The Student Room Group

Medics in later years who fail

Hi Everyone,

I was just wondering what all the medics do who fail in their final years, do people just have to start from scratch or do they get some sort of ability to go onto other courses faster? If you were to fail 4th year you've just wasted 4 years of your life/money... you never hear about these people is that because there aren't any or because nobody ever talks about it?
Has anyone ever considered what they would have to do if they failed? I just wondered whether you literally spend 4 years of your life studying and then have to start with all the 18 yoa people going to first year stuff (assuming you chose to go to uni again)

I'm not exactly in that situation, but I'm just super curious to know what has happened to others in the past.

Thanks :smile:
Hi Everyone,

I was just wondering what all the medics do who fail in their final years, do people just have to start from scratch or do they get some sort of ability to go onto other courses faster? If you were to fail 4th year you've just wasted 4 years of your life/money... you never hear about these people is that because there aren't any or because nobody ever talks about it?
Has anyone ever considered what they would have to do if they failed? I just wondered whether you literally spend 4 years of your life studying and then have to start with all the 18 yoa people going to first year stuff (assuming you chose to go to uni again)

I'm not exactly in that situation, but I'm just super curious to know what has happened to others in the past.

Thanks :smile:
Reply 2
Original post by olivia-orange
Hi Everyone,

I was just wondering what all the medics do who fail in their final years, do people just have to start from scratch or do they get some sort of ability to go onto other courses faster? If you were to fail 4th year you've just wasted 4 years of your life/money... you never hear about these people is that because there aren't any or because nobody ever talks about it?
Has anyone ever considered what they would have to do if they failed? I just wondered whether you literally spend 4 years of your life studying and then have to start with all the 18 yoa people going to first year stuff (assuming you chose to go to uni again)

I'm not exactly in that situation, but I'm just super curious to know what has happened to others in the past.

Thanks :smile:



I doubt anyone would get to that stage because:

1. To get onto the course requires alot of prerequisites
2. The uni would probably kick you out before you reach that stage
3. I doubt anyone who has done the first 3 years fail in their 4th year
4. Most people would understand that this is there future and do everything in their power to not fail
From what I've been told, you would most likely be asked to repeat the year. The uni has invested so much in you by that point that they would be very reluctant to kick you out (unless it happens repeatedly).
Original post by Shadoo
I doubt anyone would get to that stage because:

1. To get onto the course requires alot of prerequisites
2. The uni would probably kick you out before you reach that stage
3. I doubt anyone who has done the first 3 years fail in their 4th year
4. Most people would understand that this is there future and do everything in their power to not fail


Having got into medical school I found it much easier to get in than the work that we do here...Getting in was a breeze compared to the amount that we have to learn, I feel like the prerequisites are more to prove your passion for it and dedication...

And I am more talking about the people who scrape through medical school, always get 51% and 50% being a pass.

But i agree with the 4th point :smile:
Yes, it happens. Most people who are going fail, do so within the first couple of years, but there are always a few people who fail latter years / Finals as well. I was almost in this situation, as I failed 4th year, but successfully appealed and continued. I had intercalated after 3rd year, and so already had a BSc. At my university, those that fail after 4th or 5th year, were awarded a BSc in "Medical Studies", as a recognition of the credits they had gained in previously years.

On one hand, this means that people leave with a degree, and therefore can go on to do any 'regular' graduate job that just requires a degree in something. On the other hand, it's not very useful for specific jobs - ie if someone wanted to pursue a career in healthcare science such as a lab scientist or a nurse, it's not like a biomedical science degree where there has been a lot of lab experience or a degree that allows any kind of professional registration. It does however mean that you don't have to start all over again just to get a degree in something. I don't think they gave the BSc to people who failed 3rd year, as technically, if you failed 3rd year then you didn't get all the credits from that year and you need three years' worth of credits to achieve a degree. When I intercalated (in a humanities subject), there was a dentistry student who had failed her third year, who had been allowed to transfer onto the intercalated programme so that she would be able to graduate with a degree.

I have no idea if there is a similar system at other universities.
Original post by Shadoo
I doubt anyone would get to that stage because:

1. To get onto the course requires alot of prerequisites
2. The uni would probably kick you out before you reach that stage
3. I doubt anyone who has done the first 3 years fail in their 4th year
4. Most people would understand that this is there future and do everything in their power to not fail


You are...definitely not a med student, are you?
People who fail a year are usually given the chance to resit the exam later in the summer. Anybody who fails the resit can be given the chance to redo the year they've failed but this is not always the case. Conventional wisdom suggests that the further into the course you are the more reluctant the school will be to kick you out. Nobody has to redo the previous years, only the one they've failed.

And yes, people can and do fail in their later years.
Reply 8
Are you talking about after resits have been done? If we fail our final year, we have to do the whole year again and I know a few people in that position.
Reply 9
I assume that it's very rare, and I would hazard a guess that the medical school would be VERY reluctant to kick you off the course after third year, what with all the money they've invested in you.
Original post by Shadoo
I doubt anyone would get to that stage because:

1. To get onto the course requires alot of prerequisites
2. The uni would probably kick you out before you reach that stage
3. I doubt anyone who has done the first 3 years fail in their 4th year
4. Most people would understand that this is there future and do everything in their power to not fail


Absolutely not true. Especially points 3 and 4.


To the OP: at my university, if people failed all possible resit options for 4th or 5th year and were required to leave, which DID happen, they were awarded a BSc in Medical Studies, so that they would at least graduate with a degree in recognition of the credits they'd achieved in years 1-3. Not sure if this is the case at all unis though.
what a load of bull

the medical school i am ive seen peopke fail resits in 4/5th year and had to beg to get the chance to resit the year. The posts above make me angry making it seem its a given, TRUST ME it isn't. Thankfully i've never had to go through to it myself but ive had friends who have, and its heart breaking to see.

OP the uni just gives them a BSC in medical sciences if they've completed 3 years.
Original post by junior.doctor
Absolutely not true. Especially points 3 and 4.


To the OP: at my university, if people failed all possible resit options for 4th or 5th year and were required to leave, which DID happen, they were awarded a BSc in Medical Studies, so that they would at least graduate with a degree in recognition of the credits they'd achieved in years 1-3. Not sure if this is the case at all unis though.


Same thing happens at my med school.
Original post by junior.doctor
Absolutely not true. Especially points 3 and 4.


To the OP: at my university, if people failed all possible resit options for 4th or 5th year and were required to leave, which DID happen, they were awarded a BSc in Medical Studies, so that they would at least graduate with a degree in recognition of the credits they'd achieved in years 1-3. Not sure if this is the case at all unis though.


This.

Some medical schools are more ruthless than others.
Yeah, after resits
yeah - what i've heard is similar to what junior.doctor said above

If passed preclinical exams - eligible for a basic degree in "medical science" (but unclassified degree I think - worse than 3rd?)
But they usually will offer an upgrade to the intercalated BSc with honours option by doing a further 1 yr study.

Failing before passing preclinicals - I don't think there's an option here, pretty much wasted years for the people I know. Perhaps theres a possibility of transferring credits and starting from second year of biomedical science etc?
(edited 9 years ago)
We had compulsory intercalation so everyone had a BA degree after three years. If you failed either 4th or 5th year (of 6) they allowed one resit of the exam and then depending on circumstances they may allow the student to repeat that year, if they failed after that then they had to leave, and didn't get anything extra on top of the BA they already had. I know of one person who resat both 4th and 5th year and still didn't pass 5th year so had to leave. For finals, which were done at the end of 6th year, it was possible to retake some of the exams in July, so there was still time to start as an FY1 if they passed, but if the student failed too many components of finals they wouldn't allow this and would make them redo the year. There were also a handful of students each year who were picked out by the clinical school either because they were struggling or had terrible attendance, and were forced to retake the year without sitting finals.

The way that the Cambridge course is structured means that there are a handful people who were very good at pre-clinical academic work, but really struggled in clinical exams as their communication skills just weren't up to scratch, so it was perfectly possible for people to have no problems until 4th/5th year and then hit a wall when it came to OSCEs etc.
Someone in my year did foundation year, year one, resat year one, did year two (passed on in-year resits) and then failed year 3 and got kicked out with nothing.

A real shame that they spent 5 years on the degree and left with absolutely nothing to show for it :frown:
Original post by xXxBaby-BooxXx
Someone in my year did foundation year, year one, resat year one, did year two (passed on in-year resits) and then failed year 3 and got kicked out with nothing.

A real shame that they spent 5 years on the degree and left with absolutely nothing to show for it :frown:


it is ruthless
Medical school in the UK can be a cruel, demeaning and humiliating experience for some people, and yet they still carry on regardless despite so many setbacks. I admire their dedication and resilience. The uni I used to attend would fail the highest percentage of people in 4th year and 5th year, after they had all put in several years of work.

I hate to dig up this article again because it breaks my heart every time I read it. It's a reminder about what can happen when you're forced into a corner. Obviously this is a rare occurrence and an extreme example, but I hope it will raise a bit of awareness.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/jun/03/highereducation.students

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