Medicine 2026 Part 3

[MyGreyBiscuit]

Hi everyone, here's the new thread!

I think the excessively long break post GCSEs would be better spent starting A level work so the exams and results could be earlier. But when children are moving from secondary to 6th form college that's hard to do. In Scotland children are applying with their Highers in hand but now the competitive courses like medicine need Advanced Highers as well so they end up in the same position as A level candidates (although the results come out slightly earlier).

I thought you'd posted on the wrong thread at first @FruAashildbut I follow you now. Good call but agree it doesn't work when changing school/college after GCSEs. Also you often need to know GCSE results to secure your place in sixth form or college.

Mandatory gap years are the way forward! Or start in January?

Gap years cost money. Families lose benefits once child leaves education. And jobs are not easily available these days. Would mean many students couldn't afford this luxury, so many fiscal rules would need to change.

I think we are all talking from a place of idealism rather than reality.

Indeed..I guess there will have to be some sort of national policy and some idea of how things could work (e.g. 4 day work week possibly becoming more and more of a reality), but there is clearly alot of time wasted on everyone's parts with this guesswork of grades.

Indeed..I guess there will have to be some sort of national policy and some idea of how things could work (e.g. 4 day work week possibly becoming more and more of a reality), but there is clearly alot of time wasted on everyone's parts with this guesswork of grades.

Hi everyone! Long time lurker , unfortunately we got 1 rejection and 1 interview which was unsuccessful. Is there any possibility for clearing do you think ? She's got her back up for biomedical Sciences in Edinburgh but I'm actually devastated . :(

Hi @Justathought786!

One interview and one rejection... what about the other two applications?

Clearing isn't really a thing for home students at least as the med schools operate their own waiting lists of candidates they've already interviewed. People often talk about how Newcastle has been in clearing the last two years, but I think that is just because they were just over cautious in offering and they've probably learnt their lesson.

She didn't apply to anymore because my anxiety took over and I didn't want her to move too far as I really depend on her . Now I know it's totally my fault and I know it's down to me that she didnt get her dream .

I feel so stupid and now can't see past it . She didn't even apply to the gateway courses , I was assuming that maybe they would offer a space if she didn't get a med space .
I have gently told her she can reapply but she is adamant that biomiled is the way . But what can she do with that ...career wise .

Oh that's tough for both of you What are her predicted grades and UCAT? And which unis did she apply for, if you don't mind saying? For now I'd say concentrating on A-level grades is the most important thing.

We applied to both Edinburgh and Glasgow with a UCAT of 1900 . We are Scotland based so she applied with her highers so her advanced highers don't really count towards it . She received an unconditional offer for biomed so she's definitely going but I can't budge my feelings of letting her down. I was hoping that if she did really well in her advanced highers we might be able to go through clearing but ... I think I just have to deal with it . :/

I don't know anything about Scottish med schools or grades unfortunately but maybe someone else can advise.

If she's happy with biomed though and wants to accept that rather than reapplying, hopefully you can turn your focus towards biomed and the careers it might lead to and start to feel happier.

In order to reapply for Medicine she'd need to resit UCAT as a minimum, even if her other grades are high enough, which she's unlikely to want to do unless she's really really committed to medicine, which it sounds like perhaps she's not.

All the best to her (and you!)

What does your DD want, @Justathought786? I am English but my DD applied to Dundee, and from that I have a bit of an insight into how it works in Scotland. Advanced Highers do matter, as I think you generally get a conditional BB offer; med schools don't offer on Highers alone. So if your DD really wants medicine and gets BB in her Advanced Highers, she could give UCAT another shot and apply grades in hand for 2027 admission.

From memory, Edinburgh and Glasgow rank solely by UCAT score for interview and she did well to get an interview - was it at Glasgow? I'm guessing so as I think Edinburgh generally needs quite a high UCAT. Glasgow do panel interviews which is quite different to most med schools; most do MMI format.

If your DD is worried about moving too far, the standard St Andrews course is three years pre-clinical at St Andrews and then I think they can do clinical years in Edinburgh under the Scottish route.

But if your DD really wants to be a doctor then she needs to be flexible on location, both for med school and then later on for foundation and specialty training.

Good morning, friends...! So happy it's friday and it's sunny (where we are).

Just a random thought (well, perhaps not too random but anyway...)... Was just looking at one of the universities' admissions and offer numbers, and it looked something like offers 900+ (interviews was 1300 or so) and places was 300+. Does this mean that they know that roughly 600 won't 'make it'?!?! I mean, that's pretty tough (after all that the students have put in - and us! - since year 12!?)...

Don't get me wrong, I know that the road to med is super tough and in no way was I thinking of taking his foot off the pedal but wow...! that was a bit of a shocker stat. (maybe you all knew this already..!!)...

Also, what happens if not necessarily all 900 get the 3As... but even what if 500 get the 3As??? then what??

Don't forget some students will hold a number of offers so unis have an algorithm which will tell them how many offers they need to make in order to fill their spots - allowing for offers to be turned down and for students to miss their grades.

ah yes I forgot about the multiple offers. (we were one of them so released two back in the wild and placed one on insurance)... but still!

It's super interesting really - I think unis that need a high UCAT tend to know that their applicants are likely to have secured 4 interviews and possibly a number of offers - so (at least when I looked at the stats a couple of years ago) there was a tendency to make 2 or 3 times the number of offers compared to the places they had (e.g. Bristol). Other unis which didn't need such a high UCAT and were perhaps "strategic" applications were more careful with their offers presumably on the basis that their students might be holding just their offer - so QUB for instance only made +50 or so offers above their places (but then made more offers on results day if their offerees missed their grades).

@Justathought786 where is her biomed offer? I work in the pharmaceutical industry, half my colleagues have biomed degrees and are 'failed medics'. There's lots of interesting jobs with a biomed degree from a Scottish university and she's likely to end up with a better work life balance than medics (and be a proper doctor if she does a PhD 😉).

Or she can do the UCAT again, apply with her Advanced Highers and this time apply to four medical schools. Where in Scotland are you? I assume central belt if you want her close to you, St Andrews and Dundee aren't that far away though and after that Aberdeen, Newcastle and Sunderland are within 3 hours so OK for a weekend visit.

Hi! Thanks for your message , I think this is what has started to put her off , she wants a life, a family and not just a career !
Her offer is Edinburgh which is amazing in itself!
I have a tendency to spiral so now I've had some time to think , I feel as though i was thinking more for myself and my ego than her! I just want whats best for her :)

@Justathought786 if it helps, my DD is an ST1 and loves her job. There are easier ways to make more money but none will be as satisfying to her as delivering babies.

We have just been to the Sheffield Offer holders day. How is your daughter getting on with year 2 at Sheffield…I’ve just read some damming comments on Reddit…which I not sure how seriously to take 😬

A numerate degree from a well regarded university will never not be wanted. Encourage her to find out which lecturers take students for summer projects and to do that so she has some good lab experience and also think about a sandwich year in industry (these are paid). Edinburgh has a good reputation and industry links, the company I work for funds and provide industrial supervisors for PhDs there 😁.

What are they saying on Reddit?

She’s had a great year - brilliant GP placement, clinical skills completed. The lectures are fine - some better than others. She’s just got her placement for August - not ideal as it’s in Scunthorpe but she knew that was a possibility! However it’s only for 10 weeks which is short compared to other unis and she should get a nearer one starting in January.

It’s just one post saying that the first year was good but the second year was a let down in terms of teaching and lectures. I guess you can’t please everyone and actually it should be a demanding time.
Thank you for that feedback it’s very reassuring, glad your YP is enjoying it , I bet Scunthorpe will turn out to be really interesting.

I think I sat in front of a mums netter for the parents Q&A at Sheffield…asking about support for her daughter after surgery. Hope you and your daughter enjoyed the day…how did those that went feel about it?