Access to HE Science for Medicine

Thanks @becausethenight!

So your best bet is to actually confirm the eligibility of your course with the Universities you want to apply to. Some actually state that any relevant QAA accredited science course is fine, as I'd imagine it still covers Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. The only part where I could imagine there may be some issues is with Biology. As an Access course tends to be more tailored, the Medicine course focuses solely on human biology. I'd imagine a Science course will include some plant biology and ecology, which may be interesting but it's not largely relevant when you consider you're only learning one year's worth of content.

We're in the middle of making a page about Access course entry requirements for Medicine (just waiting on Cardiff to get back to me), but until then if you have a vague idea of the 4 Universities you'd want to apply to, you can name them here and I'll reply with the information I currently have. From memory, I think most specified a Medicine course, but the thing with Access is that you'll often find you'll need to contact admissions for clarity anyway, as the Universities tend to be vague.

As for the second subject choice, I don't really have anything outside of Medicine. That being said, it's often urged you have one focus if you're planning to get through Medicine. Have you done any medical work experience? Interviewers seem to have some sort of magical powers. If you're not 100% in, they will suss that out immediately!!

University College London
36 distinctions and 9 merits from the Access to Medicine course from the College of West Anglia. May also accept other QAA accredited courses - contact University to check eligibility.

University of Nottingham
Do not accept Access courses, so yes you will have to apply to foundation, and I'm assuming they may have their own course for that. Generally not advisable to choose Unis that have their own unique requirements as it makes doing an Access course pointless for that choice.

Imperial College London - Do not accept Access.

And as you mentioned, Leicester accept but they do require 45/45 distinctions. Maybe it'll be a bit easier to choose once we've heard back from Cardiff, as I believe only 9/33 (not including Warwick/Swansea) don't accept Access. Unfortunately, 2 of them being in your list.

Doing Biomed is probably not a great entry into Medicine. Purely because graduate entry is much more competitive, and also there are financial implications too. Not to mention the extra years it will add on, which I personally think is more of a factor for mature students. So I'd pretty much not consider Warwick or Swansea.

With the course you have listed, you might be okay with some Universities. The 15 credits of Biology and Chemistry are there. I would find out if it is QAA accredited, as that seems to be a requirement for most Universities. I just wonder if the rest is relevant enough. Statistics would probably cover the Maths portion, as I also only had one pure Maths module. The remaining, however, I'm not sure. Mine was 9 Physics credits, and apparently OCN had specifically set this for Medicine applicants. BUT you may still be fine. There are Universities like Kent & Medway that look at applicants holistically and would most likely consider that.

Assuming I do plan to progress further, would it be worth resitting my maths GCSE? I only achieved a C because of a few factors. I resat my English language and achieved a grade 7 (A) and I'm confident I could easily do the same with mathematics, however if it's not something that would change anything I'll leave it as it is!

I'm currently about to start an Access To HE course in order to study further next year.

My first choice would be Access To HE science, which focuses on Chemistry and Biology, would this be enough to give a chance at enrolling into any medical school, perhaps even on a foundation year if needed? (I do aim to complete the course with full distinction credits)

I only want to study Science if it could lead to medical school as there is no Access To HE medicine close to me, my second option is Computing, which I would lead onto BSc Computer Science and then MSc Artificial Intelligence.

I can only choose 1 of course so which would be safer to guarantee I finish with what I want?

Yeah, again this will depend on the University. For example, I'm sure Bristol mentioned they require a 6/B in both English Language and Mathematics to apply. Some Universities may have different requirements, some may even accept that if you're doing Statistics, that should be evidence enough that your Maths skills are up to date.

Of course the easiest thing would be to just get the qualification to avoid any issues during application, but I understand that could be time consuming. So again, it's worth clarifying with the Universities. The data I've collected pretty much assumes you've met the bare minimum requirements, and is just purely about Access course grade requirements.

If it makes it a bit easier, I'll list the Universities that do not accept Access courses:

- Barts (QMUL)
- Birmingham
- Dundee
- Durham (Stockton Campus) - Though I don't think this one even exists anymore.
- Imperial
- Nottingham
- Queen's Belfast
- Sheffield
- St. Andrews (Bute)
- And potentially Cardiff (still waiting to hear back from them as they don't state on their website)

The rest accept them, but some are also affiliated with certain colleges. At least you have enough time before the application cycle to do a little research, and don't forget UCAT prep if you're serious about going into Medicine. I cannot stress how important it is that you get it over with before any College courses begin. You won't want to juggle that workload!

@Kabzzzy Thanks for all the info - I'm enrolling for Access to Med this year and have currently signed up for enrolment at both City and Islington and Lambeth. Do you mind me asking where you are doing your course - I'm trying to determine where would be better to go but can't find many student comments on either.

No problem! I did mine at Morley College London. I also looked into those two Colleges, but they didn't get back to me which kind of gave me a bad first impression. I went with Morley as the head of the Science dept. there was really nice in the initial interview stages and ended up being my form/Chemistry tutor and she is beyond amazing. I would highly recommend Morley if it's an option for you, otherwise I know C&I and Lambeth will still have the right accredited course for you.

Thanks for the reply! I'm currently in the process of writing my personal statement for Morley and am so glad you commented. I actually heard back pretty soon from both CANDI and Lambeth and am going to a physical enrolment session whereas Morley are only doing online enrolment due to COVID so I had no idea whether it was a good place to go or not.

May I as for a bit more info about the course ar Morley? Mainly I'd love to know how intense it was and how many people actually got a chance to apply for medicine after.

Also where did you apply for medicine?

Thanks so much

I'll PM you!

I'll PM you!

No problem! I did mine at Morley College London. I also looked into those two Colleges, but they didn't get back to me which kind of gave me a bad first impression. I went with Morley as the head of the Science dept. there was really nice in the initial interview stages and ended up being my form/Chemistry tutor and she is beyond amazing. I would highly recommend Morley if it's an option for you, otherwise I know C&I and Lambeth will still have the right accredited course for you.

Hey! Thanks for all the info in here. I am currently looking into colleges myself and already had an interview. One was Kingston College for Access to HE Science and soon Morley and City and Islington. I am also preparing for the UCAT. I truly want to get into medical school. Just worried, as I do not hear of anyone that did this path and got in. So wanted to ask you: Did you get in?

I would also love to hear if anyone has gotten into medicine with an access course. I'm starting mine in Sept.

One of my best friends got offered places to study medicine. We were both studying the access course.

I switched from medicine to neuroscience, but here is the best advice I can give other Access students:

Med schools typically ask for anything between 30-45 distinctions, and these need to be in chemistry and biology (maths, or physics are also accepted as an alternative to one of the two sciences - but I think you are in with a better chance if you do chem and bio).

Access to HE: science or biomed are accepted, but most medical schools specify they only accept Access to HE: Medicine because it contains units in 'maths for medics', physics (radiology), and 'professional practice'.

Practice the UCAT test online (https://www.ucat.ac.uk/prepare/) and base your university choices on your score. Bristol, for example, won't accept you with a 1300 score, but Kent and Medway would - given you met other conditions.

The other conditions matter in medicine! If you have 45 distinctions on the access course, but don't have GCSE Maths at the grade they want, you will not get in. Medicine is so competitive, so they will not make allowances or offer contextual offers when there are hundreds of other candidates who meet or (more likely) exceed their requirements. They can be as picky as they want to be!

Email everyone. I emailed every medical school I wanted to apply to, giving them all my GCSE/A-level grades, and units I'd be studying on Access. Some said they would consider my application, many said they wouldn't. Thankfully, Medicine is a course where admissions don't want you to waste your time. You only get 4 UCAS choices, and you need to use them wisely. Don't delude yourself into thinking they will make an exception, or that being a mature student will afford you some leeway. Other courses may, but medicine yields for no one lol.

It is an arduous process! UCAT starts in the summer. UCAS Deadline is October 15th - at which point you will be preparing for your first Access exams/assignment deadlines. If you are shortlisted, each university will invite you to sit exams in maths/chem/physics (sometimes online). If you do well, you will then have to attend interviews. While all this is happening, you are being tested every 7 weeks on access, and many of us had jobs and/or families too.

To put Access into perspective:
There were 14 of us (8 science/6 medicine)
4 dropped out after failing exams and the resit.
Of the remaining 10, 7 didn't meet their offers.
2 of us are going to uni for the courses we originally applied for.
My friend was the only medicine student left who got interviews/offers. She's since decided not to study medicine.

The further along I got in this process, the more I realised medicine wasn't my passion. I didn't want to work closely with patients, and loved all the lab work more. I work in medical research, and I am happiest when doing MRI scans, and discussing other people's research! I didn't need to go through 5 years of school and 2 years as a JD to finally start focusing on what I was passionate about (neuro).

Thankfully, I realised this the week of the UCAS deadline for medicine.

(most of the health and social care students finished the course btw)

Wow that's a small percentage of the class to actually get in! I have good GCSE grades and A-level grades, enough to get into medschool but not the subject requirements. Did the others in the class get interviews? I.e. was it an issue with getting the distinctions rather than a UCAT and interview performance?

Wow that's a small percentage of the class to actually get in! I have good GCSE grades and A-level grades, enough to get into medschool but not the subject requirements. Did the others in the class get interviews? I.e. was it an issue with getting the distinctions rather than a UCAT and interview performance?