Bad scores on UKCAT.

Take the BMAT for Leeds and other places that take it. Maybe also apply strategically elsewhere.*

Maybe also look at other courses in the caring professions. Physiotherapy and speech and language therapy for instance.*

Or take a gap year and reapply.*

Thanks for your suggestions. To be honest, I do not want to take a gap year as I feel like I would miss out on important stuff but it looks like I will have to.

you don't have to. There are other options, like I said.*

And a gap year is only a waste of time if that's what you make of it. Time spent earning money or gaining valuable life experiences is never time wasted.*

The important things you think you're missing you're only delaying, not missing out on. And if you're replacing them with something else, you're hardly missing out.

I hesitate to say this but it needs to be said. Show some maturity about this. You've had a setback and you have to deal with it. Convert it into something positive. It could be the making of you.*

I just did my UKCAT today and I got such awful scores. I did not expect 1680/2700 with a Band 3 in SJ. The questions were really hard, and the practice papers I did were so much easier.

I thought I was really prepared but now with these scores, no Medical School would consider offering me a place. I may do the BMAT now, just because I am a failure. I was considering applying to Sheffield since I only have a grade C in Maths but my AS Level results will also be crap, judging by how I've been doing recently.

I wanted to apply to Medicine since I cannot imagine myself doing anything else, but now I have to rethink everything. I may just do Biomedical Sciences.

My one chance has been ruined.
Does anyone have any advice, if possible?

Try not to feel too bad about it, remember that the UKCAT is supposed to be an extremely tough exam, especially with the new section this year! Your chances of getting into medicine are not over! Some universities don't look at the UKCAT as a very important factor when deciding who to give offers to, just do your research and apply to those specific unis. Just be sure the other areas of your application are amazing ( your personal statement, predicted grades, work experience, interview etc) and you'll be fine !

I just did my UKCAT today and I got such awful scores. I did not expect 1680/2700 with a Band 3 in SJ. The questions were really hard, and the practice papers I did were so much easier.

I thought I was really prepared but now with these scores, no Medical School would consider offering me a place. I may do the BMAT now, just because I am a failure. I was considering applying to Sheffield since I only have a grade C in Maths but my AS Level results will also be crap, judging by how I've been doing recently.

I wanted to apply to Medicine since I cannot imagine myself doing anything else, but now I have to rethink everything. I may just do Biomedical Sciences.

My one chance has been ruined.
Does anyone have any advice, if possible?

Hi MedicMedicMedic

Firstly try not to panic, you do still have options available to you.

If you do decide to sit the BMAT, I would advise taking some time to consider why you didn't do as well as you had hoped in your UKCAT. Do you think you could have prepared better or had more resources available? If you can recognise where you might have gone wrong with this then that will help you to do the best you can in your BMAT and you could turn this all into positive situation.

I hope that helps... give me a shout if you have any questions or would like some more advise about getting ready for the BMAT.

UniAdmissions

Heyy, try not to worry about it too much-I'm in a similar situation to you in terms of UKCAT, the only difference is, even my preparation for the exam isn't going well, and my exam is next week! I think you should just plan your five university options very well-perhaps choose two medical schools that have lower entry requirements, to maximise your chance of being accepted, and then for the other three options, put biomedical science down because a) you still get the full university experience, and b) you could always apply for medicine in later years as a graduate. So don't worry, despite what you choose, medicine can still be an option for you.

So I should apply to a Biomedical Sciences course and not Medicine, right?

Not necessarily, If you feel like you'll get the right grades and your personal statement is exceptional, then why not apply now? I'm pretty sure they would override poor UKCAT scores. But at the same time, make sure you have more biomedicine options as a sort of guarantee. That's why I suggested the 2:3 ratio for med:biomed

Oh! So apply to 2 Medical Schools for Medicine and 3 Biomedical Sciences courses. I haven't finished my Personal Statement yet and my grades aren't exceptional but they are pretty good. Thanks for all the advice!

Right, I definitely will. Thanks!

I just did my UKCAT today and I got such awful scores. I did not expect 1680/2700 with a Band 3 in SJ. The questions were really hard, and the practice papers I did were so much easier.

I thought I was really prepared but now with these scores, no Medical School would consider offering me a place. I may do the BMAT now, just because I am a failure. I was considering applying to Sheffield since I only have a grade C in Maths but my AS Level results will also be crap, judging by how I've been doing recently.

I wanted to apply to Medicine since I cannot imagine myself doing anything else, but now I have to rethink everything. I may just do Biomedical Sciences.

My one chance has been ruined.
Does anyone have any advice, if possible?

Awww don't worry. I remember when I did my UKCAT 2 years ago, I got an awful score, and I came out of the test centre crying my eyes out and I kept crying all the way home in the car as well! It does at the time feel like this is the end of your medicine application and that there's nothing else you can do, and I remember thinking I bet the other applicants at my school probably did better than me etc etc. It's NOT the end of the world whatsoever. please please also remember this, the UKCAT has no bearing on how smart you are or whether you will be a good doctor. A testament of this is people who retake their UKCAT a year later when they are on a gap year, very often people go from getting a low score first time round to something crazy like 750 second time round- it's still the same person sitting the exam, the only thing that has changed is they are more familiar with the exam, and the exam they sit second time round, the questions may be easier etc.
Remember you can sit the BMAT and apply to 2 BMAT universities (or more if you're brave enough!) Doing less well in the UKCAT does NOT mean you will do badly in the BMAT. I sat my BMAT and did a lot better than the UKCAT, you have a lot of time now till October so you can even start preparing now for the BMAT if you want, look up youtube videos offering advice (Sarah Yasmine is a good one!) and student room threads.
To this day, I will be forever thankful that I did badly in my UKCAT, the reason for this? If I had done well, I would have never done the BMAT and would have never gotten into Imperial College for Medicine. I am now so glad I did the BMAT as I am having the time of my life at Imperial. Trust me everything happens for a reason. Your priorities now are deciding whether you want to do the BMAT, writing an amazing personal statement and applying to a personal statement university as well and nailing your A levels.
Even if you do less well in your BMAT, put it behind you and focus on your A levels, its hard I know, but at the end of the day believe me it is the A levels that are the most important. Medical schools don't care if you've done the UKCAT or BMAT twice (They won't know!) because you took a gap year, but what they do not like is retaking your A levels. So whatever happens this year, focus on acing your A levels, if you ace your A levels you can take a gap year without having to worry about your A level results. I know everything seems a bit miserable right now and daunting, I felt the same way, but it will all be okay, just have patience, try your hardest and whatever happens, happens. Just please don't be too upset about your UKCAT, its done now, just look forwards from now. Easier said than done, I know! Message me if you need any advice etc