Am I suitable to study medicine, preferably at Cambridge?

I received my GCSE grades yesterday:
Maths = A*
Core Science = A
Additional Science = A*
Triple Science = A*
French = A*
Drama = A
Geography = A
Media Studies = A
RS Short Course = A*
English Language = A
English Literature = A
Additional Maths FSMQ (Similar to AS level maths) = C

I am aware that excellent A level grades are more crucial but I am wondering whether these grades will hold me back?
Thank you x

Can you explain your Science GCSEs for me? Did you do Double Award/Core+Additional and then the three individual Science GCSEs as well? Exactly how many GCSEs did you come out with in Sciences?

No, at my school instead of doing separate GCSEs in Biology, Chemistry and Physics, we do Core Science (B1, C1, P1 plus an ISA), Double Science (B2, C2, P2 plus an ISA) and if you choose to you can do Further Additional Science aka Triple Science (B3, C3 and P3 plus and ISA). I came out with 3 science GCSEs. x

I received my GCSE grades yesterday:
Maths = A*
Core Science = A
Additional Science = A*
Triple Science = A*
French = A*
Drama = A
Geography = A
Media Studies = A
RS Short Course = A*
English Language = A
English Literature = A
Additional Maths FSMQ (Similar to AS level maths) = C

I am aware that excellent A level grades are more crucial but I am wondering whether these grades will hold me back?
Thank you x

No, at my school instead of doing separate GCSEs in Biology, Chemistry and Physics, we do Core Science (B1, C1, P1 plus an ISA), Double Science (B2, C2, P2 plus an ISA) and if you choose to you can do Further Additional Science aka Triple Science (B3, C3 and P3 plus and ISA). I came out with 3 science GCSEs. x

Ah I see, never heard of it!

You should be fine with 5 A*s and 6 As. When it comes round to application time you'll just have to do a lot of research on exactly which med schools use GCSEs most heavily and how exactly they use them. There's loads of info on here. For example, if a med school scores A*s and As the same and want a certain point score for you to be eligible and you meet that, then it's probably worth looking at. If they score A*s and As differently and score the top 9, you might risk losing out to people with 8+A*s.

Surely that is B1-3, C1-3, P1-3 and an ISA in each, which means you should have a Biology, Chemistry, and Physics GCSE

Out of curiosity, why Cambridge for Medicine?

Your results are very good well done. Just do research into whether Cambridge is one of the institutions that place emphasis on the number of A*s.

Yes it essentially is but because I did B1, C1 and P1 in year 10, I had to do them separately for some reason x

Yes it essentially is but because I did B1, C1 and P1 in year 10, I had to do them separately for some reason x

Oh okay fair enough! Those GCSE grades should be fine, just make sure you smash your AS-levels if you want to apply to Cambridge, as you will need ~95% UMS average across all relevant subjects to stand a decent chance.

I am so motivated to get three A*s! I'm studying Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Further Maths at AS (I'll probably drop Further Maths at A2). My school recommends doing 1 hour outside of school per hour in school plus homework. Do you think this is enough to obtain those grades? x

Well I just finished my first year with A*aaa (A2 Maths / AS Biology, Chemistry, and Physics) and besides Maths I did not put a lot of time in outside of college. With the Maths however I had learnt C1-3 before college started, and the rest ahead of the class, because maths is a passion of mine. This however is not a suggestion that you don't have to put the effort in- at the end of the year I was absolutely ****ting myself about Bio, Chem, and Phys, and spent hours every day powering through revision. One hour outside per hour inside is probably quite steep; if you do a good 2-3 hours per week in each subject I would think that would be fine if you are passionate about the subjects, and something I cannot stress enough is do past papers in all your subjects to try and push yourself ahead.

Thanks for your reply and well done on your amazing results! I think I will do 1 hour outside for every 1 hour lesson because I only have 14 hours of lessons every week which means 11 'free' periods which I will be doing work in anyway! I think my school does less time in school...
Do you think if I go over the content after each lesson thoroughly, do questions on it and keep revisiting it occasionally I will do as well as I would like to? Also do you have any tips for Physics and Chemistry and is Chemistry A level really as hard as people say it is? x

Ah see I have a 24 hour week so 24 hours to me would seem excessive :P If you stick to a revision plan all year round you should have no problems.

For Physics, seeing as you plan to do Maths as well, see if you are able to pick the applied modules you do as part of the course, and if so take M1 and M2- this basically links the two subjects and makes it a hell of a lot easier. For Chemistry just put a lot of effort in; it isn't hard it's just different to GCSE, and more in depth which can take some people by surprise.

What board does your college do, if you know?

I received my GCSE grades yesterday:
Maths = A*
Core Science = A
Additional Science = A*
Triple Science = A*
French = A*
Drama = A
Geography = A
Media Studies = A
RS Short Course = A*
English Language = A
English Literature = A
Additional Maths FSMQ (Similar to AS level maths) = C

I am aware that excellent A level grades are more crucial but I am wondering whether these grades will hold me back?
Thank you x

You can see the GCSEs (as well as AS UMS) of successful and unsuccessful Cambridge medicine applicants here: http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/teachers/docs/student_conference_teacher_forum_presentation.pdf (on page 4)

I am so motivated to get three A*s! I'm studying Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Further Maths at AS (I'll probably drop Further Maths at A2). My school recommends doing 1 hour outside of school per hour in school plus homework. Do you think this is enough to obtain those grades? x

Thank you, this is really useful! So with 5 A*s at GCSE an average UMS of 90+ should be okay to get an offer or am I reading it wrong? x