Is it worth retaking a couple of subjects?

Hi everyone, so for my GCSEs I got 6A's and 4B's which is not up to par for medicine. I was wondering is it worth retaking a couple of subjects like Physics and Biology for example, where I got B's, to bring them up to A's? Because at the moment there's certain Uni's I can't apply to. At first I was a bit apprehensive because as well as my grade going up, it can also go down. However I do A Level biology so I'm assuming that that should help if I was to retake. As well as that I am going to be revising over this for the BMAT anyway, so it will also be useful for that too. !

I've heard that the year I get the qualification is shown when I send my Uni applications and that they don't really like people retaking, but can't I just say that I was ill on the day of my exam or something?
Thanks in advance

Going to move this to the Medicine forum, you'll get good advice from there!

You can get into medical school with 6As and 4Bs.

If it were me, I wouldn't retake - I would instead apply to the medical schools which don't place a great deal of emphasis on GCSE results when choosing who to interview. I wouldn't necessarily bank on A level biology "helping" with GCSE biology either; certainly some of the general topics will be covered again, but at a more difficult and deeper level, so you'll find that if anything, matters might get more complicated, not less, as you'll be trying to learn all the new content on top of the old stuff.

Personally I think the only people who should retake GCSEs for med school are those who've not managed to get Bs in English language or maths.



Well, were you actually ill? If you weren't that's dishonesty. And a very transparent attempt at that, if you're trying to claim it months later.

I agree with you, I just hate being at a disadvantage to other people especially since I tried really hard ;(

And I wasn't majorly ill, like I wasn't in hospital or anything but there were days where I just didn't feel as if I was completely in the right state to be doing any type of work let alone my GCSE exams.

If you want my honest opinion, I think that comes off a bit like you're clutching at straws.

You're clearly determined and enthusiastic - I think the best thing to do would be to channel that enthusiasm and determination into your A levels. If you do well in your summer exams, get an AAA prediction, score highly in the UKCAT/BMAT, and apply to med schools which aren't that fussed about GCSE results, I think you'll be able to get some interviews quite comfortably.