Six A's @ GCSE + UCAS related queries

As the title stated. I recently finished by GCSE equivalent exams and I am pretty certain I have got A's in 5/7 of the subjects I did. Combined with the A I got in English Language last year, I will have a total of 6 A's. I am pretty certain I failed Caribbean History and Spanish however. (i.e A-C were not reached) We only do 8 GCSE equivalent exams at school here and to be honest I truly think 6/8 is a very good accomplishment. Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, English Language and English Literature being the six.

I am wondering if there are certain medical schools who don't put much if any at all, which is highly unlikely, emphasis on GCSE results. I know from my research that Leicester only take a maximum 6 GCSE's when applying so at this moment they are my best hope. Also, having researched on this website, it appears Exeter, Plymouth, Brighton and Aberdeen are much more lenient towards modest GCSE performances.

Leicester is certainly going to be on my UCAS form but I am wary about the other three choices. A previous scholarship winner from my country and school currently attends Leicester (his first year has probably finished by now) and he most likely got an AAB offer given at the time of his application he applied with AS equivalent A's in Biology and Chemistry and a B in Mathematics. However, I am not sure if that is how offers are given out.

I am expecting AAAA at my AS level equivalent exams (Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Environmental Science) and predicted AAA at my A2 equivalent exams (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) with an achieved A at A2 Environmental Science as I intend to do both AS + A2 Environmental Science in my AS year. (It is probably the easiest subject in our A-Level equivalent exams and is commonly used among scholarship winners (including the one who currently attends Leicester that I spoke of; he did it in his A2 year so at the end of sixth form he had 9 A's and 1 B) to get 2 "easy" A's (8 A's inclusive of Communication Studies and Caribbean Studies being necessary to get a government scholarship). Generally, we do 3 AS and 3 A2 subjects of our choice and 2 compulsory subjects; the ones I referred to as being necessary for a scholarship. This expectation results from me actually seeing the work done at our A-Level equivalent exams and seeing how easy it is along with myself being a science student obviously finding science easy.

Also, I have taken a practice UKCAT test, along with the intention of buying a UKCAT 600+ question book for practice next summer, the summer before I actually take the test, and I have found that VA, QR and DR to be extremely easy with only AR giving my difficulty. I have yet to actually practice any SJ questions but I intend to do so. So I am expecting at this point, with lots of hard work, very high AS and A2 predicted grades along with a high UKCAT score. (I am not applying to any BMAT schools)

I also hope for a very great PS (There are some A2 school leavers who have applied to medicine and are graduating in a couple of weeks so I intend to get some info from them.) Most of them did state that entry into medical school was hard enough (that is a given) but became even harder given that they were not English citizens. Is that true?

In terms of my work experience, I am intending to apply in about a week or two to my local, there is actually only one, hospital about work shadowing and also to some care homes involving volunteer work. There is also a private cardiology clinic who is run by probably the most famous doctor in our country who I intend to contact about work shadowing as well. (One of my A2 school leaving colleagues did about 14 hours of work shadowing at this clinic)

Also in terms of interests outside of school, I am looking to join the Environmental Club and Student's Council, I am already a member of the Key Club and I very hopeful of becoming a prefect in next year. I also intend to do a lot of volunteer work outside of school starting this summer not solely for the purpose of enhancing my application but for the general joy in seeing smiles on people's faces. (a bit cliché but it is true)

Wow... looking at this post I actually didn't intend to write all of this information but ah well.

Are there any recommendations as to which schools are more lenient towards modest GCSE performance? Do I stand a chance against those who I see post here with about 10 A*'s? Will AR become even harder given the new changes to the UKCAT?

Any feedback whatsoever would be very much appreciated.

http://www.ukesc.co.uk/index.php?q=universities_we_represent - This is a local company that works along with certain UK universities in the UCAS application process. Those are the universities they represent so if your choice of universities could come from those that would be extremely appreciated however it is not a necessity.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1

Becca-Sarah

If you've only just done your GCSE's I wouldn't start worrying about picking medical schools just yet - there's a fair chance they will change their requirements slightly by the time you apply, as might the UKCAT. Just focus on getting your AS grades and your work experience at this stage.

Reply 2

Ronove

Sorry if I'm missing anything here as it was very much a TL;DR post - but you shouldn't assume your grades in the GCSE equivalents will be directly compared to the required GCSE grades. In most cases they will look at how good your grades are for the qualification you did. To be absolutely sure, you can email individual universities asking how they would view your qualifications.

Reply 3

Gundam101

Original post by Ronove

Well most UK universities do in fact recognise my examination boards as a direct equivalent. We used to be a UK colony and used their exams until we created our own to, I guess, further establish our independence. Aberdeen state on their website that they do in fact accept our grades and there are plenty of students from my country with these equivalents who study in the UK and USA.

Reply 4

Ronove

Original post by Gundam101

I understand perfectly that your qualifications will most likely be accepted as equivalent to GCSEs - but as I am saying, that does not at all mean that the same grades will be expected. I don't even think people doing IGCSEs are expected to get quite the same grades as those doing GCSEs, but I'm not sure on that one.

The point is that you need to ask individual universities because they're not so stupid as to be completely unaware that the value of a grade depends entirely on how hard a qualification is, how harsh the marking is, how many subjects are generally taken in it at one time, and the proportion of each grade awarded to candidates. Right now you have no real idea about your chances at any uni - you can't use the typical GCSE grades to judge it.

Six A's @ GCSE + UCAS related queries

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