Medicine 2026 part 2

[mumsneedwine]

Thought I'd start another one.

Exactly. If you change to a different medicine course after 6pm on 15th October, it counts as a late application.

And it's not not the case that UCAS haven't sent anything to unis yet - DS has already received acknowledgement emails from all 5 unis he's applied to.

I've done it many many times over the last 15 years. As long as done before goes to Unis it's never been a problem 🤷‍♀️. UCAS are pretty helpful. Next week it would be a problem as UCAT goes off v soon.

My DC got acknowledgement emails from universities the following day too.

DD also received acknowledgements directy from all five unis, pretty much next day after completing UCAS, so the unis definitely have her application.

She applied to Bristol biomed as her 5th choice and they placed her application on hold two days ago. Apparently that's common for Bristol?

They do get your application. They also get your withdrawal. But it doesn't really matter here as all done in time.

@mumsneedwine do you mean that YPs could still swap their medicine choices if it's within the 14 days of the welcome email, but past 15th Oct 6pm, the med deadline? Are you 100% sure? The text below seems to suggest that - while you could technically change it on UCAS, your application will be considered late by the med schools.

https://www.ucas.com/applying/after-you-apply/making-changes-to-your-application-after-you-apply

University or college
You can substitute a choice for a different one within 14 days of the date on your welcome email. You can only substitute each choice once.

• Within 14 days of the date on your welcome email you can substitute the choice from your application. The 14-day period starts from the day you receive your email.
• However, you can't substitute a choice after 30 June.
• If you substitute after the relevant deadline for your new course choice, it will be considered late. Contact your chosen uni or college first to check they'd consider your application.
• In the very rare case of your university or college discontinuing the course you've applied for, please contact us to discuss your options.

🤷‍♀️ you can, it involves a bit of emailing, but I've never had a Uni reject an application change if done this week (& UCAS would have been sent last week). Once UCAT goes it's set in stone.

But don't do it without checking ! Admissions changes every year and I've not had to do it this year.

Well, we don't need to change any of the med schools, luckily.

DD might change her 5th choice though, as she was a bit trigger happy and forgot to remove Bristol biomed before submitting UCAS. And now she only has until next week to swap it, not until the 14th of Jan :) She hasn't really given that much thought to 5th choice, as she says that it doesn't really matter, as she wants to do medicine anyway. But she's told me last night she wants to look at a few other biomed courses, just in case.

PS. I think UCAS should grey out the option to swap med/dent/vet/Oxbridge choices past 6pm 15th Oct (or give a 'late application' warning before you can swap), to avoid any confusion/mistakes.

The Bristol “on hold” indeed quite normal

What does ‘on hold’ mean and how does it differ from just taking time to deal with an application?

There's an explanation of sorts on the Bristol website but I'm not sure how helpful it is really. It means they've reviewed your application, you meet their requirements (so it's not a No) but they haven't decided yet whether to make an offer.

https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/after-you-apply/your-application/decision/

It's a slighly annoying feature as every year it makes candidates feel they they been "half rejected" but as carpedium says above, it really doesn't, and there is no pattern to when subjects or candidates are taken of hold. So really, it means it is just like any other uni you haven't heard back from yet.

Can I ask old hands about interview prep books? I think the blue Medical School Interviews book by Olivier Picard gets a frequent namecheck on here, but I note that it was published in 2016, so just curious if the frequent flyers still think it is a good choice.

That was the one my dd used, she said it helped lots

My DD used it too - interviews were January 2024 - 4 interviews & 4 offers

No interview books here (4/4 offers) but school arranged a practice mock interview session, read up on ethics etc.

Listening to her reports on how she responded to some questions it sounded like for a few questions she gave what could be considered the ‘wrong’ answer but crucially she backed up her response with a clear argument with examples.

To quote Mary Twain (as I know a certain someone loves a literary context), 'Statistics, damn lies and statistics'. Facts on the other hand are just that. Facts.

Morning,

DD didn't put a 5th choice down as wasn't sure if she would take it, more likely to take a gap year and try again if necessary. She is now thinking she might put one down. What have your YP put as their 5th? I have read that pharmacy isn't a good choice as most unis reject? Other option is biomed and DD likes Newcastle but I'll be honest I've not looked at anything other than medicine yet.

Just curious on others thought processes on this.

My DD put down a 5th choice - chemistry masters at Sheffield - it was lovely for her to get a quick offer - as time went on and she got interviews then offers from her medicine courses she decided it wasn’t for her and she was going to resit if needed (thankfully she didn’t!) but at the time it seems the right thing to do!

Wrong thread 😂. This one was for me fighting the idiots who think UKGrads being unemployed is a good thing. Yes, people really believe that !

DN has got an offer through from Newcastle Biomed as fifth choice.

He has achieved grades so offer is just dependant on him completing the partners sumner school.

As he is applying for gateway med course, he's had the eligibility forms through from all his universities now. Got the HYMS one to complete today

Hi, i posted this question here a while back to mummyneedswine but think it got lost amongst all the posts!
since it’s a little quieter thought I’d try again.,
was just wondering if you thought 2010 was a high enough UCAT for Mcr Uni..
would really appreciate a response, we realise it’ll be v close to the cutoff n just might not be quite enough
thanks

@user1471519685 it should be. With good other stats. 🤞 as this year has been out of the norm. With higher than average UCAT scores.

Hopefully things will start moving by mid November.

Thanks for your quick response!
thats such a relief as he’s v close to the cutoff for his other favourite option,Newcastle,
He knows it was risky putting them both down but we thought he would kick himself if he later found out he was within the cutoff..
GCSEs and SJT all fine for manc too.
Hes got the pre- interview online test for Sunderland invitation but that’s his least favourite option!