Medicine 2026 Part 3

[MyGreyBiscuit]

Hi everyone, here's the new thread!

I haven't given too much thoughts to resits, but we're lucky in that I know my DD's school supports repeating years and "Y14," although I guess it could depend on circumstances.

I've had a brief Plan B discussion with DD at her initiation. I wasn't going to discuss until after exams, but it came up. We agreed I would book a just-in-case UCAT for her, as she is away on holiday this week (lucky with the weather!) whereas I am stuck at my desk. So I booked a September UCAT on Tuesday. She did surprise me by saying that she can't think of anything worse than going back to school for another year, and would seriously reassess trying to get in to undergraduate medicine if she didn't get her grades. I guess it's a real test of her commitment to medicine!

To be honest, as medicine is still a very academic degree as well as vocational, I would support her decision not to resit unless she came very close to her required grades first time. The teaching at her above-average-but-not-exceptional state school has been a bit wonky, but there haven't been any exceptional circumstances, and if she can't get 3 As now then she'll probably struggle with the demands of the course.

@crispy2019,I would check out the exam boards your child has been studying under before considering online learning. My DD did the less popular OCR boards for all three (and the even rare OCR-B Salters for Chemistry), and it's a lot harder to find support for those boards. I heard great things about Uplearn and offered to pay for it for DD but when she looked at it, it was no good for any of her boards. The OCR syllabuses focus more on skills and applying knowledge, and are (so I understand) less formulaic than AQA and Edexcel. I think it's therefore helpful to have in-person learning here, as you can't just spam questions. Having said that, my DD needs to work things out for herself and so she hasn't sought much support from teaching staff outside of class. So consider learning style too. Is there a local college they could attend instead maybe?

To be honest, as medicine is still a very academic degree as well as vocational, I would support her decision not to resit unless she came very close to her required grades first time. The teaching at her above-average-but-not-exceptional state school has been a bit wonky, but there haven't been any exceptional circumstances, and if she can't get 3 As now then she'll probably struggle with the demands of the course.

That's a valid viewpoint. Was talking to a relative who was a HoD in a science subject and he said he'd recommend against resits, he thinks it's better for the kids if they feel like they are moving forward so going to do another degree is better than spending a year trying to remain focused on going over the last two years work.

Doing another degree with the intention of trying for GEM is no longer considered to be good advice, as GEM is even more competitive. There are also financial barriers to overcome. But in terms of the YP's time, I think it is good to move on if you can. I've read some (to me quite heartbreaking) stories on SM of people trying for years and years to get into medicine and failing. I do think there is a time to give up when a goal becomes more of a dream (ie too aspirational). No one is entitled to become a doctor, and the rhetoric that you can achieve your goals if you're determined enough doesn't always land true. I'm still dreaming of being an Olympic swimmer, although have modified that goal to being some kind of age-group success story in my 90s.

It will be interesting to see how I feel come 13 August if DD doesn't get those grades. I think I will cry momentarily at least.

Ooh, just remembered that I wanted to add my experience/knowledge of review of marking to what has already been shared above.

My DD had a review of marking done last August for AS Further Maths as she was one mark off an A. I'm pleased I went into school with her as I think she otherwise would have just walked off with the results envelope and that would have been that. (To be fair I'm sure the school would have been proactive with A-levels, but the AS was inconsequential.) The teachers requested her scripts first and reviewed those (think scripts are requested and sent online, so is quick). They found marks they think she should have been awarded on all papers. They only sent one off for a review of marking first, as there is the risk that the paper comes back with fewer marks than before. As I think mumsneedwine said, you need to ensure it's a priority remark. My DD's wasn't put in as priority as there wasn't a huge rush for it.

My tip for planning ahead for results day is to check the conditions of your children's offers. DD's offer letter says that conditions need to be met by 31 August. My informed guess here is that means that the uni will wait until 31 August to allow for any review of marking and any revised grade to be awarded before giving up her place. If your child's offer letter says 13 August then the med school might not wait, so maybe start getting wheels in motion on any Plan B at the same time. In any event, I'm making sure that DD will be straight on the phone to her firm offer med school if there's a near miss.

To add to this, some schools (including my DC's) are hopeless in terms of missed grades/reviews (perhaps I should also have known more about it, but never anticipated the need). On results day, with DC missing an A by 3 marks (and losing her med school place) we were just advised by school "to get a review" - no suggestion that school could get papers back to look at, no offer of assistance from school or any suggestion at all that you could submit one paper at a time. We submitted all 3 papers for a priority review - with the result that one went up but another went down (one stayed the same). Had we submitted just the paper which went up, the grade would have changed. It didn't matter in the end (she was offered a place) but its worth knowing.

Also, we also think that for this particular subject, which was a different exam board than the other 2 subjects, school didn't confirm her extenuating circumstances. Just something else to check if you're in this situation (but really hoping no-one needs that advice!).

I agree about GEM after a degree. It is much more competitive. Don’t start a degree purely with intention of applying for GEM. You should only choose an alternative degree you are interested in for its own sake.

I think for resits you really need to have had a reason for not doing well first time round so something changes when you try again. Also have further teaching not just enter as a private candidate off the back of extra revision. My DC school showed their resit stats and while some did improve on previous grades, most didn’t. Having said that I would have supported DC to apply once more if they were keen and in with a reasonable chance, then encourage them to consider a different career.

Some SM is mad though - “I got GCSEs 33444555 and A level DDE - do I stand a chance of doing medicine?” with loads of replies saying “absolutely, go for it!”

Thanks for sharing your story. I'm glad it worked out for your DC in the end.

If I hadn't have been through the AS review of marking process I would be totally in the dark. Knowledge is still power, sometimes.

Thanks for all sharing your experiences, especially useful about the remarking advice . My daughter looked very put out when I talked to her about plan b yesterday but hadn’t really considered getting the papers reviewed so that’s really helpful 😊

Hi all,

Just catching up as we've been away for a week. I am so glad others feel as I do about the plan B, resits, remarking issues. @rockstuckhardplace your thoughts echo mine with concern that if DD can't get 3 As now (and she has put a lot of work in) could she keep on top of the demands of a medicine degree.

We weren't going to talk too much about plan B but whilst away DD has had a lot more time to reflect on her exams and think about the what ifs. She got quite down about what she will do if results aren't 3 As. So we finally had a proper chat imagining each scenario and what she wanted to do. There really isn't another degree she wants to do right now so I advised a gap year if grades are very close but not being remarked. She then went and booked a UCAT date in September as a backup, which I was surprised at as she always said she couldn't face it again. We have also had a look at which unis accept resits, and what grades she might need so I feel we have a fallback plan if things don't go well.

DD has had more info from NCL now so is feeling tentatively excited too, their smallprint states that for remarks they give until 31st Aug and although can't guarantee a 2026 place, will give a deferred place if entry requirements are met by that date. This has given a bit of comfort to DD too. It does look like for example if she got a B in bio, she would need to achieve an A* in resits, so that is something to consider too.

Although we are trying not to think about results day it is harder than it appears to just ignore what may or may not happen, even though it is out of everyone's control now.

Hope everyone's YP are relaxing now, DD seems much better after the holiday but will never fully relax until she knows what is next for her.

Hi All,

I haven't posted in a while! I know most people are doing A Levels, but my DD did the IB. The results came out today and I'm so relieved. She got an overall point score of 40 and HL776, which is equivalent to A star A star A and more than enough to secure her place at Birmingham.
Thanks for all the help and support of this group and best of luck for August results day! 🥰

Great news. X

Well done @notsoperfect33 junior, that's excellent news.

@notsoperfect33the first of many. Well
done !!!

@notsoperfect33 congratulations to your DD, well done her! Lovely news and now you have a nice few weeks/months to get ready for her to go to Birmingham.

Congratulations!!! 🥳

Congratulations to your DD, brilliant news. Hopefully the start of many more!

Well done to your daughter @notsoperfect33. What a lovely piece of news. It’s been a long journey and seems strange it’s coming to an end quite soon for us all.