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Access to medicine or resit a levels

Hi! Just looking for some advice.
So for so long I have wanted to work within medicine however when I was at school I didn’t think that I could achieve the correct academic grades to get me there, so I never tried.

I’m 22 now and still can’t stop thinking about so I’m wanting to give it a go. I’ve been researching and there is the access to medicine route. I am a bit skeptical of this way in as many universities do not accept the course. I have looked at resitting a levels, however this is so expensive. I am willing to pay if this would be a more guaranteed route in.

What do you think would be better, access to medicine or retaking the a levels?

Thank you.
The best thing would be to actually email the medical schools you are interested in and explain your situation as a mature student and what they would expect. I know Keele excepts Access to Medicine students:
I'm about to start the Access to Medicine course, and would say this is the most time-efficient and cost-effective way of getting to university to study medicine. A lot of universities accept this qualification as it is specifically designed for mature students. If you want to get into a particular med school, email their admissions team and ask if they accept the Access to Medicine course, and which colleges or further education centres they tend to affiliate with so you can pick the best place to study. An Access course is great because it takes one intensive year rather than two years with A-Levels, but you do need to make sure that the university you want to end up at accepts the course from the place you are thinking of studying on.That said, if you want free choice to pick any med school, and you're happy to devote two years of prep work before you get there, go with A-Levels
Original post by SusanPoots
I'm about to start the Access to Medicine course, and would say this is the most time-efficient and cost-effective way of getting to university to study medicine. A lot of universities accept this qualification as it is specifically designed for mature students. If you want to get into a particular med school, email their admissions team and ask if they accept the Access to Medicine course, and which colleges or further education centres they tend to affiliate with so you can pick the best place to study. An Access course is great because it takes one intensive year rather than two years with A-Levels, but you do need to make sure that the university you want to end up at accepts the course from the place you are thinking of studying on.That said, if you want free choice to pick any med school, and you're happy to devote two years of prep work before you get there, go with A-Levels

I'd agree that access course is the better route. It got me two offers, and you can email each med school with the specifics of your background to establish whether they will consider an application from you with an access course qualification. The better access courses have a very good success rate of getting students into med school.
Original post by CharlieAngelx
I'd agree that access course is the better route. It got me two offers, and you can email each med school with the specifics of your background to establish whether they will consider an application from you with an access course qualification. The better access courses have a very good success rate of getting students into med school.


Thank you so much! I just worry that I will put all this hard work in and be left with a qualification that ultimately won’t allow me to progress onto medicine.

I start my access to medicine course in September. I am studied at the Manchester college.
Original post by Ella McGonigle
Thank you so much! I just worry that I will put all this hard work in and be left with a qualification that ultimately won’t allow me to progress onto medicine.

I start my access to medicine course in September. I am studied at the Manchester college.


Congrats on getting the access course place. That can be a challenge in itself. I'm sure you'll do well. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions etc.
Reply 6
Avatar for Airvanz
Airvanz
5
Original post by SusanPoots
I'm about to start the Access to Medicine course, and would say this is the most time-efficient and cost-effective way of getting to university to study medicine. A lot of universities accept this qualification as it is specifically designed for mature students. If you want to get into a particular med school, email their admissions team and ask if they accept the Access to Medicine course, and which colleges or further education centres they tend to affiliate with so you can pick the best place to study. An Access course is great because it takes one intensive year rather than two years with A-Levels, but you do need to make sure that the university you want to end up at accepts the course from the place you are thinking of studying on.That said, if you want free choice to pick any med school, and you're happy to devote two years of prep work before you get there, go with A-Levels


I’m what college are you considering? I hear it’s an intense course that require brut force since most university require you to smash the required units at distinctions or you stand the chance of your application not being looked at.
Original post by Airvanz
Can you share some of your course work with me just to get an idea of what I’ll be getting myself into as I have a lot on my plate and will love to gauge if I can take on the course now or wait it out until I have less things on my plate.

Access to medicine courses are quite competitive to get onto, and quite pressured once you're on them. And the coursework is only one small-ish component of that. If you're not sure, then it's probably not for you at this point, I'd suggest.
Reply 8
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Airvanz
5
It a definite-must-do for me. I just wanna get an idea of how the jump is as there’s nothing wrong with scanning through what I wanna get into before I start🤷*♂️

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