Newcastle Medicine Applicants 2015

Hello everyone!
I couldn't find a thread for anyone who wanted to apply to Newcastle for the A100 course this year so I made one for us so we can discuss anything relevant (or completely irrelevant :colondollar:

) to this cycle.

Here's a link to the admissions policy this year

And here's the website

Anyone else considering applying here? :h:

MOST INFORMATION ABOUT NEWCASTLE CAN BE FOUND IN THEIR VERY TRANSPARENT ADMISSIONS POLICY, WHICH CAN BE FOUND HERE. PLEASE READ! IT WILL GIVE YOU LOTS AND LOTS OF INFORMATION. - Thanks, Medicine Forum Mod Team

(edited 9 years ago)

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Reply 1

Beska

Hey guys.

A bit of info about Newcastle's admission policy (which can be found here):

Selection for interview - "shortlisting"

First things first, they check that applicants reach the minimum A-Level/GCSE requirements. All those that do are ranked by UKCAT score and approximately the top 40-45% are given interviews. The interview shortlisting is done purely on the UKCAT average. Having additional A*'s at GCSE or A-Level, for example, will not help or make it easier to achieve an interview. The UKCAT score required for interview will vary year on year because each year the UKCAT scores of those applying change. You will either be given an interview or rejected.

2014 entry UKCAT cut-off was 745
2013 entry UKCAT cut-off was 695 (but some people received interviews with lower scores, around 680)
2012 entry UKCAT cut-off was 667.5
2011 entry UKCAT cut-off was 675 (then lowered to 667.5 later in the cycle)
2010 entry UKCAT cut-off was 645
2009 entry UKCAT cut-off was 615

You can expect it to perhaps increase this year (it is better to assume it will increase than assume it will stay the same/decrease) but it is impossible to know by how much. In the past it has increased approx. 30 points year-on-year, but this may change (as it did between 2011 and 2012).

UKCAT scores are given to Newcastle on or around the 5th November. You can expect interview invites from this date. My interview date for 2011 entry was 19 Nov, and I received the invitation (first by email, and then letter) on or around the 12th Nov. The latest you can be rejected for not meeting the UKCAT cut-off is around mid-February, so don't give up hope!

Interview

If you are above the UKCAT cut-off then you will be invited to interview. The medical school describe the purpose interview as "to confirm whether the candidate has the aptitude, motivation and personal qualities to succeed as a medical student" and they are held between mid-November and early March. You will be interviewed by two members of academic staff, which may or may not be practicing doctors (I was interviewed by two doctors). Each individually fill in an assessment form which is very structured. They rate you on a 4-point scale (1 being crap, and 4 being exceptional) on the following criteria:

•

Choice of Newcastle - self explanatory.

•

Reflection on the commitment to care and role of a doctor - caring nature, insight into a career as a doctor, understanding of the NHS, ethical issues, etc.

•

Reflection on personal attributes - learning styles, communication skills, ability to deal with questions, ability to explain complicated concepts, non-academic and personal interests, personal attributes (strengths/weaknesses, self motivation, leadership, teamwork), coping with stress

•

Verification of Personal Statement - ability to verify personal statement and draw on examples

•

Overall performance at interview - rated on your overall performance

(All of these and a more in-depth description of each is available in the admissions policy I linked before.)

They won't tell you your scores until after the end of the application cycle. After then, you can apply for them and you get a letter if you're interested and nosy like I am. :p:

Using all these 4-point scores, they will somehow give you an 'overall interview score' (which is separate from overall performance, by the way) which allows you to be ranked with the other applicants. This is the reason they do not give out any offers until they have finished interviewing everybody. Once they rank all of the applicants they have interviewed, they will give offers to approximately 400 of them. You have about a 43% chance of gaining an offer after interview. The interview stage is tough. It is not a case of "gain interview = gain place".

If you are ranked in the top 400-odd people they interviewed, you will be given an offer from early/mid-March. The first offers last year came out on 9th March (the day I got my offer! hooray!) and from some rumours floating around last year tend to be given out in some kind of descending interview score order.

Key Dates (all estimated based on previous cycles)

UKCAT deadline: 07 Oct 2014
UCAS deadline: 15 Oct 2014
UKCAT scores given to Newcastle: ~05 Nov 2014
Interview invites expected from: ~12 Nov 2014
Interview period: ~19 Nov 2014 - ~19 Feb 2015
All pre-interview rejections given out: ~12 Feb 2015
Offers start to be given out: ~9th March 2015
All post-interview rejections given out: End of March 2015
Post-offer open day: 4 April 2015 and 11 April 2015

Key Stats (approximate, based on 2013 entry cycle, info from here.)

Places: 219
Applications: 2151
Interviews: 844
Offers: 342

Chance of interview: ~39%
After interview, chance of offer: ~41%
Overall chance of offer: ~16%

Hope this helps!

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 2

vee_wuvshugs

Original post by CommonSense

I am ^_^ (only if my UKCAT is high) what do you think the cut off will be this year? Last year it was so high :eek:

Reply 3

CommonSense

Original post by vee_wuvshugs

I am ^_^ (only if my UKCAT is high) what do you think the cut off will be this year? Last year it was so high :eek:

Hello!
I have absolutely no idea! It highly doubt it will be more than 745 like last year, but since the course attracts so many people with high UKCAT scores it's impossible to tell. The scores people are getting this year seem to be significantly lower but I personally wouldn't risk it with a score below 725/730 just in case! I did mine a couple of weeks ago and got an average of 782.5 so I think I should be alright applying here :smile:

Reply 4

vee_wuvshugs

Original post by CommonSense

Your score is amazing!! mine is in 20 days time. The test seems harder then it was last year, maybe the cut off point will be lower. Just have to wait and see I guess :s-smilie:

Reply 5

CommonSense

Original post by vee_wuvshugs

Your score is amazing!! mine is in 20 days time. The test seems harder then it was last year, maybe the cut off point will be lower. Just have to wait and see I guess :s-smilie:

Thanks!

20 days is more than enough time to develop a technique to smash the test :wink:

Where else are you thinking of applying?

Reply 6

vee_wuvshugs

Original post by CommonSense

Thanks!

20 days is more than enough time to develop a technique to smash the test :wink:

Where else are you thinking of applying?

I have my techniques, just the timing to work on now :smile:

I'm thinking of sheffield, manchester, plymouth (maybe exeter) and st george. What about you?

Reply 7

ja1

I'm also wondering whether to apply here. I got 760 UKCAT average but for the past few years the UKCAT cut off has been rising year on year. 2013 entry cut off point was 697.5, 2014 entry it was 745, who's to say it won't rise by that amount again? If I got 800 or something like that I'd definitely be applying

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Reply 8

CommonSense

Original post by vee_wuvshugs

I have my techniques, just the timing to work on now :smile:

I'm thinking of sheffield, manchester, plymouth (maybe exeter) and st george. What about you?

I'll probably be applying to Leicester, Kings and Nottingham as well as Newcastle :smile:

Good luck for your UKCAT!

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Reply 9

Berewon

What does everyone reckon the chances are of an interview with a UKCAT of 737.5?! I realise it's just lower than last year's cutoff, but everyone seems to be agreeing the test was harder than back then - and if you look here the average (as of 8th Aug) is 2536 compared to 2643 last year...

Worth the risk??

Reply 10

CommonSense

Original post by ja1

Hey! Congrats on the UKCAT score! Personally, I really don't think the cutoff is going to increase by around 50 points again- the reason it jumped much last year was because DA inflated the scores. If you look at the preliminary deciles that Pearson Vue have released, the overall average has decreased and so I think you do have a good shot at an interview with your score. Basically, what I'm saying is, if you like Newcastle, apply! :biggrin:

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(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 11

CommonSense

Original post by Berewon

Hmmmm I'll agree that it is risky choice since nobody knows what the cutoff will be this year! Like you said, the average has gone down but you might want to wait a while to see if it changes before making a final decision (I'm not sure when Pearson Vue release that information though) But if you really like Newcastle and have other less risky options then it might be worth it :smile:

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Reply 12

goony

Hey everyone,
I'm starting medicine at Newcastle this September, happy to help as much as I can and will do more once I start!!

Reply 13

csloan197

Hey, do you think a UKCAT score of 732.5 is too risky to apply to Newcastle this year?

Reply 14

goony

Original post by csloan197

Hey, do you think a UKCAT score of 732.5 is too risky to apply to Newcastle this year?

As said above the cutoff is likely to come down, the 2014 preliminary results are down on 2013 so it could and should. In the end it is your application and your choice

Reply 15

csloan197

Original post by goony

As said above the cutoff is likely to come down, the 2014 preliminary results are down on 2013 so it could and should. In the end it is your application and your choice

Thanks for the reply :smile:

on a gap year and want to make sure that I definitely get in this year. I got 765 last year which got me an interview, but just a bit unsure about this year's score, even though it is solid for most other universities.

Reply 16

ja1

What is everyone thinking re: Newcastle vs Durham? Even though statistically speaking you stand a better chance of an interview and subsequent offer applying for Durham or applying for either (I think), I wasn't that keen on Durham. Newcastle was where I wanted to be, I kind of just thought there's be more going on there. But doing more research into Queen's campus and I quite like the setting of it, it looks very nice and still only half an hour by train to Newcastle (and 5 mind from Middlesborough). It's larger than I thought as well. Although I'm hearing iffy stuff about Stockton where Queen's Campus is near I think I'll be happy applying for either

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Reply 17

munstah

Original post by vee_wuvshugs

Your score is amazing!! mine is in 20 days time. The test seems harder then it was last year, maybe the cut off point will be lower. Just have to wait and see I guess :s-smilie:

Hi, my friends went to an event last year called PotMed at Imperial. It is held this Sunday in London. I think it could help you a lot. Especially with final changes to your personal statement and entry exams like the UKCAT and stuff. Why don't you give PotMed2014 a search in google. It will give you more information. I hope that helps. Good Luck with your application!!