The Student Room Group

Southampton BM6 2012

Scroll to see replies

Reply 20
Hello:smile:

As i only have four different options to choose from, i want to maximise my chances of getting in!
The reason i want to apply here is because my GCSE grades are terrible! i only got 2 A's in English lit and maths!:frown: all the rest were B's. therefore i cant apply to BM5...
i fit to at least three of the eligibility criteria s, and i actually want to do a foundation year! I think it will help me fill in the gap between a level and a more advanced course such as medicine. Also a this course is only three times a week, i want to use the rest of my week doing more work exp, travel (if i can) and get a part time job!
Reply 21
Original post by Honey:)
Hello:smile:

As i only have four different options to choose from, i want to maximise my chances of getting in!
The reason i want to apply here is because my GCSE grades are terrible! i only got 2 A's in English lit and maths!:frown: all the rest were B's. therefore i cant apply to BM5...
i fit to at least three of the eligibility criteria s, and i actually want to do a foundation year! I think it will help me fill in the gap between a level and a more advanced course such as medicine. Also a this course is only three times a week, i want to use the rest of my week doing more work exp, travel (if i can) and get a part time job!


I would definitely apply to the BM6, East anglia's foundation and also look for universities which don't look heavy on GCSE's. Some universities do offer 6 year courses if you're near them, so have a look :smile: Foundation courses do sound like they would suit you better. Look at other routes aswell like biomed and biochem :smile:
Reply 22
Yes i think foundation course sound great and more likely chance of me getting in too.
Thanks for the advice about the foundation course in East Anglia!
i didnt even know they offered one! :biggrin:
Reply 23
Original post by TheHeart
Thank you for that :biggrin:
Work Experience - 3 months abroad in a hospital last summer. And hopefully more this summer. 1 A* 2 As 4 Bs 3Cs for GCSE's. I reckon I've not done so well in my AS exams though :/ Ha! Do I really even stand a chance :s-smilie:
How about yourself? :rolleyes:


hey how did u find the voluntary work abroad? n how much did u hav to pay.. plz help.. thanks x
Original post by Honey:)
Yes i think foundation course sound great and more likely chance of me getting in too.
Thanks for the advice about the foundation course in East Anglia!
i didnt even know they offered one! :biggrin:


well, if you live near manchester/durham/london/a few other places.....they also do foundation courses
Reply 25
Original post by godknowsprerna
hey how did u find the voluntary work abroad? n how much did u hav to pay.. plz help.. thanks x


Through family, and it was free as I stayed at my grandmothers :wink:
Reply 26
Original post by Thepupil
I would definitely apply to the BM6, East anglia's foundation and also look for universities which don't look heavy on GCSE's. Some universities do offer 6 year courses if you're near them, so have a look :smile: Foundation courses do sound like they would suit you better. Look at other routes aswell like biomed and biochem :smile:


Just a heads up... I applied to UEA and when I spoke to admissions following my rejection :-( they told me that the reason I had been unsuccessful was my GCSE profile. I already had a level 3 qualification and high predicted grades for A levels and yet the focus was still on GCSE results. I found this slightly odd as I took my GCSEs a while ago (mature student).
Reply 27
Original post by Saxy103
Just a heads up... I applied to UEA and when I spoke to admissions following my rejection :-( they told me that the reason I had been unsuccessful was my GCSE profile. I already had a level 3 qualification and high predicted grades for A levels and yet the focus was still on GCSE results. I found this slightly odd as I took my GCSEs a while ago (mature student).


Really? may i ask what you got in GCSE? thats odd...
Reply 28
Original post by Honey:)
Really? may i ask what you got in GCSE? thats odd...


3As and the rest a mix of bs and Cs. They say in the prospectus that they are asking for a minimum of 5 bs at GCSE but last year I met the criteria and it still proved a problem. I'm not saying you shouldn't apply, just letting you know what happened with me.
Reply 29
Original post by Saxy103
3As and the rest a mix of bs and Cs. They say in the prospectus that they are asking for a minimum of 5 bs at GCSE but last year I met the criteria and it still proved a problem. I'm not saying you shouldn't apply, just letting you know what happened with me.


I'm sorry to hear this.

As with most universities, they only state their minimum entry requirements. In my opinion, I would assume that they had a very large volume of applications for the course last year that they were ranking students based on their academic results and probably the UKCAT (including GCSE's and A-levels).

Foundation year courses are very, very competitive compared to the standard 5-year as most only offer around 30 places!

Don't feel disheartened, your GCSE's are fine, I got around the same as you (4 A's the rest B's and C's) and I applied for the 5-year at Leicester and got 8/10 for my academics without 3 A2 levels aswell!

Are you going to reapply? What are you're plans now? Where else did you apply?
Reply 30
hey did anyone go to the open day today :biggrin:
Reply 31
Original post by xcoral23
I'm sorry to hear this.

As with most universities, they only state their minimum entry requirements. In my opinion, I would assume that they had a very large volume of applications for the course last year that they were ranking students based on their academic results and probably the UKCAT (including GCSE's and A-levels).

Foundation year courses are very, very competitive compared to the standard 5-year as most only offer around 30 places!

Don't feel disheartened, your GCSE's are fine, I got around the same as you (4 A's the rest B's and C's) and I applied for the 5-year at Leicester and got 8/10 for my academics without 3 A2 levels aswell!

Are you going to reapply? What are you're plans now? Where else did you apply?


I applied to Keele, Dundee, UEA and Manchester. And yes I am reapplying this year with the benefit of hindsight! I actually feel a lot better prepared this time round. I'm going to be going back to college in September. They are letting me do AS and A2 chemistry in 1 year (yes, mad!) and also biology AS. Doing chem and bio means that my options are more open too.
Reply 32
Original post by godknowsprerna
hey did anyone go to the open day today :biggrin:


I did! What did you think of it? I loved it. The talk was strangely uplifting!
Reply 33
Original post by Saxy103
I did! What did you think of it? I loved it. The talk was strangely uplifting!


OMG same i loved it .... it made me feel so much better :biggrin: as i hav bad gcse grades :frown: now just need to start preparing for UKCAT!!!
Reply 34
Original post by godknowsprerna
OMG same i loved it .... it made me feel so much better :biggrin: as i hav bad gcse grades :frown: now just need to start preparing for UKCAT!!!


How are you planning to prep? Have you booked it yet? I was so nervous about taking it last year but this year I'm ok about it. For now at least! I'm sure I'll feel differently soon. Although it was nice to hear from the admissions people about the use of it for BM6
Reply 35
Original post by Saxy103
How are you planning to prep? Have you booked it yet? I was so nervous about taking it last year but this year I'm ok about it. For now at least! I'm sure I'll feel differently soon. Although it was nice to hear from the admissions people about the use of it for BM6

i jus bought the 600 practice questions book.. omg it looks soooo hard :/ the time limit is scary o_o lool
n r u on a gap year ?
the only thing im scared about is work experience :frown: i hav done NONE YET.
its soo hard to find one :frown: will clal up over 200 gps on monday n *hopefully* atleast one of them will agree to givin me a week or so :frown: still not enough. wbu? :smile:
Reply 36
Original post by godknowsprerna
i jus bought the 600 practice questions book.. omg it looks soooo hard :/ the time limit is scary o_o lool
n r u on a gap year ?
the only thing im scared about is work experience :frown: i hav done NONE YET.
its soo hard to find one :frown: will clal up over 200 gps on monday n *hopefully* atleast one of them will agree to givin me a week or so :frown: still not enough. wbu? :smile:


No, not on a gap year. Going back to college to do more in september. Glutton for punishment apparently. I've got the 600 book too. Only thing I found with it last year is that the questions in it are trickier than the actual test. And the scoring is a bit do lally. Based on the book I thought I was going to get a score of 400 or something equally awful! Work experience for me has been a bit of shadowing, volunteering with an autism support group, St. Johns Ambulance and an expert patient for a teaching hospital. The chap that did the talk though did say that it's what you've learnt from your work experience not how much you've done.
Reply 37
Original post by Saxy103
No, not on a gap year. Going back to college to do more in september. Glutton for punishment apparently. I've got the 600 book too. Only thing I found with it last year is that the questions in it are trickier than the actual test. And the scoring is a bit do lally. Based on the book I thought I was going to get a score of 400 or something equally awful! Work experience for me has been a bit of shadowing, volunteering with an autism support group, St. Johns Ambulance and an expert patient for a teaching hospital. The chap that did the talk though did say that it's what you've learnt from your work experience not how much you've done.


wow thts a lot of experience ... did u find the work experience at st johns online?
Reply 38
Original post by godknowsprerna
wow thts a lot of experience ... did u find the work experience at st johns online?


Yes. You can volunteer with your local unit or, depending on where you live, there may be other volunteering opportunities. You could also try: http://www.do-it.org.uk
They have volunteering vacancies for a wide range of places including hospitals and hospices. If you have any care homes or even elderly neighbours you could offer to visit or run errands etc. It all adds up!
Reply 39
Original post by Saxy103
Yes. You can volunteer with your local unit or, depending on where you live, there may be other volunteering opportunities. You could also try: http://www.do-it.org.uk
They have volunteering vacancies for a wide range of places including hospitals and hospices. If you have any care homes or even elderly neighbours you could offer to visit or run errands etc. It all adds up!

Thank you :smile:

Quick Reply

Latest