[ma2k5]

(Original post by Profesh)
No-one capable of studying Medicine to the standard required of a medical doctor would realistically achieve less than 'AAB', except in the event of mitigating circumstances which are already accounted for by admissions-tutors. So, all-in-all, this scheme accomplishes nothing other than to besmirch the reputation of KCL as an institution for higher learning.

The people on the course, according to KCL, are doing very well in the exams, so that is the end of the debate im afraid. No one said you have to get good A Levels to be a good doctor.

[Asclepius]

(Original post by Arowana123)
Someone with 3 C's from a state school has far greater potential than someone with 2 A's and a B from a public school.

If that was true then surely all of us on here at state schools who are on track for 3 As at A2 must be ****ing amazing. Or perhaps not.

[Asclepius]

(Original post by jjkkll)
Lets Face it To ever become a good doctor you need to get at least 2 As at A Level any less and youll kill people.

So right now there are a bunch of Peninsula graduates running around the hospitals of the South-West killing people are there? I could maybe understand if you made a point about the requirements being 3 Cs, but to say anything less than AAB is insufficient can't be right, else PMS has made a massive mistake

[faber niger]

(Original post by Ukazi-TazZy)
Hi !!
Don't know if this has been posted on allready, but i read this on the london lite the other day and i thought it was such a great idea!!

Basically, Kings college has undergone a project in which they take into consideration which state school you have gone to, and ethnic minorities.

So say you've gone to a crappy state school, no one in your class is bothered about anything and you end up being dragged down, you still have a chance of studying medicine (usually straight A's needed) aslong as you still have determination to do good...

If only oxbridge would learn from kings eyy?
haha

still though i find it an incredible achievement for kings, so congrats to them

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/lif...cle3941471.ece



safe!

I hope it is true. Not because I want to study Medicine at Kings, but because many people miss out on a good education because of situational factors. However, the Times does have a propensity for writing stories about 'PC' policies regarding the working class and ethnic minorities taking all the places from our nice little middle-class children, who incidentally should be able to go to Oxbridge by divine right!

[visesh]

IMO, the grade restrictions are so high because of the limited supply. You don't need a string of As to practice medicine well- you just need to be willing to work your arse off for a decade or so, have the right attitude, and not be as thick as ****.

[jjkkll]

(Original post by Alex L)
So right now there are a bunch of Peninsula graduates running around the hospitals of the South-West killing people are there? I could maybe understand if you made a point about the requirements being 3 Cs, but to say anything less than AAB is insufficient can't be right, else PMS has made a massive mistake

When i made that comment i ment that if they were doing the same course 5 yr one, but it is a great idea to accept lower for the 6 yr course.

[Asclepius]

(Original post by jjkkll)
When i made that comment i ment that if they were doing the same course 5 yr one, but it is a great idea to accept lower for the 6 yr course.

And my point is that Peninsula Medical School tend to offer ABB for their standard 5yr course. Hence your initial point must be flawed, considering I haven't heard about large numbers of incompetent F1 doctors killing people in the South-West

[jjkkll]

(Original post by Alex L)
And my point is that Peninsula Medical School tend to offer ABB for their standard 5yr course. Hence your initial point must be flawed, considering I haven't heard about large numbers of incompetent F1 doctors killing people in the South-West

That a good point my comment was flawed, its not so much getting As that is important, as many people are stating, you just must be willing to work hard and have a brain.

An clearly if you finish Med school you should be a competent doctor, in your chosen field. Regardless of where you graduated, yes??

[Asclepius]

(Original post by jjkkll)
That a good point my comment was flawed, its not so much getting As that is important, as many people are stating, you just must be willing to work hard and have a brain.

An clearly if you finish Med school you should be a competent doctor, in your chosen field. Regardless of where you graduated, yes??

That's better

[theredsox]

Ah, this is what my mum was talking about a few days ago.
Yeah, this has been round a few years. In fact the article says that. It's just the EMDP.

(Original post by article)
The students get an extra year of studying, with the first two years' studies being spread over three.

So yeah, it is a 6 year programme. They don't get exams at the end of year 1, though.. Lucky.

I don't get what the problem with it is.

[Profesh]

Evidently I overestimate the difficulty of Medicine.

[faber niger]

(Original post by Profesh)
Evidently I overestimate the difficulty of Medicine.

No. You just assumed that there is a direct correlation between A-Level results and proclivity for a Medicine degree. And whilst there may be, it is most definitely not very significant (i.e. high).

[korektphool]

Kings was a joke.

Kings is a joke.

What's the difference?

[Custer]

Maybe super pushy parents will now send their children to the most failing and **** schools to secure them a place at uni, haha

[eyecandy]

(Original post by Arowana123)
Someone with 3 C's from a state school has far greater potential than someone with 2 A's and a B from a public school.

Wow, huge generalisation there. Whilst it is usually true that someone who has AAA from a failing state school can put their results more down to their own work/ability than someone with AAB from a fantastic state or private school, there is a huge difference between CCC and AAB. We aren't talking one or two grades here. I go to an excellent state school and most of the people there get between ABB and AAA, so to suggest that CCC from a worse school illustrates greater potential is at best simplistic and and worst insulting to those lucky enough to go to good schools.

[theatrical]

(Original post by Profesh)
Evidently I overestimate the difficulty of Medicine.

Yeah, I think you do.

The fact that all but one of the medical schools require AAB or AAA for entry is mostly due to the competition for places; it limits demand. Five years ago most London schools asked for ABB, now they're asking for AAA - and not because their courses suddenly got harder.

They said at a King's open day that.... those students who get CCC offers still need to have applied with AAB/AAA grades predicted or be considered to have the potential to achieve them, the offer is just intended to remove undue pressure as it's apparently much more difficult to achieve good grades at bad schools.

[Profesh]

(Original post by jismith1989)
No. You just assumed that there is a direct correlation between A-Level results and proclivity for a Medicine degree. And whilst there may be, it is most definitely not very significant (i.e. high).

Same difference, really.

(Original post by theatrical)
They said at a King's open day that.... those students who get CCC offers still need to have applied with AAB/AAA grades predicted or be considered to have the potential to achieve them, the offer is just intended to remove undue pressure as it's apparently much more difficult to achieve good grades at bad schools.

That makes more sense.

[LadyJaneGrey]

I think someone's said something to this effect already, but maybe it should be restated. The grades a university asks for doesn't reflect how 'tough' the course is...it's just an indicator of how popular the course is. The only way admissions tutors can control the amount of applicants they have is by raising or lowering the grades that they ask for. For example, if a course has v. few applicants, they could try lowering the required grades that they put on their websites and prospectus in the hope that more people will apply and vice versa. The reason medicine asks for AAB/AAA is that a *lot* of people apply, hence this is the admissions tutors way of controlling applications.

Now just because KCL has reduced the offers to CCC for some students doesn't neccesarily mean the students coming into the course with these grades are less able to learn to practice medicine than those with AAA. Let's be honest, getting an A requires more exam technique skills than actual knowledge of your subject. It's about playing the 'examination game' (as my Economics teacher puts it) and those who go to private schools/come from 'priviledged' backgrounds generally get more help from teachers on exam technique than those who go to a 'bad' school. If someone really wants to be a doctor, puts in the the time and effort to really know their material, but ends up tripping up in exams because they've had less help and guidance from teachers and ends up with a C instead of an A, they still deserve a chance. I'm sure Kings makes sure that these CCC candidates are still intelligent and are able to learn just as well as someone who got AAA from a private school.

In India there has been this thing called 'reservation' going on, where 20% of places (or something to that effect, maybe more) at universities is held for people who come form a 'lower caste.' The argument was that people from a lower caste aren't able to educate themselves in the way that people from higher castes are and therefore they should be allowed into university with lower grades. The problem with this was that the lower caste children were never educated well and therefore were never ever going to be at the same standard as everyone else. The storys pretty long and complicated, but in short it didn't work because the government didn't fund better nursery and primary and secondary schools for lower caste children, they just gave them places at uni. Incidentally what pissed me off about this whole thing was that the govt, who'd reserved 20% odd places for less able students, now have created this amazingly pressured envirionment for those who come from higher castes as they have to now get 98%, 99% in order to get to uni so v. talented people who maybe got 95% weren't let into the course they wanted to go to in order to make way for someone from a lower caste who got 50% maybe, if that.

I think the difference (maybe) with KCL is that they're letting in people who they genuinely think could get to the same standard as everyone else who goes on the course, just maybe aren't able to make AAA offers because they don't have decent teachers to teach exam technique etc.

[supernova2]

(Original post by korektphool)
Kings was a joke.

Kings is a joke.

What's the difference?

People complain about Kings past for being against social inclusion. Now they're leading the way yet even more people complain.

And besides you're at LSE. Sure it takes higher grades but then you've probably been out twice in the last year (crush doesn't count, it sucks).

[Sarky]

I got an offer for this course but went for the southampton course instead (its similar but not the same). I'm now in my fourth year and I entered with bbcc (well in a slightly roundabout way).

I've never failed an exam since i've been here, i don't struggle with the academics of the course and i'm going to be a great doctor . I haven't taken a place away from anyone with better grades, these places were created in addition to current places.

Anyone who doesn't wish to be treated by me (as some on other forums have stated) because of my grades.. More fool you. If you can send me your picture so that I remember you when you come in with your heart attack i'll *try* to find another doctor with higher grades to treat you.

Can't promise though.