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GCSE's for medicine.

Hi, sorry to be making yet another "are my GCSE's good enough?" thread, but I'd really appreciate some opinions.
I received my GCSE results yesterday and they are as follows:

English Lit - A
English Lang - A
Maths - A
Biology - A
Chemistry - A
Physics - A
Geography - A
History - A
Spanish - A
French - A
IT - A
Art - C

I'm reasonably happy with my results although I was hoping for a few A*s as I want to apply for medicine and understand it's very competitive.
I've done some research and I meet most of the Russell Group University GCSE requirements, but is this good enough? Even if I do well at AS and A2 as well as getting relevant work experience, do I stand a chance competing against people applying for medicine who will have exceeded the GCSE requirements?

I've got my heart set on medicine but would like some realistic opinions.
Thanks :smile:
unless you want to apply for oxford, for which gcse performance is supposedly key in distinguishing between equally performing candidates, those results are good. i wouldn't worry too much though as your AS levels are infinitely more important

p.s. there is no apostrophe in GCSEs :smile:
Original post by mollyxrose
Hi, sorry to be making yet another "are my GCSE's good enough?" thread, but I'd really appreciate some opinions.
I received my GCSE results yesterday and they are as follows:

English Lit - A
English Lang - A
Maths - A
Biology - A
Chemistry - A
Physics - A
Geography - A
History - A
Spanish - A
French - A
IT - A
Art - C

I'm reasonably happy with my results although I was hoping for a few A*s as I want to apply for medicine and understand it's very competitive.
I've done some research and I meet most of the Russell Group University GCSE requirements, but is this good enough? Even if I do well at AS and A2 as well as getting relevant work experience, do I stand a chance competing against people applying for medicine who will have exceeded the GCSE requirements?

I've got my heart set on medicine but would like some realistic opinions.
Thanks :smile:

Moved to Medicine forum :smile:
Hi!! I've been researching medicine courses at top unis too as i just got my results too!
basically top unis want pretty much As at alevel (two a*s at cambridge, less at imperial and durham, idk about the rest).
Medicine degree alevels are Maths, Bio, Chem, Physics, F.Maths that kind of thing. Compulsory alevel is chemistry then two of (maths, bio, physics). So your gcse results are good enough to do a levels in all these subjects and GOOD ENOUGH FOR TOP MEDICINCE COURSES! Yay! I'm not intent on medicine just researching tbh
p.s. it says on the cambridge website that after looking for A*A*A alevels, they want at LEAST 5Bs or above in GCSE SO YOU'RE FINE!
Reply 4
Avatar for tal_08
tal_08
9
There very good grades! Universities will use different methods to asses you, most depend on A-Levels [mostly predicted AS]. These universities will just check to make sure you meet the min requirements like a b/c at maths and english.

With that said, some do look and judge you by your GCSE's. Liverpool for eg do look at GCSE's but they score A* and A the same - so theoretically you have the max score for this section! Take a look: http://www.liv.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/medicine-and-surgery-mbchb/entry-requirements/

All in all - you got good GCSE grades, take a look at the university websites for medicine [focus on the entry requirements and the selection criteria]

I just did my AS and am applying this year..it's hard but worth it!

Good luck!
Reply 5
Avatar for mollyxrose
mollyxrose
OP
14
Original post by tanyapotter
unless you want to apply for oxford, for which gcse performance is supposedly key in distinguishing between equally performing candidates, those results are good. i wouldn't worry too much though as your AS levels are infinitely more important

p.s. there is no apostrophe in GCSEs :smile:


I'm not interested in applying to Oxford so that's good to know, thanks! I was worrying after I saw people on here with similar results to mine being told that they'd struggle applying for medicine.

Oops haha, thanks for letting me know :tongue:
Original post by mollyxrose
Hi, sorry to be making yet another "are my GCSE's good enough?" thread, but I'd really appreciate some opinions.
I received my GCSE results yesterday and they are as follows:

English Lit - A
English Lang - A
Maths - A
Biology - A
Chemistry - A
Physics - A
Geography - A
History - A
Spanish - A
French - A
IT - A
Art - C

I'm reasonably happy with my results although I was hoping for a few A*s as I want to apply for medicine and understand it's very competitive.
I've done some research and I meet most of the Russell Group University GCSE requirements, but is this good enough? Even if I do well at AS and A2 as well as getting relevant work experience, do I stand a chance competing against people applying for medicine who will have exceeded the GCSE requirements?

I've got my heart set on medicine but would like some realistic opinions.
Thanks :smile:


I also would like to study medicine and found Lancaster university a top ten Uni and they require 15 points from your best 9 gcses at least: A*/A = 2 points, B=1 and you can't get lower than a C in the rest...so you should be fine!!!!:smile: as long as you get AAA at a level and a b in fourth at as!:smile:
Reply 7
Avatar for mollyxrose
mollyxrose
OP
14
Original post by minjinoor
Hi!! I've been researching medicine courses at top unis too as i just got my results too!
basically top unis want pretty much As at alevel (two a*s at cambridge, less at imperial and durham, idk about the rest).
Medicine degree alevels are Maths, Bio, Chem, Physics, F.Maths that kind of thing. Compulsory alevel is chemistry then two of (maths, bio, physics). So your gcse results are good enough to do a levels in all these subjects and GOOD ENOUGH FOR TOP MEDICINCE COURSES! Yay! I'm not intent on medicine just researching tbh
p.s. it says on the cambridge website that after looking for A*A*A alevels, they want at LEAST 5Bs or above in GCSE SO YOU'RE FINE!


Original post by tal_08
There very good grades! Universities will use different methods to asses you, most depend on A-Levels [mostly predicted AS]. These universities will just check to make sure you meet the min requirements like a b/c at maths and english.

With that said, some do look and judge you by your GCSE's. Liverpool for eg do look at GCSE's but they score A* and A the same - so theoretically you have the max score for this section! Take a look: http://www.liv.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/medicine-and-surgery-mbchb/entry-requirements/

All in all - you got good GCSE grades, take a look at the university websites for medicine [focus on the entry requirements and the selection criteria]

I just did my AS and am applying this year..it's hard but worth it!

Good luck!


Original post by Owensmith16
I also would like to study medicine and found Lancaster university a top ten Uni and they require 15 points from your best 9 gcses at least: A*/A = 2 points, B=1 and you can't get lower than a C in the rest...so you should be fine!!!!:smile: as long as you get AAA at a level and a b in fourth at as!:smile:



Thank you! You've all put my mind at rest :tongue:
I plan to take chemistry, biology, maths and English lit at AS and continue with chemistry, biology and maths at A2.
Reply 8
Avatar for HCubed
HCubed
13
Original post by minjinoor
Hi!! I've been researching medicine courses at top unis too as i just got my results too!
basically top unis want pretty much As at alevel (two a*s at cambridge, less at imperial and durham, idk about the rest).
Medicine degree alevels are Maths, Bio, Chem, Physics, F.Maths that kind of thing. Compulsory alevel is chemistry then two of (maths, bio, physics). So your gcse results are good enough to do a levels in all these subjects and GOOD ENOUGH FOR TOP MEDICINCE COURSES! Yay! I'm not intent on medicine just researching tbh
p.s. it says on the cambridge website that after looking for A*A*A alevels, they want at LEAST 5Bs or above in GCSE SO YOU'RE FINE!


There is a big difference in mimimum requirements, and what is required to get an offer. Particulary places like Oxbridge, where realistically hardly anyone gets an offer without a fist full of A*s. OP's GCSE's may be fine for some some unis but would not get past the first stage at many others, so OP must do their own research.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by mollyxrose
Thank you! You've all put my mind at rest :tongue:
I plan to take chemistry, biology, maths and English lit at AS and continue with chemistry, biology and maths at A2.


Omg no way same aha is your English lit a Pre-U?
Original post by Owensmith16
Omg no way same aha is your English lit a Pre-U?


Nah I don't think my school is offering that :tongue:
Original post by mollyxrose
Nah I don't think my school is offering that :tongue:


Oh right, what uni you wanting to go to?:smile:
Original post by Owensmith16
Oh right, what uni you wanting to go to?:smile:


No idea yet! It'll really depend how I do at AS. What about you?
Reply 13
Avatar for Ronove
Ronove
18
Original post by minjinoor
Hi!! I've been researching medicine courses at top unis too as i just got my results too!
basically top unis want pretty much As at alevel (two a*s at cambridge, less at imperial and durham, idk about the rest).
Medicine degree alevels are Maths, Bio, Chem, Physics, F.Maths that kind of thing. Compulsory alevel is chemistry then two of (maths, bio, physics). So your gcse results are good enough to do a levels in all these subjects and GOOD ENOUGH FOR TOP MEDICINCE COURSES! Yay! I'm not intent on medicine just researching tbh
p.s. it says on the cambridge website that after looking for A*A*A alevels, they want at LEAST 5Bs or above in GCSE SO YOU'RE FINE!

You need to do some more research if this is what you got out of yours.
Original post by mollyxrose
No idea yet! It'll really depend how I do at AS. What about you?


Hopefully lancaster because I live here and it's a good university plus they give you £1000 award for A*AA and £2,000 for A*A*A aha
Original post by minjinoor
Hi!! I've been researching medicine courses at top unis too as i just got my results too!
basically top unis want pretty much As at alevel (two a*s at cambridge, less at imperial and durham, idk about the rest).
Medicine degree alevels are Maths, Bio, Chem, Physics, F.Maths that kind of thing. Compulsory alevel is chemistry then two of (maths, bio, physics). So your gcse results are good enough to do a levels in all these subjects and GOOD ENOUGH FOR TOP MEDICINCE COURSES! Yay! I'm not intent on medicine just researching tbh
p.s. it says on the cambridge website that after looking for A*A*A alevels, they want at LEAST 5Bs or above in GCSE SO YOU'RE FINE!



I don't know any medics who did further maths, it's not required, not useful, and isn't regarded as a separate A-level (from maths) by most med schools.

Most unis require chemistry and one other science, with biology being preferred. A few require biology and another science, or biology and chemistry. Very few require 3 science/maths.

5Bs may be the minimum requirement for Cambridge (although I've never seen this and I'm not sure where you got it from, it's certainly not on their website), but is not a competitive requirement (there is a significant difference); what they do state on their website is that most successful applicants have at least 4-5 A*s. In reality most successful oxbridge applicants have a high proportion of A*s at GCSE, with the rest being As. London are keen on this as well.

Please do more research on competitive requirements, and non-academic requirements if you are looking to apply to medicine. There is a lot of useful information on this on the tsr medicine wiki, as well as on these threads.
(edited 9 years ago)

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