD wouldn't be keen on Jersey or Isle of Wight.

During the talk they also mentioned that they would look at personal statements and candidates would get questions related to things written in their statement. They run panel interviews so they like getting to know students as individuals. We actually like this element of the selection process. MMI interviews can be robotic and fast paced. We talked to a 3rd year medical student who applied for Notthingham, Manchaster, Cardiff and Southampton and received offers from all. She said she had chosen Southampton because she came out of the interview feeling that they really cared about her and wanted to know her. This was a positive thing to hear. Unfortunately, we couldn't see any lecture theatres or anatomy rooms due to construction work going on.

Overall the campus have had a positive vibe and looks very compact. All facilities, library, student hub and student union are in close distance (few mins walk).

We were not overally impressed by the student accommodation but we could only visit the Wessex Lane one. The rooms looked a bit outdated and tired. We compared them to Sheffield and Birmingham and both seemed to have better facilities for accommodation than Southampton. However, we should not forget they will only spend a year there and they would need to move out to find private accommodation. It seemed that there were plenty of options for private rental in close distance to the uni.

The city looks very clean and safe, which we liked. The uni open day was super organised with free buses running around. Overall, my DD liked it and it might be a potential future option for my DD.

@mumsneedwine - would it be ok if I dm you to ask for that list, it looks so helpful. Thank you

Of course

@Peachy80 thanks also for your Southampton review! It has reminded me of what we liked about it, but had forgotten over time. I did some rejigging of mumsneedwine's spreadsheet based on DD's preferences and scores so far, and her fav 4 so far are Nottingham, Exeter, UEA and BSMS - though we've no visited Exeter or BSMS yet! She really liks the idea of catered halls for first year, hence Nottingham and Exeter, but if nearer the time Nottingham looks too risky with her GCSEs then we may bring Southampton back in the mix (or we might end up with 4 completely different med schools as those are the ones that suit her UCAT!). But for now, I think she is finding it useful to envisage being at some of these unis to help her focus on what she needs to do over the next 12 months.

She got an invite to her sixth form's competitive application scheme today, which is great, but as I've said on other threads, I feel as though I know as much or more than some of the staff there! But I can't provide independent interview practice which they can. It also gives them an opportunity to get to know her as they will be writing her UCAS reference when the time comes!

Hi I’d love me to join. DS is in Y12 and interested in dentistry. Does anyone have a view on whether EPQ is helpful?

Hi and welcome! I have no idea on EPQ for denistry, I'm sure @mumsneedwine can advise, as I believe she knows about denistry as well as medicine.

I've seen pros and cons of an EPQ for medicine, but my DD has decided against as she wants to focus instead on getting the best grades possible for her A levels. She is lucky that her school don't force them to start on 4 A levels or to do an EPQ. They are totally non-selective and take students with lower GCSEs and offer vocational subjects, so they are less pressured than some sixth forms.
DD felt there was enough pressure applying for medicine (volunteering, getting high predicted grades, UCAT, interview practice etc) so she decided against.
Some people say they don't even get a mention at interview, whereas others found it gave them something to talk about - I think it also depends on where you are targeting, as some (Oxbridge) may want to talk about it at interview, and be impressed by the research skills acquired, and others allow a dropped grade if you get A or A star in it.

Thanks @SuperSue77 that’s largely what we were thinking. He already has so much to do so probably best to skip the EPQ and focus on everything else

Best to get 3 As and no EPQ. But if you have one then several Unis will lower the offer, so nice safety net.

Dentistry just as competitive - spreadsheet does have that on too.

Hi all, good to know about the EPQ, as my dd also not doing one 😂 At her sixth form they have to apply, and can accommodate 15 - she says around 40 applied so seems competitive. Not sure if this is usual or not. She is doing silver D of E and they do it in the same time in 'enrichment' sessions.

She has been told to organise work experience in July, so now in a bit of a quandary. Obviously medical work experience not that easy to come by - my friend is a GP and they don't offer work experience but has said she can spend a day shadowing when she is coming up
to writing personal statement and applying, but they need to do a week. She is also interested in dentistry, and planning to ask at some dental practices, as her friend's dentist said they could offer work experience.

She obviously needs to decide, but I guess my queries are is dentistry actually harder to get into than medicine (as I suspect may be the case as far fewer places) and would it be a waste of time/ look weird doing work experience at a dentists then applying for medicine?

She has also applied to be a volunteer in our local
hospital which, if she can get it, would be useful
for either. She is currently quite stressed about the work experience though as 'everyone' has got theirs organised (mainly in primary schools which is probably easier 😂)

There are so many SM posts around at the moment about how many F2 doctors are unable to get specialist training posts. Does this happen every year? Medicine is so competitive and so expensive, it’s worrying that so many are likely to be out of work at the end of it all.

@QueenMabby no, this year is the first of large unemployment. 90,000 people have applied for 14,000 jobs. 12,000 from the UK. It's a mess

https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/competition-ratios/2025-competition-ratios

To make it clearer the mess we are in - applicants vs year. Blue line is number of jobs

Quite. So presumably this bulge in available doctors will impact the jobs market for years. Doesn’t look good for current and immediate future cohorts.

It's a mess. But hopeful they will prioritise UKGrads which will help a lot. Also shortage of consultant jobs. We do not need more graduates until they sort out jobs.

It’s certainly made me think. Dd is still not certain she wants to do medicine and now I’m wondering if I should be discouraging her because of the jobs situation.

If not sure then take year out. It's not an easy process to apply and not an easy degree if don't really want it.

But it's still a fantastic job and people still have careers.

@mumsneedwine, if still undecided between medicine and dentistry and do work experience in dentistry, is this totally irrelevant for medicine do you think? Dd has been told to sort work experience for July - local teaching hospitals seem to have temporarily paused their work experience programme (hopefully will reopen for applications but she is stressing about needing to sort something 'now'). Possibility of work experience in a dental practice .... but thinking she'd probably have to sort something else too; how much is expected? Also looked at the online ones like BSMS. Thanks!

@Mafaldaweasleyno, it will be v useful, it's about what you learn from it. Mine did some wex in a vets and could talk about the surgeries she helped with (they won't let students do that on humans !).

Thanks @Mafaldaweasley that is good to
know - was a bit worried it might make her seem uncommitted or indecisive!

Meant to say thanks @mumsneedwine 😂

Well. Dd did a heart dissection in biology today. All going well, she was “having a great time” apparently. Found the pulmonary vein by sticking her fingers in and having a good feel around… then went white as a sheet and nearly passed out! School nurse had to giver her water and sweets in the corridor outside the lab. Oops!

That sounds grim @QueenMabby, not surprised she nearly fainted 😂 My dd enjoys dissecting things (strange child) but there do always seem to be several keeling over or choosing to sit it out!

So, I think my dd is now leaning towards dentistry but still not completely sure, so we will have to continue exploring both. She attended a virtual 'conference' this morning called 'get into dentistry' and is attending the medic one tomorrow - I think there will be a lot of repetition but probably also important distinctions. I had to attend with her as they stipulated a parent or guardian for under 18s. It was very informative, mainly consolidating information we kind of knew, but also building on this. The events are run by a company called Medic Mentor (or Dental Mentor) and were advertised on their school Teams. The only reservation I have is there is a clear money making element, so they offer a lot of attractive sounding but expensive support such as mentoring, summer school, virtual work experience (I think some of this is free) and UCAT tutoring - so obviously my dd was immediately interested in the summer school, but just wondering if this type of thing is really necessary/ helpful or of they are just capitalising a bit on parent/ student panic?! Surely if you just do the requisite bits of volunteering, work experience, good reflection/ personal statement and decent grades this should be sufficient? I feel a bit uneasy about what seems to be literally trying to pay your way in - they do offer widening access places on this summer school (we don't qualify) but obviously it is reliant on most people paying. I'm not that keen to be paying loads for all these bespoke experiences, but then maybe everyone else is, as well as getting UCAT tutors (had not even thought about this!) Be good to know what others think and if other people have experience of this company or similar?

@Mafaldaweasley Unis do not count anything paid as work experience.