Advice for applying to medicine

I’m currently in year 12 taking Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Art (thinking of taking all four as A Levels. However, if I’m to drop one, it will most likely be maths) with my AS exams coming up soon. After just completing my mocks, I got B’s (nearing A’s) across the board.
Following what I’ve said, does anyone have any advice or tips for applying to medicine please? Anything would be appreciated (work experience, my subjects, applications or UKCAT etc etc)

Get some volunteering and work experience if you haven't already got any. The point is for you to be able to talk about it and how it has improved you as a person or shown you what studying medicine will be like, so make sure you reflect on it. If you do this as your going it may make it easier to remember when you write your personal statement.

Your subjects will be fine - having Chemistry and Biology are probably the most important ones (although Biology isn't essential for applications everywhere). A handful of universities want 3 sciences (which may include maths), so check that they aren't somewhere you want to apply to.

In terms of your UKCAT, don't spend too much time preparing. 4-6 weeks is perfectly adequate and just do lots of practice questions and timings.

When you have your UKCAT results, apply strategically based on your GCSEs and UKCAT. You can work out your likelihood of getting an interview from the majority of admissions pages.

https://www.medschools.ac.uk/media/2032/msc-entry-requirements-for-uk-medical-schools.pdf
This document is a good start!

Thank you!! This had definitely helped✨For work experience, is it the more the better as I’ve made arrangements to shadow a doctor in the next coming months. Will that be sufficient? Also my school will use our AS results as predicted grades which I’m slightly panicking about. If I did get B’s, would this affect my application. And if I did better in my A level exam, what happens?

I’m currently in year 12 taking Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Art (thinking of taking all four as A Levels. However, if I’m to drop one, it will most likely be maths) with my AS exams coming up soon. After just completing my mocks, I gained B’s (nearing A’s) across the board.
In my GCSEs I achieved two 8’s, one 9, one A and five A*.
Following what I’ve said, does anyone have any advice or tips for applying to medicine please? Anything would be really appreciated (work experience, my subjects, applications or UKCAT etc etc)

I would say that if you want to go into Medicine at a good university, you will probably be best to drop Art after AS. There is a large workload in Art, and this will mean you spend less time on your other subjects, which may penalise you. It would be much better to get AAB than ABBB, especially as Art is not related to Medicine at all. If you drop any of your subjects it would ideally be Art, as Biology and Chemistry are - in most places - essential for medicine and Maths is very helpful. You would be much more likely to get into university with Biology, Chemistry and Maths than Biology, Chemistry and Art. A YouTuber I'm subscribed to (UnjadedJade) recently faced a similar dilemma, as she was taking Biology, Chemistry, Maths and English Literature at AS-Level. She got straight As in her exams, but finds Maths (I can't remember if it was Chemistry or Maths, but I think it was Maths) really tricky. She spoke to a few universities who all said they would much rather she dropped English and continued with Biology, Chemistry and Maths. She, somewhat unwillingly, dropped English, but is now really happy she made that decision!! Having said that, if you think that you can get AABB or AAAB with four subjects and can't bear giving Art up, then I suggest you continue with all 4! Good luck

Deciding whether to drop Art or Maths is definitely becoming a difficult decision right now. Quite frankly I’m not enjoying maths and I’m finding it difficult (bottom of mechanics and statistics class). The only reason I’ve taken it in the first place is to aid my sciences and help me in medicine. Art is probably my favourite out of the four so I’m really stuck :/ Ideally I should do art as an AS but that means all the work I’ve done so far with be discarded. My teachers have told me to see how my AS exams go before deciding. But I really appreciate your comment as it’s very true, it will be a demanding workload

No, the way you reflect is more important than having 50 different work experience placements. A lot of people really struggle to get medicine-related work experience so they don't penalise you for not having a lot. If you can get a long-term volunteering position though, that shows commitment and can be useful.

Discuss with your teachers about your predicted grades. If you can show that you can boost them to AAA, then I'd hope they'd be happy to move them up. I got ABC at the end of my AS exams and got AAA overall, it's not impossible! Also use that as an opportunity to find out why you didn't get your grades. Get your exams back and look at whether you're missing it because of your exam technique or your knowledge so you know what to work on.

I missed in your first post that you were thinking of taking 4 A-levels, it's almost definitely not worth it. Keep Biology and Chemistry, and then choose whichever of the others your more likely to get an A in.

If your school won't predict you AAA then you can't apply, except for those with foundation years if you are eligible. In this case, I would work as hard as you can to get the right grades and then take a gap year and apply then.

Thanks that’s really helpful and will save a lot of time searching for experience.

In an ideal world I really don’t want to do four A Levels but I don’t know which on to drop out of Maths and Art. I feel I’m more likely to get an A in Art but I’ve been told I’m more likely to get in with Maths. I’ll see how AS exams go. Fingers crossed i can do well to save the complications.

Yes, should definitely wait to see your exams and results before you choose because at the end of the day (as long as Maths isn't required) they would much rather you got A*AA in Art, Biology and Chemistry than AAB in Biology, Chemistry and Maths, because grades are what matter the most if you love it so much why not look into a degree involving Art(doesn't have to be straight Art, it could involve the sciences)?

When looking online I’ve found most universities (even the top one) don’t require maths as long as I have biology and chemistry yet most people have suggested keep maths. I do enjoy Art but I don’t think I want a career out of it. Although I haven’t mentioned it, I do really like chemistry (although tricky) and biology and finding them interesting which is why I want to do medicine or perhaps pharmacology

Even Oxford doesn't require you to have a third science -

'A-levels: A*AA in three A-levels (excluding Critical Thinking and General Studies) taken in the same academic year. Candidates are required to achieve at least a grade A in both Chemistry and at least one of Biology, Physics or Mathematics.'

The use of 'at least' may suggest that having A-Levels in Biology, Chemistry and Maths would be preferable but there aren't any restrictions. Don't feel pressured to take Maths, because it could make your grades drop in your other subjects

I would say that if you want to go into Medicine at a good university, you will probably be best to drop Art after AS. There is a large workload in Art, and this will mean you spend less time on your other subjects, which may penalise you. It would be much better to get AAB than ABBB, especially as Art is not related to Medicine at all. If you drop any of your subjects it would ideally be Art, as Biology and Chemistry are - in most places - essential for medicine and Maths is very helpful. You would be much more likely to get into university with Biology, Chemistry and Maths than Biology, Chemistry and Art. A YouTuber I'm subscribed to (UnjadedJade) recently faced a similar dilemma, as she was taking Biology, Chemistry, Maths and English Literature at AS-Level (but she wanted to do Biological Sciences at university as opposed to Medicine). She got straight As in her exams, but found Chemistry really tricky throughout the year. She spoke to a few universities who all said they would much rather she dropped English and continued with Biology, Chemistry and Maths. She, somewhat unwillingly, dropped English, but is now really happy she made that decision!! Having said that, if you think that you can get AABB or AAAB with four subjects and can't bear giving Art up, then I suggest you continue with all 4! Good luck

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Take art. You enjoy it more and can use it to show that you have a life outside of medicine! Maths A-level will not advantage you at medical school in any way, and it won't make your application look any better.

Definitely see how your exams go and choose afterwards, but there's really no point in doing a subject that you don't enjoy if you don't need to.

I'm glad I could help a bit - it is stressful and can be confusing! I also find that you can get a lot of incorrect information about the application process, particularly from teachers if your school doesn't have a lot of students going for medicine, so take absolutes that people tell you with a pinch of salt.

What is your gut feeling? If you can get good grades in them, universities would rather you keep Biology, Chemistry and Maths. Even if it doesn't help you in admissions, it will definitely be useful once you're on te course. If you really don't want to do Maths then drop it, and take art instead

First of all, there is no such thing as good university when it comes to medicine. All universities are good and all have to meet the same requirement set by the GMC. At the end of the day, medics from Cambridge will be doing the exact same job as medics from Aberdeen or Plymouth.

Secondly, what makes you think art isn't relevant to medicine? Or in what way maths is more relevant? Art teaches you creativity and patients. It requires a great attention to details and people who undertake arts exam need to show high level of work in a stressful, time limited circumstances. All that is relevant in medicine if you know how to apply those skills.
And I think anyone who ever had to read patient's notes and walk around asking everyone to decode what certain consultant meant will appreciate medics with nice and neat handwriting.

A-level maths isn't really useful when you're studying medicine, the maths is pretty basic.

What is your gut feeling? If you can get good grades in them, universities would rather you keep Biology, Chemistry and Maths. Even if it doesn't help you in admissions, it will definitely be useful once you're on te course. If you really don't want to do Maths then drop it, and take art instead