Ok then what about mature students who only did A levels and have no GCSEs. FE colleges allow mature students on A level courses without GCSEs and I know a few who've got into medical school and architecture school with only their A levels and relevant supportive experience but no GCSEs.
All well and good, but he's not a mature applicant. I don't think he wants to wait for years just to get a shot.
If that's the case then his GCSE maths requirement is purely for administrative beurocracy rather than practical academic need seen as he has an A in A level maths. I think admin staff should show some human discretion instead of relying on yes and no answers from the computer. Crazy rules.
I went to one of the worst secondary schools while undergoing my GCSEs and ended up with only Bs and Cs. For first year of Alevels I did mostly Englishy subjects and got a BCCC. Now I restarted my alevels and I am doing maths bio and Chem. Bio&Chem do not matter at the moment since we do the exams next year but I am predicted an AA. In maths I managed to get an A for AS(despite the disbelief of my teachers). My question is will this be good enough for medicine? Bare in mind I already have the relevant work experience like shadowing a doctor etc I am mainly worried about my GCSEs 😭😭
Sometimes Universities can be a little considerate when it comes to 'low-performing schools' where they'd look at the average point score per pupil at your secondary school - I would advise this is something you research by looking at Uni course pages for medicine and emailing them would be an even better option and also 'widening access' programme could be another option but please do not give up nor let anyone else put you down going from a C at GCSE math to an A at AS is incredible and there are so many pathways into medicine - well done to you and I wish u the best for the future.
I got an email before saying that if you went to an underachieving/ special measures school then they will consider you
Yes I have heard this from numerous places too. They will look at you GCSEs in the context of your year group and if you were good in context they're more likely to consider you. Remember most of the people commenting on this are fellow teenagers who know more myth than fact! Your best bet is to get in contact with some universities and ask them. Even competitive courses like medicine do not have blanket 'rules' in all circumstances so please do not be put off by what you hear. It really sounds to me like the context of your GCSEs was poor and thus they will really take this into account (as they do with say a death around your exams). The only thing that's rather important for GCSEs usually is maths and English at grade B however even with this it can be flexible. And to all the people criticising taking extra years before a degree, that really isn't so bad as universities (especially on people facing courses like medicine) appreciate people from different backgrounds with a range of experiences- so make it into a positive thing! Best of luck.
Sometimes Universities can be a little considerate when it comes to 'low-performing schools' where they'd look at the average point score per pupil at your secondary school - I would advise this is something you research by looking at Uni course pages for medicine and emailing them would be an even better option and also 'widening access' programme could be another option but please do not give up nor let anyone else put you down going from a C at GCSE math to an A at AS is incredible and there are so many pathways into medicine - well done to you and I wish u the best for the future.
My school was extremely low performing to the point where my year where the last year to take our GCSEs as it was shut down. It made the news and everything! I will definitely look into calling up UNis. There has to be hope somewhere. Thanks by the way
Yes I have heard this from numerous places too. They will look at you GCSEs in the context of your year group and if you were good in context they're more likely to consider you. Remember most of the people commenting on this are fellow teenagers who know more myth than fact! Your best bet is to get in contact with some universities and ask them. Even competitive courses like medicine do not have blanket 'rules' in all circumstances so please do not be put off by what you hear. It really sounds to me like the context of your GCSEs was poor and thus they will really take this into account (as they do with say a death around your exams). The only thing that's rather important for GCSEs usually is maths and English at grade B however even with this it can be flexible. And to all the people criticising taking extra years before a degree, that really isn't so bad as universities (especially on people facing courses like medicine) appreciate people from different backgrounds with a range of experiences- so make it into a positive thing! Best of luck.
Do you know if when they look at my year group, it will be at the time I sat my GCSEs? because this would be two years ago. Let me just point out that I am not a retaker, I took different alevels last year. Also I would say I was good incompared to the year group because I didn't fail anything and I got a B in both English lit and language. Only around 30% go A*-C (it was on the news😭😩)
Do you know if when they look at my year group, it will be at the time I sat my GCSEs? because this would be two years ago. Let me just point out that I am not a retaker, I took different alevels last year. Also I would say I was good incompared to the year group because I didn't fail anything and I got a B in both English lit and language. Only around 30% go A*-C (it was on the news😭😩)
Yes, to my knowledge it will be compared to your year group at the time you took you GCSEs (eg the class of '')