What uni?

I'm starting to consider my options for uni. I want to study medicine (or a biology based course)

That is the much bigger decision here. The particular uni is entirely secondary to whether you're signing up for a 3 year degree or a 5/6 year degree of much higher competition, leading to an entire career, +/- a half decade of conscription if the government gets its way.

Worry about the uni afterwards.

All of them, basically. You should look at unis where you are a strong applicant (unis weigh stuff like GCSEs, UKCAT, predictions and personal statement differently). You could also think about stuff like whether you prefer PBL or lecture based, whether you want early clinical contact, whether you want to live in a big city and so on.

I'm going to be signing up for the 5/6 year degree I think

You think or you know?

How has your work experience and volunteering been, for instance?

I think.. At the end of June I'm going to a hospital for work experience, and I'm currently volunteering in a charity shop and I'm searching for volunteer work to do more with medicine!

I'm starting to consider my options for uni. I want to study medicine (or a biology based course) but I have no idea which uni's to look at. Which uni's offer the best medicine course, but which uni lets you have a good social life aswell? The only uni I'm considering atm is Cardiff!
If anyone can give me advice or their experience I'll be grateful

If you don't have 8-9A* at GCSE, Cardiff Med isn't a good choice.

Medicine is about applying based on your strengths, because there are very few people who'd have a great shot at every medical school. Consequently, advice is limited until you mention your grades, because choices vary heavily based on that.

I second the wise advice nexttime and StationtoStation, the most sensible thing for you to work out at the moment is to whether you want to apply for medicine or pursue the biological sciences route. This will not only influence which university you choose but the course of your whole life and career!

However, don't be alarmed, the key at your stage is just to learn as much as possible about both options (feel free to ask me specific questions about medicine at university) and work experience is a great way to do that. Make sure you really pay attention during your hospital work experience, speak to the doctors about lives and think to yourself 'could I see myself doing this and enjoying it?'

If you do opt for medicine, StationtoStation makes a very good point regarding the voluntary work experience if you are indeed planning to apply this year. Don't forget that you'll need to prepare for the UKCAT (and possibly BMAT) admissions tests if you apply for medicine...

Best of your luck with your decision making, give us a shout with any more questions!

Alex, 4th year UCL medic
6med

P.S. In response to your original post, I love living in London! Plenty of fun things to do and get involved in, excellent hospitals and top quality research happening all over the place, the main downside is it is sooo expensive!

I got 4A*, 2A and 4B (also distinction in Further Maths). So this isn't good enough for Cardiff Med, even if I get amazing AS+ A level results?

Nope, sorry - they don't even consider AS (most medical schools don't).

oh Thank you for being honest with me though!

Thank you so much! I've already begun looking at some UKCAT questions, but atm it isn't at the top of my lists!

I'm considering London but I feel like I'd get lost easily !