Access to HE/Medicine

My current situation is I'm 28 Studying Maths, English & Biology GCSE 3 evening classes per week......

I have been working in nightclubs but not since covid and now I have all the time in the world now and would like to give my dream career another shot before it's too late in life.

The questions I have are..

Why do some medical schools accept Access to HE but others don't?

Why do some medical schools have specific colleges they prefer you to study at over another? e.g a specified list of colleges that they accept only?

Would I be under widening participation?

Do I have enough GCSEs or would I need a few more? should I pass the above courses.

Should I have access to a medicine diploma, would I be disadvantaged to school leavers offering top A level grades?Are there any medical schools that encourage mature students to apply with Access courses?

Does anyone have any data regarding which medical schools accept access rather than me go through every single website/UCAS.

When it says GCSE requirements does this apply to mature students who are offering the access route or would it be bare basic minimum in Maths English Science?

I'm studying Maths at foundation level and the maximum grade I can get is a 5 should I gain top grade, would this be sufficient for medical school and future life as a doctor? The English
is 9-1 and the Biology is being taught at higher tier so either foundation/higher is optional tbc.

The college I'm at offers other GCSEs during daytime however I have to study with 16-19 year olds which I don't mind but would you say my plan would be suitable:

Continue this year studying the 3 GCSEs to the highest grades I can.
September 2021 - study a further 3/4 GCSEs e.g chemistry, physics?, psychology & statistics?September 2022 - Access to medicine - ?????????

I'm based in Oxford and I've found a course in Reading and it's an access but I'm not sure about this course can anyone help?

https://www.activatelearning.ac.uk/courses/access/access-to-he-medicine

I don't want to enrol on this in the future and not be able to apply to med schools.

Has anyone here either in a similar position or already gone through access courses then gone on to medicine?

All this help is very much appreciated. I thank people who will take time and respond, It's getting a general idea as I don't want to really study A levels at the age of 31/32 unless
I absolutely have to.

In our medicine offers thread an experienced doctor and one experiences in applications was saying that it is probably better to do A-levels than an access course.

My current situation is I'm 28 Studying Maths, English & Biology GCSE 3 evening classes per week......

I have been working in nightclubs but not since covid and now I have all the time in the world now and would like to give my dream career another shot before it's too late in life.

The questions I have are..

Why do some medical schools accept Access to HE but others don't?

Why do some medical schools have specific colleges they prefer you to study at over another? e.g a specified list of colleges that they accept only?

Would I be under widening participation?

Do I have enough GCSEs or would I need a few more? should I pass the above courses.

Should I have access to a medicine diploma, would I be disadvantaged to school leavers offering top A level grades?Are there any medical schools that encourage mature students to apply with Access courses?

Does anyone have any data regarding which medical schools accept access rather than me go through every single website/UCAS.

When it says GCSE requirements does this apply to mature students who are offering the access route or would it be bare basic minimum in Maths English Science?

I'm studying Maths at foundation level and the maximum grade I can get is a 5 should I gain top grade, would this be sufficient for medical school and future life as a doctor? The English
is 9-1 and the Biology is being taught at higher tier so either foundation/higher is optional tbc.

The college I'm at offers other GCSEs during daytime however I have to study with 16-19 year olds which I don't mind but would you say my plan would be suitable:

Continue this year studying the 3 GCSEs to the highest grades I can.
September 2021 - study a further 3/4 GCSEs e.g chemistry, physics?, psychology & statistics?September 2022 - Access to medicine - ?????????

I'm based in Oxford and I've found a course in Reading and it's an access but I'm not sure about this course can anyone help?

https://www.activatelearning.ac.uk/courses/access/access-to-he-medicine

I don't want to enrol on this in the future and not be able to apply to med schools.

Has anyone here either in a similar position or already gone through access courses then gone on to medicine?

All this help is very much appreciated. I thank people who will take time and respond, It's getting a general idea as I don't want to really study A levels at the age of 31/32 unless
I absolutely have to.

Same situation. Im situated in NW of england and cant move out the region so a bit limited....

Based on my research:
Manchester university accept the access to HE from The Manchester College https://www.tmc.ac.uk/courses/medicine-dentistry-and-pharmacy. The application criteria for that is just 2 GCSEs, english and maths at B/6 +. They also told me that they have never turned anyone down due to lack of space so I think that course might be possible.
Manchester uni dont need additional GCSEs.
Liverpool uni also accept that access course but need 5 GCSEs.
I have emailed UCLan and waiting for their response.
From what I understand, these access courses are quite demanding so although possible, it is a very lot of work to study GCSEs at the same time as the access.

Another option for you might be the liverpool 6 year medicine course (789s). It is made for people in your situation, but you need 5 GCSEs with results by the time you apply. The application deadline is January so if you get in an additional 2 GCSEs for the October season you might make it.

Keep us posted.......

Hi, I did a HE access course in science to get into vet med. Not the exact same as medicine but I suppose kind of similar. For vet med, only 2 universities accept my HE access course, I'm not too sure as to why though. I know Liverpool accepted HE access courses but only from a specific college and I presume this was because they knew the exact course you were taking fitted their requirements. When I applied the university asked for a letter from my tutor breaking down each individual module I completed in order to make sure it was acceptable.
I thought I would be at a disadvantage because I wasn't doing A levels and mine was an access course but from my understanding, a lot of mature students do the access course because their grades weren't good enough. I think so long as you meet the amount of distinctions/merits they are asking for, they cannot disadvantage you if they accept the course.
I don't have any data on which medical schools accept HE access courses but I found the universities I preferred and emailed the admissions team with a direct link to my course and asked them to check the course was suitable before taking it.
Also worth mentioning, I did an online one with the distance learning centre. I found them amazing and the fact that it was all online meant I could still work full time and study in the evenings to pay for my bills etc. However, because I did it online only two universities accepted the course which did narrow it down for me but I did receive an offer from Bristol!
I think the first thing you need to do is find the HE access course you want to take and email the admissions teams of all the universities you like and ask if the course is suitable.
I hope that helped a little bit, I know I did a different course but I suppose its similar in terms of being in the medicine side of things

Hi, did you get a guaranteed offer from Bristol or did have to do an interview? Also, what was the coarse structure like? Did you have to do any exams or assessments under time conditions or was it all coarse work? Thanks

I did an access course and some of my classmates got offers from Bristol.
No UK medical school will EVER give an offer without an interview, no matter what your circumstances are.
Bristol look quite favourably on access courses though.
Access courses are normally a mix of times exams, presentations, and coursework. for medicine you would normally be expected to get distinctions in all modules.
I did an access course and then took a year out. I got 3 unconditional medicine offers, so its definitely possible!

Good luck