Barts and the London (QMUL) A100 2020 Entry

Can some help me figure out if I have the minimum gcse requirements for medicine at Queen Mary? I emailed them to see what they think but they haven't relied yet. I really wonna go to queen mary but need to meet the minimum entry requirements for gcses to have a chance at getting an offer. I've just finished a levels and have been predicted 3 a stars and assuming I get those grades and I get a good ucat score, it would all be pointless if I don't meet the minimum gcse requirements. I have reasons for my gcses bein soo low and I was told by my school that all I would have to do is just inform the uni of these circumstances but when I called queen mary they said they are unlikely to look at the circumstances involving gcses. But still I have a 7 in maths, 7 in English lit, 6 in English lang, a in computer science, B in core science, A in additional science, c in further additional science, c in geography, d in textiles and b in hpq. In terms of individual grades I got all as in all sciences in additional science, B in chem n physics for core science and c in bio for core science, and d in bio of further additional science and b in chem of further additional science and c in physics of further additional science. I didn't get grades for the individual sciences. Would my core and addional science(dual science) be enough?

The requirements are on the Barts website
"GCSE
777666 or AAABBB

Must include
Biology or Human Biology
Chemistry
English Language
Mathematics or Additional Mathematics or Statistics
Science (Double Award) may substitute any individual science."

If you think you have extenuating circumstances that may be taken into account you need to email them to ask if there is a specific form and evidence you need to complete for this to be taken into consideration and they will need to confirm they will accept your results before you apply.

I am not 100% about how combined sciences work, but my understanding is the Double Award is your Additional science and you got an A in this.

Your HPQ will only count as a half, I think, so you need to check with someone who knows if you would count the B in core and A in additional science or whether you just get to count 1 or whether you can count AA for your Additional (the latter, I would assume). @Simbasoul can you advise?

Your school is wrong that unis will automatically make adjustments for ECs, as many say that problems should have been brought to the attention of the Exam Board at the time and adjustments would be made accordingly. They will often make allowances for severe problems like bereavement or a close family member, serious illness, etc.

Also, bear in mind that unless you have further UCAS tariff points, being predicted A*A*A* means you are likely to need around 780 at UCAT to be invited for interview.

780?!!! That is a very unrealistic score n is in the top 1 percent, I mean I think I will probs get around 740 ish if everything goes well so I dunno. And what do you mean by needing even more ucas tariff points even after getting 3 a stars? I mean I called them up and they said that as long as u meet the minimum gcse requirement then they don't care about it at all, and gcses also don't count towards ucas tariff. Plus I can't imagine the competition being so high that everyone would get 3 a stars ish in a levels and will probs mostly get 1 a star and 2 while getting a decent score of 680 ish so do i really have to 780 to get in?? If that is then my dreams of going queen mary is shattered 😭😭

Barts use UCAS tariff and UCAT score 50/50.
They have now published the admissions stats for this cycle and the UCAS score needed for 3 A*s at A level has come down to around 735.
An A* at A level is worth 56 UCAS points, so those with an extra A level or other qualifications scoring tariff points (Drama, music exams, AS levels not taken to full A level etc) have an advantage at Barts.
As you can see here, a score of 168 UCAS points (A*A*A*) needed around 2940 UCAT score for an interview
https://www.qmul.ac.uk/smd/undergraduate/courses/admissions-statistics-for-medicine--dentistry/

Last year is was around 3150 for this UCAS tariff score. If you have a higher tariff score, you can achieve an interview with a lower UCAT score. The competition is indeed that high.

i dont understand, if they want such high tariff points with still high ucat scores then why are thier entry requirements an a star and 2 a's, might as well as make it like all a stars and then still you might not get in... i think they might have been using the old tariff system maybe. i have been trying all combinations with the new tariff system and since as levels are taken out and do not have any signicance, you would need to do like 4 a levels and get all a stars in them and still you would need a score of like 822.5 or else its not going good for you. that doesnt really seem right to me. whereas if you use the old system which was 140 for a star, if you get 2 a stars and an a then you are considered good which seem more right to me tbh. still getting 4 a stars and still being considered a weak student acording to the ucas tariff system doesn seem right, especially when you look at cambridge where the applicants usually get 2 a stars and an a. tbh i am panicking a little cuz there is literally no way i can get ucas tariff score that high... XD also seing as though you need 144 points which is considered as the worst candidate, which would be considered as 3 as or even lower if more a levels are taken, how would that make sense if the entry requirement is an a star and 2 as. sorry this is just really really confusing me and making me panic, and i cant call them up rn as well so im screwed for now

I am not sure what you are struggling with?
If you go the the UCAS tariff calculator:
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/tariff-calculator
You can see how many points are awarded for each qualification. The figures given are using the new tariff scores.
IB always scores well. 4 A levels at A*A*AA would get you 208 points (and the 4th one might be in General Studies). An EPQ at A* 28 points. 3 A* A levels and an AS in a subject not taken on to full A level at A would be 188. Dance or music qualifications up to 16 points.
Barts are just giving examples of combinations of scores needed for an interview, eg Tariff 230 UCAT 2530; Tariff 216 UCAT 2630; Tariff 188 UCAT 2820;
Tariff 168 UCAT 2940.
In your 4 A*s at A level example, you would score 224, so likely to need a UCAT score around 2580, which is easily achievable.
3 A*s and an EPQ at A 194, so a UCAT of around 2780.
Barts still value A level achievements (they are one of the few med schools who do). The problem is, predictions are not always the same as achievements, so they may not get what they are looking for!

Many med schools require scores well above their minimum requirements to get an interview, eg Cardiff has requirements of Bs at GCSE, but you have needs 8 x A*s for an interview the last few years, this is not uncommon and you have needed higher UCKAT scores in previous years to balance a lower UCAS tariff score at Barts.
What is even more ridiculous is that you don't have to actually achieve the A levels your points score is based on - most offers will be for A*AA, even if you have been predicted A*A*A* which is likely to be needed for an interview!

wow, so i can kiss applying to queen mary good bye now, there is a very low chance of me getting ucat score that high so well dang, i really wanted to go queen mary too, i thought 3 a stars would really do the trick but i guess not. my school wouldn't have let me take 4 a levels too so thats a real shame tbh. i guess i should look into applying to kings college instead then

I am not sure what you are struggling with?
If you go the the UCAS tariff calculator:
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/tariff-calculator
You can see how many points are awarded for each qualification. The figures given are using the new tariff scores.
IB always scores well. 4 A levels at A*A*AA would get you 208 points (and the 4th one might be in General Studies). An EPQ at A* 28 points. 3 A* A levels and an AS in a subject not taken on to full A level at A would be 188. Dance or music qualifications up to 16 points.
Barts are just giving examples of combinations of scores needed for an interview, eg Tariff 230 UCAT 2530; Tariff 216 UCAT 2630; Tariff 188 UCAT 2820;
Tariff 168 UCAT 2940.
In your 4 A*s at A level example, you would score 224, so likely to need a UCAT score around 2580, which is easily achievable.
3 A*s and an EPQ at A 194, so a UCAT of around 2780.
Barts still value A level achievements (they are one of the few med schools who do). The problem is, predictions are not always the same as achievements, so they may not get what they are looking for!

Many med schools require scores well above their minimum requirements to get an interview, eg Cardiff has requirements of Bs at GCSE, but you have needs 8 x A*s for an interview the last few years, this is not uncommon and you have needed higher UCKAT scores in previous years to balance a lower UCAS tariff score at Barts.
What is even more ridiculous is that you don't have to actually achieve the A levels your points score is based on - most offers will be for A*AA, even if you have been predicted A*A*A* which is likely to be needed for an interview!

Or do an EPQ? A 4th subject at AS level? Or something outside of school that would give UCAS points?
And you don't know what your UCAT score will be yet!

In terms of Kings, with <4 A* GCSEs, you are also likely to need 700+ in UCAT for an interview

wow, so i can kiss applying to queen mary good bye now, there is a very low chance of me getting ucat score that high so well dang, i really wanted to go queen mary too, i thought 3 a stars would really do the trick but i guess not. my school wouldn't have let me take 4 a levels too so thats a real shame tbh. i guess i should look into applying to kings college instead then


that seems more managable tbh, instead of like 760+ for queen mary's. I just feel like im under soo much pressure rn, thought i would be at a real advantage with 3 a stars at a levels but it seems like its not the case at all...

HI all : I have received the information below from queen Mary on medicine admission for this year. It left me a bit confused on the Tariff score shown below and on what I have learned from other website. For example if one have a predicted grade of A*A* A then this will yield 56+ 56+48 =160 . So my question who this score is related to the score below? e.g. HIGH Tariff of 352 .
A100 Applications

1,597 candidates applied to A100. Of those, 608 were rejected prior to interview and 989 were offered interviews.

We use the UCAT and the UCAS Tariff scores of undergraduate candidates in a 50/50 weighting. Information on the UCAT scores and deciles can be found on their website.

Indicative scores of candidates who were successful at gaining an interview are:

Top and Bottom examples:
Low Tariff of 188 supported by a high UCAT of 3290
High Tariff of 352 supporting a low UCAT of 2540

Mid-range examples:

Tariff 230 UCAT 2530

Tariff 216 UCAT 2630

Tariff 188 UCAT 2820

Tariff 168 UCAT 2940

The top and bottom Tariff scores for School Leavers that received offers for interview were 355 and 144. The top and bottom UCAT scores for School Leavers that received offers for interview were 3410 and 2300.

Graduate candidates are ranked on a 50/50 weighting of UCAT scores and Academic Points, which mirrors the system used for School Leavers. As graduate qualifications are not included in the UCAS Tariff, we developed our own system where we assign Academic Points for different graduate qualifications.

The top and bottom UCAT scores for Graduates that received offers for interview this year was 3310 and 2580 respectively.

Please note that we do not rank applicants according to GCSE results and no data is held on this.

A100 Interview data

Once candidates reach the interview stage, the scores achieved at interview are primarily used to influence potential offers being made. This year, interview scores were combined with candidates SJT (Situational Judgement component of the UCAT) scores and ranked based on the combined score. Candidates Tariff scores were not used for consideration at this stage but overall UCAT score may have been used to determine a ‘cut off’ point.

Interviews are scored independently by 2 trained panel members out of a total of 50 points. Successful School Leaver candidates were offered places when their combined interview and SJT score was in excess of 34.5 points. Graduate candidates were offered places when their combined interview and SJT score was in excess of 43 points.

Of the candidates who were offered places based on their combined scores, the lowest successful interview score (excluding the SJT) for School Leaver candidates was 32.5, and 41 for Graduate candidates.

I'm kinda confused. What qualification do you put down alevels or as if you have just got predicted grades from year 12 mocks (not doing as levels)? Do you put it as an a level qualification??

You use your official A level predictions as given my school/college as pending. Any AS levels not taken to full A levels can be entered as achieved