[HelloGoodbye]

(Original post by iramchaudhry94)
Haha. No way do I go to a private school. I actually go to a foundation state school. However our school is pretty sucessfull with medical applications, with 8 people getting into medicine this year. He's kind of like the guy who overseas the whole medical events, courses and things. Although, now that he knows I have a B in English , its as though I feel that he is pretty much thinking 'she'll never get into medicine, why bother with her.' He only really nurtures the really smart kids with a lot of A*'s. I only have 3 A*'s, sigh.

I only got 3 A*s as well and a B in English Language :/
Does a B in English Language mean that I can't apply for Medicine?

[Boom533]

The "A at GCSE Lit." is true, but only for very few med. uni's, like Birmingham, KIngs, and possibly Oxford/Cardiff...most uni's only want a B or above, and some for med even say a C is the minimum requirement. These uni's are the ones that don't place much of an emphasis on your GCSE results at all, whereas B'ham, Oxford place a huge emphasis on it. COurse, it's better to get the best grades you can, but restting can be a pain in the arse :/

So it's not necessary for you to do the resit and get the A, but still, good luck with it, hope it goes well

[Boom533]

(Original post by HelloGoodbye)
I only got 3 A*s as well and a B in English Language :/
Does a B in English Language mean that I can't apply for Medicine?

Nope, see my above post.
Most med courses ask for a minimum of a B (sometimes a C) for maths and English GCSE. So you should be fine as long as you avoid the GCSE heavy uni's

[Thracia]

I got a B for English Language and I managed to get an offer. Just apply tactically, don't choose any universities that are particularly GCSE-loving or specifically request for A's in English Language.

[lil-mazie]

(Original post by CraigKirk)
If you have the qualifications before the end of year 11, then you'll be fine. It's if you're doing GCSE retakes during sixth form that a problem arises, in which case many medical schools will reject you if they state that you must have the GCSE grades before the end of year 11 and you do not.

EDIT: Having said that, I don't believe they would require the grades by the end of year 11 for graduate entry to medicine, since if you get a good degree then you've proven your literacy skills pretty well.

is this honestly the truth because i know i'll only end up with Cs and Bs by the end of the year an i was hoping to retake all of my GCSEs at home (still just a thought) does that mean they won't pick me either way? Can't i just say some story like i was lost in life and never had any aspirations to do medcine but it finally kicked in and i wanted the best possible grades in GCSEs before i do my A-levels so i chose to re-sit?

[myyrh]

(Original post by lil-mazie)
is this honestly the truth because i know i'll only end up with Cs and Bs by the end of the year an i was hoping to retake all of my GCSEs at home (still just a thought) does that mean they won't pick me either way? Can't i just say some story like i was lost in life and never had any aspirations to do medcine but it finally kicked in and i wanted the best possible grades in GCSEs before i do my A-levels so i chose to re-sit?

Some medical schools are okay with applicants resitting the main GCSEs (English,Maths and Sciences) in order to meet those minimum requirements. However resitting all would most probably not be acceptable for any medical school. Any reason other than extenuating circumstances will not be counted either I'm afraid.

[CraigKirk]

(Original post by lil-mazie)
is this honestly the truth because i know i'll only end up with Cs and Bs by the end of the year an i was hoping to retake all of my GCSEs at home (still just a thought) does that mean they won't pick me either way? Can't i just say some story like i was lost in life and never had any aspirations to do medcine but it finally kicked in and i wanted the best possible grades in GCSEs before i do my A-levels so i chose to re-sit?

Unfortunately, universities are very firm about what they state on their websites regarding entry to medicine. As myyrh says, the only exception for resitting all GCSEs would be extenuating circumstances, such as the death of a relative or serious illness (with a doctor's note) etc.

As cruel as it is, due to the number of applicants to medicine, the filters put in place are partially intended simply to reduce the numbers applying. In your case, this seems unfair because your 'story' claims that your aspiration has just kicked in. This isn't to say you couldn't make a good doctor - admissions are just looking for reasons to reject you to make their job easier; applying to medicine can be vicious like this.

As an example, during my first application to medicine (2011 entry), Birmingham rejected me immediately since my 10A*s were not enough - they raised the bar from 7A*s to 8.5A*s after I applied and did not include my 3 A*s from OCR National ICT, as these grades were 'Distinctions' (actually an equivalent). Therefore, I appeared to have 7A*s, and whilst this would have been enough according to the number required on their prospectus, it was not enough after they increased that number to 8.5A*s.

Nonetheless, you can email some universities - try BSMS as they say something on their website about appreciating people 'bloom' at different stages of their education. Good luck, but please don't get your hopes up - to put it basically, it doesn't look good for you I'm afraid.

[lil-mazie]

Ok thanks though

[CraigKirk]

(Original post by lil-mazie)
Ok thanks though

(Original post by BSMS)

BSMS recognises that individuals develop in different ways. We will not penalise applicants who have achieved high A level grades or graduates with good degrees on account of modest GCSE or A level grades obtained in the past. If you apply to us having already obtained your entry-level qualification, then your assessment will be based primarily on this profile rather than on GCSE/AS levels. However, if you are applying on the basis of predicted grades, be they A-levels or IB, we will need to have some means of determining how likely it is that you are going to achieve the predictions made for you. We have to do this on the basis of the qualifications that you have already obtained, namely your AS levels (if you are on a A-level course) and your GCSEs.

The grades that you obtained for your AS levels will be particularly important since they give us a recent measure of your ability, but we do also look at GCSEs in some circumstances (as in the case of those offering IB). When we look at GCSEs, we are primarily interested in the A and A* grades and so the more of these you have the better. However, strong AS grades (where appropriate) will compensate for a weaker GCSE profile. Please note that, for all applicants, we expect grades B in GCSE Maths & English (or their equivalent). Re-taken grades or equivalent qualifications are acceptable as evidence of adequate literacy and numeracy.

http://www.bsms.ac.uk/undergraduate/...irements/faqs/

As you can see, it is possible for you to achieve AAA or A*AB (with AA minimum in Biology and Chemistry) at A Level, then take a gap year and apply to BSMS with the already attained A level grades in place. This way, with extraordinary effort, it should be possible for you to achieve a place in medical school. You should look for other medical schools which might have similar policies.

[lil-mazie]

(Original post by CraigKirk)

http://www.bsms.ac.uk/undergraduate/...irements/faqs/

As you can see, it is possible for you to achieve AAA or A*AB (with AA minimum in Biology and Chemistry) at A Level, then take a gap year and apply to BSMS with the already attained A level grades in place. This way, with extraordinary effort, it should be possible for you to achieve a place in medical school. You should look for other medical schools which might have similar policies.

Aww thanks, I'm not overly happy because i don't won't my hopes to be to high but at least i have some hope, my additional science teacher told me I'll never get a B in additional science and it's sad because i worked my butt off but at least now I won't have to givee up completely

[CraigKirk]

(Original post by lil-mazie)
Aww thanks, I'm not overly happy because i don't won't my hopes to be to high but at least i have some hope, my additional science teacher told me I'll never get a B in additional science and it's sad because i worked my butt off but at least now I won't have to givee up completely

Be realistic - if you're struggling to achieve a B in additional science - let alone the separate sciences - then considering that A levels are much harder and you'll need an A/A* in both Chemistry and Biology, then it may not be possible for you to achieve the grade no matter how much work you put in. It might, and if you do it then well done.

[Cojo23]

Candidates require at least 416 points from their top eight subjects at GCSE, i.e. an average of grade A. (A* - 58, A - 52, B - 46, C - 40, D - 34, E - 28). When calculating GCSE scores, candidates must include scores achieved in Maths, English Language, and Dual Award or Single Sciences. GCSE English Language must be at least a grade B. Resists are not accepted, except for GCSE English Language.

I've just come across this on the SGUL website for medicine... does this mean that if you've retaken modules within year 10 and 11 then you can't apply to St George's? I'm confused

[CraigKirk]

(Original post by Cojo23)
Candidates require at least 416 points from their top eight subjects at GCSE, i.e. an average of grade A. (A* - 58, A - 52, B - 46, C - 40, D - 34, E - 28). When calculating GCSE scores, candidates must include scores achieved in Maths, English Language, and Dual Award or Single Sciences. GCSE English Language must be at least a grade B. Resists are not accepted, except for GCSE English Language.

I've just come across this on the SGUL website for medicine... does this mean that if you've retaken modules within year 10 and 11 then you can't apply to St George's? I'm confused

No, it means you can't resit the GCSEs after the end of year 11. There's not even anywhere on UCAS to display whether you've had to resit any units at GCSE or not - there's only space to record your final GCSE grade in each subject - so SGUL won't even know which resits you did at GCSE.

Basically, you could still apply having retaken modules during year 10/11, but not after year 11.