Medicine 2019 entry for resit / reapplying applicants

This is a difficult situation to be in. I'd like to reassure you on one thing. First, if medicine is really what you want to do, then there are quite a few options you can consider. However, applying this year with ABB is not really going to be worth your time and effort. There are no schools that accept these grades anymore unless you have special circumstances or contextual factors (low income, low results school etc).

Regarding doing resits and re-apply - you can choose to opt for this but you need to be aware of a few things. The policy for each school regarding how they accept resits differs a lot from one to another. Although a few schools don't accept resits for medicine, most do accept them IF, and ONLY IF you have extenuating circumstances the first time you did your A levels. Is that the case for you? Otherwise applying with resits will be challenging.

For 2019 there are two universities that accept resits without any disadvantage to applicants - Plymouth and Exeter. Even the other medical schools that accept resits IF there has been a special circumstances often ask for minimum grade in the first sit. For some schools the minimum you needed in the first sitting is CCC so you're ok, but for many they need minimum AAB in the first sitting. So if you have ABB in the first sitting and then do resists and show extenuating circumstance, that still wont be enough for most medical schools. In our guidebook, there a chapter showing the resits policy for each medical school if that can help you make your decision.

SO what are the options? There are 3 main options you can look at:

1. You can apply to a program that allows transfer into medicine at the end of the first year. There are Biomed programmes in some UK universities that will allow you to transfer to medicine if you meet certain grade criteria and other criteria. There are quite a few of these programs in our guidebook, we have a chapter that talks about them and details their entry requirements and then how to transfer to medicine. However, note that for most of them, the minimum requirements would still be AAB - so if your grades are ABB, it might be difficult

2. The second option to consider is to go abroad and you can start medicine right away and then come back to the UK to practice. Everything you need to study medicine in Europe in English is in our guidebook: from academic requirements and admissions exams to course structures and competition ratios. We’ve contacted dozens of medical schools, scoured the internet, and interviewed current students from across Europe so you can hear directly from students who are there currently about their experience. This is an option worth considering I think for you and looking through the book may be a good first step. Further, we can arrange a call to discuss your options if you wish and you can arrange this by email us at [email protected]

3. The third option you can consider is doing an undergraduate degree in the UK and plan for graduate entry medicine in the UK. Many think that Graduate Entry Medicine is a lot more competitive than traditional entry but that's not really true. It really depends on the programme etc. There are Graduate Entry programmes that don't look at GCSEs and A levels at all, and so this can definitely be an option to consider for you.

What do you think of the above alternatives?

@mammy1, @tomhoney380, @Mamamedic and @55pippa5 thanks for all your comments. In my original response most of the answer was focused on alternative options, however as there is a lot of comments about resits let me answer a little bit more on this:

As @mammy1 said, the best option is definitely to make an excel sheet for yourself with the policy for each school. Some you can find on their website and some you'll need to drop them a quick email or call them to get the details.

The information where I said Exeter and Plymouth accept resits with no disadvantage is correct BUT it is not correct that they are the only ones (so it's true that some schools have changed their policy - we update all the info once a year to the best of our ability so please accept our apologies for that). However, my main point is not that no other schools accept resits, but rather that there are often conditions for either initial grade achieved or grade to be achieved at the resit.

One word of caution with @tomhoney380's comment. Yes you are right that more schools have started accepting resits but it's not the majority without any conditions. You mention Manchester for example and they do accept resits but have conditions. I just spoke to them on the phone and confirmed that it's only valid with a minimum score in first sitting (in their case BBB so that's good for you @lilfish) but also they require a minimum achievement of A* in Biology or Chemistry in the Resit.

What I meant in my original post is that there are many universities that do have minimum requirements for the Resits, either in the initial score or in the Resit score. So it's important to take that into consideration when making your decision to resit.

A few schools don't have minimums too and that includes Plymouth like I mentioned, but also Bristol like @tomhoney380 mentioned. The only restriction for Bristol is that you can only resit once. Hull is another example that has minimum requirement for first score of BBB and you need AAA in the resit this time.

In the end you do need to check one school at a time as they are very different. Still many ask for special circumstances and will verify this with your school.

I would encourage you to resit to be honest as it will help most likely whatever route you choose to pursue medicine later. But I would also encourage you to explore the graduate entry route as it's not that much longer (3 years + 4 years is 7 years total and some undergraduate programmes are 6 years anyway).

Choosing whether to go resit and reapply of undergraduate degree and then Graduate Entry Medicine is not easy. You should look at your GCSEs to help you decide. More undergraduate programmes looks at GCSEs so if your GCSEs are strong, that may sway you towards resits + apply as undergraduate. It's easier to find quite a lot of graduate entry medicine programmes that dont look at GCSEs at all... so if you GCSEs are not too strong, then maybe Graduate Entry can be more attractive.

Hope this is helpful. Good luck in your considerations.

Hello all

I hope you wont mind me chipping in on this thread. I am the Director of Undergraduate Medical Admissions at Sheffield.

It is indeed the case that we have changed our policy on resits. We will now accept a first resit of any and all of your qualifications. We will expect you to take all of your resits of a given qualification in the same sitting. (So, all GCSEs resits together, all A level resits together, but you don't have to take your GCSE resits with your A Level resits!) You need only resit those qualifications that do not meet our entry requirements, and you need to bring your grades up to meet our requirements (i.e. we don't require a higher grade for resits).

Our entry requirements include AAAAA at GCSE (and at least grade B in Maths, English Language and (a) Science) and AAA at A Level (including Chemistry OR Biology, another science and any 3rd subject except Critical Thinking, General Studies and Further Mathematics).

So, let us imagine someone who got the following results on their first attempt:

GCSEs: AABBBCCC (with the Bs in Maths, English and a Science)
A Levels: ABB + A* EPQ


That person would need to resit sufficient GCSEs to get to AAAAA, and they should take all of those resits together. They'd then need to resit one A Level to bring it from a B to an A (as for applicants who attain an A or A* EPQ in any subject alongside their A Levels, our A level requirement is AAB. If they had not taken the EPQ they'd need to resit 2 A Levels together and get As).

I hope that makes sense and helps. You'll find me periodically in the thread that relates to Sheffield A100 entry.

Best wishes

Julian
Director of Undergraduate Medical Admissions.

Also i need some help choosing unis.
My current options are: HYMS, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield & St George's of London.

A levels - AAA
GCSE - 3A* 6A 2B 2C
UKCAT - 662


Which uni should I cut out or what unis could I get a guaranteed interview, they don't need to be on my list?

The choice between resitting and reapplying and GEM is very easy. Always take the resit route if at all possible.
Almost all GEM courses require significantly higher entrance test results than standard courses and the competition rate is considerably higher than that for the standard courses too.

Hi @GANFYD thank you for taking the time to give advice to applicants. I hope you don't mind I'd like to pick up on this point as this is a very common misconception. I have seen applicants over the last 10 years and it is definitely not true that Graduate Entry Medicine is harder to get into than Undergraduate all the time. I have personally helped hundreds of applicants get into Graduate Entry Medicine that did not have the grades or credentials to get into undergraduate medicine for a reason or another. Let me explain why I am saying this.

Why is there a misconception that GEM is harder and more competitive?

Well the truth is the hardest programmes to get into and the most competitive in medicine are GEM programmes. For instance Graduate Entry Medicine in Cambridge or at King's are extremely competitive and harder to enter than almost any other programmes in the UK. So in a way it is true that some GEM programmes have significantly higher test results requirements than standard courses and the competition rate is considerably higher. However, the key thing here tis o not fall into the misconception that GEM in general is harder than standard courses, is to see that this is not true for all GEM programmes and all applicants.

Example with Links to explain the point above:

1. If we take the example of a student who achieved average GCSEs and OK A-levels, but not exceptional ones; there are many undergraduate programmes that take into account GCSE results and A-level in their assessment process to an extent. If the same applicant applies to let's say GEM at Nottingham. You can see in this link: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/medicine/study/medicine/faq/a101faq.aspx that they don't count A-level and GCSEs at all. So any poor grades in the past will not affect the application negatively at all. The selection for interview in GEM Nottingham is based on doing well in the GAMSAT result. So for an applicant who does NOT have good GCSEs and/or good A-levels... it can be easier to get into a GEM programme that does not take into account GCSEs and A-levels rather than get into an undergraduate programme where their grades are not competitive enough.

This is just one example which I explained in detail and with the link of the university requirements to show that it is possible that for a specific applicant, a GEM programme can be easier to enter than an undergraduate programme. Actually I have seen 100s of students successfully get into a GEM programme without difficulty who struggled with getting into undergraduate Medicine.

Now this ONE example does not mean it's always the case. Some GEM are much harder than undergraduate programmes to get into and some undergraduate programmes are a lot harder than GEM. It depends on the programme itself and of course the grades/situation of the applicant. If the way an undergraduate programme selects students is good for an applicant's profile then that will be easier and the reverse is true for GEM.

So in conclusion I really don't believe that the choice between resitting and reapplying and GEM is easy. It's not a problem for someone to disagree with that assessment. But the assessment comes with many years of experience and seeing students go through it. I would say it depends a lot of the situation, the medical schools being considered and the applicant's profile.

Dr Jiva

i sense tension in this thread

@mammy1, @tomhoney380, @Mamamedic and @55pippa5 thanks for all your comments. In my original response most of the answer was focused on alternative options, however as there is a lot of comments about resits let me answer a little bit more on this:

As @mammy1 said, the best option is definitely to make an excel sheet for yourself with the policy for each school. Some you can find on their website and some you'll need to drop them a quick email or call them to get the details.

The information where I said Exeter and Plymouth accept resits with no disadvantage is correct BUT it is not correct that they are the only ones (so it's true that some schools have changed their policy - we update all the info once a year to the best of our ability so please accept our apologies for that). However, my main point is not that no other schools accept resits, but rather that there are often conditions for either initial grade achieved or grade to be achieved at the resit.

One word of caution with @tomhoney380's comment. Yes you are right that more schools have started accepting resits but it's not the majority without any conditions. You mention Manchester for example and they do accept resits but have conditions. I just spoke to them on the phone and confirmed that it's only valid with a minimum score in first sitting (in their case BBB so that's good for you @lilfish) but also they require a minimum achievement of A* in Biology or Chemistry in the Resit.

What I meant in my original post is that there are many universities that do have minimum requirements for the Resits, either in the initial score or in the Resit score. So it's important to take that into consideration when making your decision to resit.

A few schools don't have minimums too and that includes Plymouth like I mentioned, but also Bristol like @tomhoney380 mentioned. The only restriction for Bristol is that you can only resit once. Hull is another example that has minimum requirement for first score of BBB and you need AAA in the resit this time.

In the end you do need to check one school at a time as they are very different. Still many ask for special circumstances and will verify this with your school.

I would encourage you to resit to be honest as it will help most likely whatever route you choose to pursue medicine later. But I would also encourage you to explore the graduate entry route as it's not that much longer (3 years + 4 years is 7 years total and some undergraduate programmes are 6 years anyway).

Choosing whether to go resit and reapply of undergraduate degree and then Graduate Entry Medicine is not easy. You should look at your GCSEs to help you decide. More undergraduate programmes looks at GCSEs so if your GCSEs are strong, that may sway you towards resits + apply as undergraduate. It's easier to find quite a lot of graduate entry medicine programmes that dont look at GCSEs at all... so if you GCSEs are not too strong, then maybe Graduate Entry can be more attractive.

Hope this is helpful. Good luck in your considerations.

As I said in my response, take the resit route if possible. For almost all applicants, resitting and reapplying is going to give them more options than GEM.
At UG level, you can get into med school with very weak GCSEs if you score 660+ in the UKCAT. For almost all GEM courses using UKCAT, you will need significantly over 700 to be competitive. Obviously, if you do not get your A level grades on resit, then standard UG route is not possible, so GEM or transfer from an accepted course becomes the only route.
You take your standard applicant, and they will have far more choices available to them if they re-sit A levels and achieve their grades.
I was not saying GEM was not possible, nor indeed the only option for some aplicants, obviously it is, I was pointing out that almost all applicants will have more choices if they resit and achieve their grades than if they go straight ahead to do another degree simply to aim for GEM. Especially if they have the skills to do well in admissions exams, as this will override weaker stats in many more cases than are available in GEM with far less competition.

Your original statement was that it was that "

The information where I said Exeter and Plymouth accept resits with no disadvantage is correct BUT it is not correct that they are the only ones (so it's true that some schools have changed their policy - we update all the info once a year to the best of our ability so please accept our apologies for that). However, my main point is not that no other schools accept resits, but rather that there are often conditions for either initial grade achieved or grade to be achieved at the resit.

A few schools don't have minimums too and that includes Plymouth like I mentioned, but also Bristol like @tomhoney380 mentioned. The only restriction for Bristol is that you can only resit once. Hull is another example that has minimum requirement for first score of BBB and you need AAA in the resit this time.

The link Plymouth post to their Selections and Admissons Technical Manual states:
"Re-sit Applicants
Consideration will be given to re-sit applicants providing a minimum threshold has been achieved at the first attempt. For example: Medicine has an A2 threshold of AAB at the first attempt, and for Dentistry this first attempt threshold is ABB. For re-sit thresholds for any other level 3 qualification please contact the Admissions Team at [email protected]. All Level 3 qualifications that form part of an applicant’s academic profile for selection must have been achieved within a maximum of three academic years i.e. to include either an AS or A2 re-sit year."

So clearly Plymouth do have minimum grades for first sittings, and higher than some of the other med schools you use as examples

Good afternoon boys and girls,
I was away from the website for a couple of weeks due to personal matters, so sorry if i didnt reply to any PMs. the 15th Oct deadline has sinced passed and I hope everyone got their applications in on time. I applied to; Anglia Ruskin, Exeter, UEA, Nottingham (foundation) and St george (biomed). I feel like I wont be getting any interviews, so I have decided to try clearing med entry/ biomed to med transfer/ graduate entry medicine. One way or another, I'm studying medicine.
I advise that some of you look into biomed transfer to med and 3 year undergradt to GEM course, if you're doubting you'll get 2019 entry. Wish you all the best of luck.
Xenonical.

How come you don't think you'll get any interviews?

How’s everyone’s application going?

Mine’s alright! I’ve been placed on hold by Bristol and I’ve got a HYMS interview how about yours?

Interesting! Are you resitting or reapplying?
I am resitting and have also been placed on hold for Bristol.