Medicine 2026 part 2

[mumsneedwine]

Thought I'd start another one.

Easy answer ? Money for most. Once school finishes so do any benefits and many families can't afford to feed an adult who doesn't contribute. Chilling time is the preserve of the wealthy.
V unlikely to get a job for however long you have to wait to start Uni. No benefit for employers to train people.
A year is also a long time to be out of education and studying, many Unis don't like gap years because of this.

We are waiting to hear from Imperial and kings’. Anyone same in here?

Other countries manage with the gap between results and applying. In Scotland (most) people apply with their Highers in hand while doing further qualifications in their final school year. The English education obliquely allows for this by allowing three years of sixth form so it's possible to apply to University post A levels doing a one year course where you live at home, receive free education and child benefit. And many kids do a gap year to work and save money for University.

That would mean a complete overhaul of the whole UK education system. There is no funding for 3 years for a levels, unless redo year 12 (& no teachers available to support this). Would be bonkers to do an extra year for no reason.

Many don't want a year out and getting jobs is so hard these days, it wouldn't be possible for everyone. Having parents who can support you is a luxury that many don't have.

Scotland still need Advanced Highers for medicine, so still post results.

It's not an easy fix to move to a new post results system. And the current one works pretty well to be honest. Predicted grades give a ball park and UCAT gives an idea of IQ. Unis seem to make it work as it is so it's not going to change anytime soon.

Scottish pupils are younger too; a good number finish S6 too young to study medicine in England - only turning 18 any time up to the end of February after starting university. For non-medic courses you can go to university at the end of S5 (hence the four-year standard degrees) when you are just 16, though not many 16 year olds do.

Most countries just use a combo of actual grades and entrance tests. These interviews are only really a thing in a tiny handful of places, mostly English-speaking ones. Some studies that have been done on the med school interviews value argue they don't necessarily make much difference to the quality of the students admitted: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10961126/

My main gripe with the whole UK process is that it drags on for absolutely ages and leaves our poor future doctors utterly wrung out. We're talking a solid 18 months of pure stress and ups and downs, from year 12 mocks right through to the agony of A-level results day. Year 13 is unnecessarily brutal and it absolutely knackers them mentally. I genuinely think it hurts their final grades, too, because they have less time to focus on A-level revision.

Picking the four courses is a nightmare because the university criteria are all over the place. Then they could wait weeks or even months for interview slots, wait again for offers, and after all that, the whole thing can fall apart on results day because of those dodgy predicted grades or just burning out from the stress.

Compare that to a country that skips the predictions and interviews: the kids get a whole final year to just study for their big exams. They get the grades, they apply, and that's it! Done and dusted in a few months over the summer. It makes so much more sense.

@inae- that would make so much sense, it’s unnecessary and creates a lot of stress in A levels.
Few years ago, children were applying without knowing their BMAT levels. It was brutal to be rejected by colleges you applied without knowing their results.

It doesn't get any easier once they are a doctor. Applying for foundation with an algorithm, for speciality training with points or an exam meant for GP. You always have to apply blind.
We can't be done and dusted as exams are sat in May/June, marked by teachers who are usually still teaching, moderated etc and published as fast as possible. Unless we scrap A levels there is no post exam way without making students wait to start Uni later. Which many can't.

I'm not a fan of the current system, but its been this way for a v long time. And how you handle the stress does probably show how you'll handle being a doctor.

Good luck with the interviews. And A levels.

All health professionals must be interviewed in the UK for their courses, not just medics. But in terms of application procedures, getting into drama, where you have to pay quite a bit for your interviews/auditions and hang around over night for recall auditions, feels like an out and out scam.

The part of the UCAS process I do really object to though, is how long it goes on for. It is awful that students in any subject can receive a rejection from a course on the morning of an exam in May. I think universities should have a deadline no later than March for their decisions so students can then focus on their exams.

Why is anyone paying ? Unis provide funding for over nights and travel if it's too expensive for a student. And no one should pay for interviews ? Bit confused why that's a thing ?

It is v v rare for Unis to send rejections in May and it's only happened once since I've been doing this job. The Uni was completely blasted and apologised b quickly.

It's not a perfect system but it's not going to change anytime soon. So best to just learn to deal with the stresses and focus as much as possible on A levels. You can always apply again next year post application if that's what you think is better.

When the Tory government consulted on this in 2021, the Sutton Trust were in favour of moving to post-qualification applications:

"[The current] system not only potentially disadvantages many talented young people from lower socio-economic
backgrounds, but also makes the UK an outlier internationally. The UK is the only major country to base its university admissions system on a system of predicted grades. In a new analysis of 31 OECD
countries outside the UK, research for the Sutton Trust by Professor Graeme Atherton found that 20
have post qualifications offers (PQO) systems and 11 have post qualifications applications (PQA)
systems."

(www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/PQA-consultation-response.pdf)

Drama schools, like the Royal Conservatoire or Scotland, or Royal Central School of Speech and Drama charge, claiming it covers costs;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gm7j0l09jo

It's not going to change. Want to apply post application then you can do that, your choice 🤷‍♀️

@2025parent but we are talking about medicine ?

Please do read the Sutton Trust report. All the way through it highlights the need for more support from schools if any new system is introduced. Schools that don't have enough teachers or other staff to do the job currently. So richer schools (& students) would have a massive advantage. Not sure Sutton Trust realise who marks exams either. Teachers ! Who are v often still teaching in summer term. There aren't enough of us now (I've been asked to mark all sorts of papers as no one else to do them). We v often go right to the wire to get the results done on time.

Again, you can apply with grades in hand. Just take gap year.

Hi eveyone. DD has decided to try and set up a medsoc at her school. We thought there was one, as they have 'medvetden' meetings, but these don't seem very frequent and not med specific, more based around competitive/early aplication logistics.

Anyway, just wondered if any of your DC had medsoc's at school and had any suggestions as to what they cover, frequency, etc. So far she's thinking discussion of ethical issues, NHS structure and values, constitution etc, NHS hot topics and current medicine news, and maybe asking some doctors/med students to do talks. Also, a book review, where they each read a medical book and then present back to the others what they learnt from it - and sharing resources/info about courses etc

Any other suggestions? She's going to pitch the idea to her form tutor before taking to either Chemistry department or Head of Sixth Form, depending on which her tutor thinks is best to approach.

That’s all sounds really good, my son has one at his school they also do quizzes and have medical experts come in and present occasionally too.

It sounds great @SuperSue77.

My DD and one of her friends have created a MedSoc at their school this year, as there was none. They set up a Teams group, asked tutors to advertised it in tutor forms, put together a short document with links to free resources for each step (admission reqs, UCAT, interviews, wex, books, etc). The meatiest section was local resources - work experience, volunteering, summer schools, med confererences, and interview prep events. Then they held a presentation and Q&A for interested students - which they created a poster for - and also invited a local GP and a nurse to do a talk. All these were well attended and the school supported them well to advertise and communicate to students. I believe they are going to get a surgeon in early next year, they are now trying to arrange a date.

Do you use the general or the uni specific one

General -

I second the use of medic hut. General mmi practice then we had the help of some private sessions which were uni specific. Found them reasonable price wise too

We’re waiting for GEM (KCL, QMUL, Southampton and Warwick) - invitations later (imminent now eek) so will top up with Medic Hut uni specific tuition if get interviews.

Leeds interview came through today! They will be taking place the first week of January.

Leeds 6y medicine interview came through today.

Leeds interview for us too! 2 down, 2 to find out still. Well done everyone.