Which medical schools do not consider gcse retakes?

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Reply 40

Inspiringvisons

And that "smart aleck " response was not even mine

Reply 41

Inspiringvisons

The only reason i started this thread was because i tried the uni websites and they were unclear

Reply 42

TheyCallMePolish

There's not really much point in you applying to any medical school as they all expect a good set of GCSE's the first time around, you will get 4 rejections most definitely. People get rejected with multiple a*'s, what makes you better than they are?

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Reply 43

Inspiringvisons

Because my resits will reach the standard needed and because im sure i will do much better at Alevel and there's also the fact to consider that some medical schools do not have gcse requirements but rather have the ukat\Bmat and Alevel requirements which I'm sure I will meet

Reply 44

Inspiringvisons

Those people with A*s that got rejected were probably due to the fact that they fell short in other areas

Reply 45

TheyCallMePolish

Original post by Inspiringvisons

But if you resit, then you took an extra year to reach the standard everyone else already has, which no medical school will look at. There is no medical school that doesn't look at gcse's, and if you're taking an extra year to do yours, you probably don't have the academic threshold to cope with a levels. You do realise they're a massive step up right? Like "knowing" you're gonna do better doesn't mean you actually will, if you can't get the grades at GCSE, there's no way you will at A level. Let alone the ukcat/bmat which are horrendously difficult.

Maybe if you told us your actual GCSE results we could be a bit more helpful with where to apply, if anywhere. What were your grades?

Have you thought about graduate entry medicine?

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 46

mliela

Original post by Inspiringvisons

Those people with A*s that got rejected were probably due to the fact that they fell short in other areas

This is completely wrong trust me. Plenty of more than able students miss out on a place the first time they apply which is why they then get a place the following year.
And yes they may fall short in areas such as UKCAT or interview skills. But those are things that can easily be improved. Failing a number of GCSEs is slightly different to just 'falling short' in some areas.

But like I said earlier YOU need to go and contact universities directly. That's the only way you will get a proper answer.

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Reply 47

Inspiringvisons

My grades are not salvageable so there is nowhere i can apply to without resiting.and anyway if universities accept people that resit their Alevels .Why wouldn't I find somewhere that will accept gcse resits.

Reply 48

Inspiringvisons

And as for my academic ability my strengths have always been in science.like i said timing messed up my grades.and i hope to rectify that in a couple of months.

^^This dude knows it

Who are you to say whether I will or will not flop my Alevels. I am a better judge of my academic ability than you .

Reply 51

TheyCallMePolish

Original post by Inspiringvisons

Who are you to say whether I will or will not flop my Alevels. I am a better judge of my academic ability than you .

Clearly not, since you seem to think flopping GCSE's will result in you obtaining great A level grades, I've known multiple people who've gone through some horrific things and still come out with good GCSE's. Unis accept a level resits because of their difficulty, GCSE's are deemed to simple to allow any resits. Maybe if you told us your actual GCSE grades, we'd see whether you have a shot or not. But judging by your stubbornness, and the fact you wouldn't recognise your own academic limitations, medicine is not for you, sorry.

Reply 52

lightwoXd

Original post by TheyCallMePolish

To be fair, this really depends on the med school. Not many actually do look at GCSEs that closely (the only ones I can think of that do off the top of my head are Oxbridge (wouldn't swear to it on Cambridge though), Cardiff, Birmingham and Liverpool. It's more common for unis to just apply a UKCAT or BMAT cutoff when selecting people for interview, so long as the candidate meets the uni's minimum requirements for GCSE (which usually only includes English/Maths/Science) and is predicted to get AAA at A level.

I don't mean to be rude by calling this out, but it's a fairly common misconception.

Reply 53

lightwoXd

Original post by Inspiringvisons

Which medical schools do not consider gcse retakes.
As i need to retake mine and wantedto know which ones I should avoid

AnnekaChan173 pretty much hit the nail on the head with her response. If you've already looked at uni websites and can't find their GCSE resit policy it's worth calling/emailing to ask.
It may be worth looking at minimum requirements for certain unis, too. If I take BSMS for example (see spoiler):

Spoiler

I don't know what you've got in your English/Maths GCSE, but if you had Bs in them already you wouldn't even need to bother retaking your other subjects. Didn't see anything about GCSE resits (if you haven't got those B grades) but the wording implies it might be OK - BSMS also accept A level resits so I wouldn't be surprised (but again, contact them to be safe).

I know that going through every med school is a bit of a grind, but unfortunately I think it may be necessary - policies change year on year and unfortunately I can't remember what various med schools' stances are on this. If you're confident you can get AAA at A level, I can't see a reason why you can't try at least? Worst comes to worst you might have to take a gap year/do GEM - if you've only just taken your GCSEs you have AS year to see how you do and figure out where you're going with things.

Reply 54

Ezme39

Original post by TheyCallMePolish

This isn't really true. Some medical schools do not look at GCSEs, as they put their weighting on UKCAT.
I agree that OP is at a massive disadvantage, and will likely struggle with A-levels- but that does not mean that 'if' they got AAA and a good UKCAT, they wouldn't get an offer.
Applying to medical school is very much a game of playing to strengths, and I don't think it's impossible to get in with poor GCSEs.

Reply 55

TheyCallMePolish

Original post by lightwoXd

Will the OP meet the minimum GCSE requirements without resitting though?

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Reply 56

TheyCallMePolish

Original post by Ezme39

What do you class as poor GCSE's? You definitely don't need full a*'s or anything, but if he's on C's and D's he holds little chance.

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Reply 57

Ezme39

Original post by TheyCallMePolish

What do you class as poor GCSE's? You definitely don't need full a*'s or anything, but if he's on C's and D's he holds little chance.

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B in English and maths is usually needed, but if a med school doesn't use GCSEs in their scoring system, then there's no reason why the rest couldn't be Cs and Ds. They tend not to be, because potential med students must score highly in A-levels and be highly motivated, but there's no reason why this technically couldn't be the case

Reply 58

mliela

Original post by Ezme39

Even a university that isn't GCSE heavy will still look at GCSEs. Especially since as levels were scrapped

Another point. The fact that their websites don't mention GCSE retakes means they don't expect them. Op needs to stop being lazy and make the effort to contact individual universities.

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Reply 59

Ezme39

Original post by mliela

Med schools are open about their scoring systems, so that applicants can apply wisely. If they say they are not using GCSEs in this process, then we can only assume that they are indeed not using them.
Medical schools did not tend to use AS levels anyway, except for seeing if the predicted grades were inflated. Given this, OP may need to apply with achieved A2 grades, to prove that they are able- but I don't really see that this would be necessary.
However yes, contacting individual instituations is the best way to be accurate and up-to-date, especially regarding potential retakes.